Official UK procurement notice
Modern Fire Fighting Strategy - Phase 2 Urban Fire Fighting Training Provision
Authority: London Fire Commissioner (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe London Fire Commissioner is undertaking a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise to inform the development of a future procurement strategy for the provision of specialist urban firefighting training facilities and associated support services.
The purpose of this engagement is to better understand current market capability, capacity, commercial models and potential delivery approaches capable of supporting London Fire Brigade's Modern Firefighting Strategy Phase 2 programme.
The Brigade anticipates delivering advanced operational firefighting training to approximately 4,800 operational firefighters and 200 officer observations over a three-year ( one year with option to extend by a further two years subject to funding) programme commencing in Q1 2027.
We are particularly interested in engaging with organisations capable of providing some or all of the following:
- Specialist live fire training facilities.
- Carbonaceous fire behaviour training environments.
- Advanced fire behaviour and tactical firefighting facilities.
- Basement fire training facilities.
- Tactical ventilation training facilities.
- Fire compartments capable of venting gases and smoke to atmosphere.
- Temperature monitoring and environmental monitoring systems.
- Residential accommodation.
- Catering and welfare facilities.
- Structural firefighting PPE and associated laundering and maintenance services.
- Operational support infrastructure, including equipment storage and breathing apparatus support services.
LFB's current preference is to explore a model whereby London Fire Brigade instructors design and deliver the training, whilst the supplier provides facilities, accommodation, catering, welfare, PPE and logistical support services. However, suppliers are invited to provide feedback on alternative delivery models that may improve value for money, resilience, innovation or operational effectiveness.
As part of this engagement, suppliers are invited to provide feedback on:
- Market capability and capacity.
- Mobilisation requirements.
- Commercial and contractual models.
- Pricing structures and key cost drivers.
- Capacity and resilience risks.
- Sustainability and social value opportunities.
- Innovation and emerging technologies.
- Any aspects of the proposed requirement that may impact competition or market participation.
This engagement is not a Call for Competition and does not form part of any formal procurement process. Information gathered will be used solely to inform the future procurement strategy, commercial approach and specification development.
Participation in this exercise will not provide any supplier with an advantage in any future procurement process.
We would be grateful if your organisation could review the accompanying PME Pack and complete the associated questionnaire by 5th October 2026 deadline. The pre-market engagement pack and questionnaire can be accessed and downloaded from sell2.in-tend.co.uk/blpd/publictenders ↗
CPV: Specialist training services · Training facilities building
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How London Fire Commissioner buys Specialist training services (CPV 8051), and who usually turns up
London Fire Commissioner’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: Specialist training services (CPV 8051) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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 Greater London (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
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.
Half of these awards have an award date within 54 days of the bid deadline.
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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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.
1 bid20%
2–330%
4–620%
7+30%
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.
Below estimate75%
Within ±2%25%
Above estimate0%
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.
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 4521Estimate not published
This lot is listed as CPV 4521. The table above uses the notice category.
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 48 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid17%
2–327%
4–631%
7+25%
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.
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.
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.
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
- Unspecified in notice
- 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, 13:18 BST
- Last source update
- 14 Sept 2026, 16:07 BST
- Authority reference
LFB203- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087020- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f91fFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
14 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published43 days ago14 Sept 2026, 13:18 BST
- Market engagement21 days ago5 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
Pre-market engagement pack and questionnaire with responses required for questions posed
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 6 days2 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 155 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 14 Sept 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published14 Sept 2026, 13:18 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published14 Sept 2026, 16:07 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
3 year contract (1 year contract with 2 optional years subject to funding)
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
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender