Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 6 Oct 2026, 16:37 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Participatory Content Capabilities · UK public procurement notice

Authority: BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) (Public body)

GoodsAbove threshold
Sectors: Software Packages & ERP (48) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 5 yrsends 1 Dec 2033 · starts 1 Dec 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The BBC is undertaking a Request for Information (RFI) market engagement exercise to enhance its understanding of the market for participatory content capabilities, including voting, polling and quizzing solutions. Interested suppliers are invited to submit a written response via SAP Ariba by the stated deadline. The information gathered will be used to inform the BBC's requirements, procurement strategy and any future procurement activity. Participation in this engagement is voluntary and will not form part of any evaluation process or confer any advantage in any subsequent

CPV: Software package and information systems

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 5 yrs

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

How BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) buys Software package and information systems (CPV 48), and who usually turns up

BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)’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: Software package and information systems (CPV 48) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerBBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) · all categories
The marketSoftware package and information systems (CPV 48) · Greater London (authority’s region)
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: 1 of 10 known-size awards · market: division 48 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=406
10%33%

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 Greater London (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 3 known-location awards · market: division 48 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=438
1 of 332%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside 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: 19 decided notices · market: division 48 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=28
106 days63 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 106 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 8 of 22 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 48 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=636
36%67%

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 buyer17 lots with bid counts · all categories
12% had one bid
The market53 lots with bid counts · division 48 · Greater London (authority’s region)
21% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid12% / 21%
Buyer: 2 of 17 lots with published bid counts. Market: 11 of 53 lots with published bid counts.
2–371% / 21%
Buyer: 12 of 17 lots with published bid counts. Market: 11 of 53 lots with published bid counts.
4–612% / 42%
Buyer: 2 of 17 lots with published bid counts. Market: 22 of 53 lots with published bid counts.
7+6% / 17%
Buyer: 1 of 17 lots with published bid counts. Market: 9 of 53 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 buyer13 lots with estimate and award · all categories
8% below estimate
The market33 lots with estimate and award · division 48 · Greater London (authority’s region)
61% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate8% / 61%
Buyer: 1 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 20 of 33 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%85% / 15%
Buyer: 11 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 33 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate8% / 24%
Buyer: 1 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 8 of 33 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 4860 monthsEstimate not published

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 48. The comparison uses that group.

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 53 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet21% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 53 similar lots
1 bid21%
11 of 53 similar past lots received 1 bid (21%).
2–321%
11 of 53 similar past lots received 2–3 (21%).
4–642%
22 of 53 similar past lots received 4–6 (42%).
7+17%
9 of 53 similar past lots received 7+ (17%).
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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
Goods
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
6 Oct 2026, 16:37 BST
Last source update
7 Oct 2026, 10:40 BST
Authority reference
PROC 2026 93 RA
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-094577
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Software package and information systems
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078206 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

6 Oct 2026 → 1 Dec 2028 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published20 days ago
    6 Oct 2026, 16:37 BST
  2. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  3. Market engagementin 40h
    28 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The BBC is undertaking a Request for Information (RFI) market engagement exercise to enhance its understanding of the market for participatory content capabilities, including voting, polling and quizzing solutions. Interested suppliers are invited to submit a written response via SAP Ariba by the stated deadline. The information gathered will be used to inform the BBC's requirements, procurement strategy and any future procurement activity. Participation in this engagement is voluntary and will not form part of any evaluation process or confer any advantage in any subsequent

    In order to express your interest and take part, please follow the link:

    portal.eu.bn.cloud.ariba.com/dashboard/appext/com… ↗

  4. Contract starts
    1 Dec 2028

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 6 Oct 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    6 Oct 2026, 16:37 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    7 Oct 2026, 10:40 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Added link to event: https://portal.eu.bn.cloud.ariba.com/dashboard/appext/comsapsbncdiscoveryui#/RfxEvent/preview/1110027565

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

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PJRB-3233-GTQL Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, London, W1A 1AAContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure