Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 14 Sept 2026, 12:48 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Growing Mid Wales - Mobile Coverage and Capacity Project / Tyfu Canolbarth Cymru - Prosiect Cwmpas a Chapasiti Symudol

Authority: Ceredigion County Council (Local council)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£1pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 12 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 15 Feb 2030 · starts 15 Feb 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Ceredigion County Council is developing the Growing Mid Wales Mobile Coverage and Capacity Project, aimed at improving mobile network coverage and capacity across identified areas of Mid Wales.

Previous market engagement has informed the Authority's understanding of potential delivery approaches and procurement considerations. Further information is provided within this notice.

Mae Cyngor Sir Ceredigion yn datblygu Prosiect Cwmpas a Chapasiti Symudol Tyfu Canolbarth Cymru, gyda'r nod o wella cwmpas a chapasiti rhwydweithiau symudol ar draws ardaloedd a nodwyd yng Nghanolbarth Cymru.

Mae ymgysylltu blaenorol â'r farchnad wedi llywio dealltwriaeth yr Awdurdod o ddulliau cyflawni posibl ac ystyriaethau caffael. Ceir rhagor o wybodaeth o fewn yr hysbysiad hwn.

CPV: Telecommunication consultancy services · Telecommunications services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 3 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 15 Feb 2027 – 15 Feb 2030 (3 yrs)
Delivery: WalesEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Ceredigion County Council buys Consultative engineering and construction services (CPV 7131), and who usually turns up

Ceredigion County Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Consultative engineering and construction services (CPV 7131) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerCeredigion County Council · all categories
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 18 of 21 known-size awards · market: CPV 7131 · Wales (Cymru), n=41
86%68%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Wales (Cymru).

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 35 of 48 known-location awards · market: CPV 7131 · Wales (Cymru), n=69
73%43%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 45 decided notices · market: CPV 7131 · Wales (Cymru), n=17
42 days39 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 42 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 11 of 44 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7131 · Wales (Cymru), n=67
25%24%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer46 lots with bid counts · all categories
24% had one bid
The market29 lots with bid counts · CPV 7131 · Wales (Cymru)
14% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid24% / 14%
Buyer: 11 of 46 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
2–330% / 24%
Buyer: 14 of 46 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
4–628% / 31%
Buyer: 13 of 46 lots with published bid counts. Market: 9 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
7+17% / 31%
Buyer: 8 of 46 lots with published bid counts. Market: 9 of 29 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer18 lots with estimate and award · all categories
39% below estimate
The market20 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7131 · Wales (Cymru)
55% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate39% / 55%
Buyer: 7 of 18 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 20 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%50% / 25%
Buyer: 9 of 18 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 20 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate11% / 20%
Buyer: 2 of 18 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 4 of 20 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 713136 monthsSME suitableNo real estimate
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 29 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet14% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 29 similar lots
1 bid14%
4 of 29 similar past lots received 1 bid (14%).
2–324%
7 of 29 similar past lots received 2–3 (24%).
4–631%
9 of 29 similar past lots received 4–6 (31%).
7+31%
9 of 29 similar past lots received 7+ (31%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—No real estimate
The buyer published £1 as the estimate (a placeholder, not the contract’s value), so there is nothing to forecast against.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
14 Sept 2026, 12:48 BST
Last source update
15 Sept 2026, 11:40 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087224
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Telecommunication consultancy servicesTelecommunications services
Delivery area
Wales (UKL14)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f90e Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

14 Sept 2026 → 15 Feb 2027 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published42 days ago
    14 Sept 2026, 12:48 BST
  2. Tender notice expected14 days ago
    12 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
  3. Today
    26 Oct 2026
  4. Contract startsin 111 days
    15 Feb 2027

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 14 Sept 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    14 Sept 2026, 12:48 BST
    UK1
  2. Pipeline notice published
    14 Sept 2026, 13:05 BST
    UK1
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 Sept 2026, 11:40 BST
    UK2

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Cyngor Sir Ceredigion County Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentWelsh devolved regulations apply GB-PPON: PRYH-5713-PHLR Neuadd y Cyngor, Aberaeron, Wales, SA460PAContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Preliminary market engagement notice planningPreliminary market engagement noticeUK2Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender