Official UK procurement notice
Naval Architecture Services · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Northern Lighthouse Board (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNLB requires a Naval Architect to develop the concept design of a new SOLAS Class VII civil helicopter support and aids to navigation service (cargo) vessel.
The vessel will be registered in the UK, with its chosen Port of Registry as Leith, but with Oban serving as its primary operating port. However, the design shall enable operation from a range of ports throughout the UK and Ireland and shall not restrict international operations. The vessel shall be designed and certificated accordingly to permit such operations.
The appointed Naval Architect shall develop a concept technical specification to a level of maturity that enables prospective shipbuilders to submit fixed-price tenders for the detailed design and construction of the vessel.
The initial contract term will likely be 5 years, or until vessel delivery. The contract will have extension options to provision ongoing support to the vessel replacement programme as required by NLB.
CPV: Engineering design services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Northern Lighthouse Board buys Engineering design services (CPV 7132), and who usually turns up
Northern Lighthouse Board’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: Engineering design services (CPV 7132) →
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 Scotland (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in 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 26 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.
The buyer’s share is a minimum: 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?
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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 bid12% / 10%
2–344% / 32%
4–636% / 20%
7+8% / 39%
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 estimate60% / 60%
Within ±2%36% / 28%
Above estimate4% / 12%
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 7132Published estimate£1.9m
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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 145 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid9%
2–323%
4–638%
7+30%
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- 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
- 7 Sept 2026, 16:54 BST
- Last source update
- 7 Sept 2026, 17:24 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-084623- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f3efFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
7 Sept 2026 → 24 Dec 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published49 days ago7 Sept 2026, 16:54 BST
- Market engagement31 days ago25 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
NLB intends to undertake preliminary market engagement with organisations that may have the capability and capacity to provide naval architecture services in support of Vessel Replacement Programme (VRP) Pharos.
Interested organisations are invited to request a copy of the Market Engagement Questionnaire as soon as possible by emailing procurement@nlb.org.uk. The questionnaire will be issued by email during the week commencing 14 September 2026. The questionnaire seeks market views on areas including supplier capability and capacity, potential contracting and pricing structures, delivery models, key contractual considerations, and achievable social value outcomes.
The information gathered will be used to inform NLB's development of the specification, procurement route, commercial model and contractual arrangements. Participation in the preliminary market engagement will not constitute a commitment to participate in any subsequent procurement and will not confer any advantage in a future competition.
Completed questionnaires should be returned to procurement@nlb.org.uk no later than Friday 25 September 2026.
Please note that NLB reserves the right to extend the preliminary market engagement timetable at its discretion.
- Tender notice expected24 days ago2 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 57 days24 Dec 2026
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 Sept 2026- Pipeline notice published7 Sept 2026, 16:54 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published7 Sept 2026, 17:24 BSTUK2
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
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender