Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 16 Sept 2026, 09:35 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Phase One

Authority: North East Combined Authority (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdConcessionSME suitableVCSE suitable
Concession value (operator's revenue)£5,000,000operator revenue, not the authority's budget
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 15 yrsends 1 Apr 2042 · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund is a UK Government programme established to accelerate the delivery of publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across England, with a particular focus on supporting residents without access to off-street parking. The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority (North East MSA) has secured £15.829 million of LEVI capital funding, with approximately £5 million allocated to Phase 1 delivery.

CPV: Chargers · Electrical installation work · Installation services of electrical equipment · System maintenance services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How North East Combined Authority buys Ballasts for discharge lamps or tubes (CPV 3115), and who usually turns up

North East Combined Authority’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: Ballasts for discharge lamps or tubes (CPV 3115) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNorth East Combined Authority · 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: 6 of 15 known-size awards · market: CPV 3115 · UK-wide, n=20
40%85%

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 North East England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 21 of 29 known-location awards · market: CPV 3115 · North East England, n=7
72%14%

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: 4 decided notices · market: CPV 3115 · UK-wide, n=11
53 days103 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 53 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 23 of 30 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 3115 · North East England, n=7
77%57%

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 buyerToo few to chart: 4 lots with bid counts, 5 needed · all categories
The market15 lots with bid counts · CPV 3115 · UK-wide
13% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid13%
Market: 2 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
2–340%
Market: 6 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
4–620%
Market: 3 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
7+27%
Market: 4 of 15 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 buyerToo few to chart: 2 lots with estimate and award, 5 needed · all categories
The market8 lots with estimate and award · CPV 3115 · UK-wide
25% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate25%
Market: 2 of 8 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%63%
Market: 5 of 8 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate13%
Market: 1 of 8 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 5032180 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£5.0m

This lot is listed as CPV 5032. The table above uses the notice category.

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 91 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet11% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 91 similar lots
1 bid11%
10 of 91 similar past lots received 1 bid (11%).
2–338%
35 of 91 similar past lots received 2–3 (38%).
4–627%
25 of 91 similar past lots received 4–6 (27%).
7+23%
21 of 91 similar past lots received 7+ (23%).
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 model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £5.0m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Concession
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
16 Sept 2026, 09:35 BST
Last source update
16 Sept 2026, 09:35 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087584
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
ChargersElectrical installation workInstallation services of electrical equipmentSystem maintenance services
Delivery area
North East (UKC14)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06fabc Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

16 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published41 days ago
    16 Sept 2026, 09:35 BST
  2. Market engagement18 days ago
    9 Oct 2026, 00:59 BST

    The North East MSA is currently developing its Phase 1 procurement approach and is seeking to engage with organisations operating in the EV charging infrastructure market. As part of this early market engagement, suppliers are invited to book an appointment with the North East MSA Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Team to discuss potential procurement approaches and provide market insight.

    This engagement is for early market engagement purposes only and does not constitute the commencement of a procurement process. Participation in this engagement will not provide any supplier with an advantage in any future procurement, and suppliers who do not participate will not be disadvantaged. Any procurement opportunity that may follow will be advertised and conducted in accordance with the applicable procurement rules.

    Information gathered through this engagement may be used by The North East MSA to inform its procurement strategy, commercial model and future procurement documents. The North East MSA will treat commercially sensitive information appropriately and will not use information in a way that gives any supplier an unfair advantage or distorts competition.

    The North East MSA would welcome supplier feedback on the following discussion areas:

    Question One: Organisation Status and Capacity

    Given the number of LEVI procurements currently in the market, what capacity does your organisation expect to have to bid on further LEVI tenders over the next 12 months? Has your organisation previously bid for LEVI tenders? If not, please explain the reason for this.

    Question Two: Procurement Approach

    The North East MSA is currently considering multiple procurement approaches, one of which is an open market concession contract. Would this approach be commercially viable/attractive to your organisation? Are there any factors that may influence your organisation’s ability to bid?

    Question Three: GCA Templates

    Please provide your views on the appropriateness of the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) LEVI Concession templates. Would your organisation consider bidding for an opportunity on the basis of these templates being used? Please explain your response.

    Question Four: Asset Ownership

    Under the proposed commercial model, it is likely that installed chargepoints would remain in the ownership of the relevant local authority. Would your organisation consider bidding for an opportunity on this basis? Please explain your response.

    Question Five: Payment

    Under the proposed commercial model, it is likely that the successful supplier will be required to make a fixed annual payment for the first five years of the contract term (amount to be confirmed), followed by a revenue sharing arrangement for the remainder of the contract term. Would your organisation consider bidding for an opportunity on this basis? Please explain your response.

    Question Six: lessons learned

    Please provide any feedback from your experience to date that may be relevant to the North East’s phase one LEVI procurement.

    Suppliers should use the link below to select and book a suitable appointment time.

    bookings.cloud.microsoft/bookwithme/user/97ba… ↗

  3. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  4. Contract startsin 155 days
    1 Apr 2027

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    16 Sept 2026, 09:35 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

North East Combined Authority

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PJMR-6594-BRGH The Lumen, St James' Boulevard, Newcastle Upon Tyne, North East, NE4 5BZContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure