Find a TenderDirect award proposedPipeline notice
Published 18 Feb 2026, 13:53 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Body Armour for the MDP

Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)

GoodsDirect awardAbove thresholdDefence & securitySME suitable
Planned pipeline value£1,702,046pipeline notice, not a live tender
Award expected 18 Feb 2026direct award proposed, no call for competition
Contract term 1 yr 1 moends 31 Mar 2027 · starts 2 Mar 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Provision of Body Armour for the Ministry of Defence Police

CPV: Special clothing

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yr 1 moSME
Contract period: 2 Mar 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 (1 yr 1 mo)
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Ministry of Defence buys Special clothing (CPV 1841), and who usually turns up

Ministry of Defence’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: Special clothing (CPV 1841) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerMinistry of Defence · division 18
The marketSpecial clothing (CPV 1841) · UK-wide
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: 2 of 3 known-size awards · market: CPV 1841 · UK-wide, n=11
2 of 391%

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.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 0 of 1 known-location awards · market: CPV 1841 · UK-wide, n=9
0 of 144%

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: no decision dates published · market: CPV 1841 · UK-wide, n=5
—38 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 38 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.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 4 of 5 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 1841 · UK-wide, n=16
80%25%

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 buyer271 lots with bid counts · all categories
46% had one bid
The market13 lots with bid counts · CPV 1841 · UK-wide
8% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid46% / 8%
Buyer: 126 of 271 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
2–332% / 38%
Buyer: 86 of 271 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
4–617% / 31%
Buyer: 46 of 271 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
7+5% / 23%
Buyer: 13 of 271 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 13 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 buyer91 lots with estimate and award · all categories
60% below estimate
The market6 lots with estimate and award · CPV 1841 · UK-wide
50% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate60% / 50%
Buyer: 55 of 91 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%22% / 33%
Buyer: 20 of 91 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate18% / 17%
Buyer: 16 of 91 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 6 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 184113 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£1.7m
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 13 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet8% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 13 similar lots
1 bid8%
1 of 13 similar past lots received 1 bid (8%).
2–338%
5 of 13 similar past lots received 2–3 (38%).
4–631%
4 of 13 similar past lots received 4–6 (31%).
7+23%
3 of 13 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 £1.7m, 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.

SupplierThis buyer’s earlier contractLotAward valueWhy listed
SAFARILAND UK LTDLive contractProvision of Body Armour for the Ministry of Defence Policeruns to Mar 2029Provision of Body Armour to Ministry of Defence Police£1.7mMatched as the earlier contract

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.

What this replaces
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

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

59% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (59% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

Provision of Body Armour for the Ministry of Defence Police — held by SAFARILAND UK LTD; the published contract ends 31 Mar 2029.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Direct award
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Goods
Notice status
Direct award proposed
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Defence & security
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Direct award (no call for competition)
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
18 Feb 2026, 13:53 GMT
Last source update
18 Feb 2026, 13:53 GMT
Authority reference
BP5 MDP BA
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-014793
Latest notice
Pipeline notice (UK1)
Classification (CPV)
Special clothing
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06571d Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

18 Feb 2026 → 2 Mar 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published250 days ago
    18 Feb 2026, 13:53 GMT
  2. Tender notice expected250 days ago
    18 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
  3. Contract starts239 days ago
    2 Mar 2026

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Pipeline notice published
    18 Feb 2026, 13:53 GMT
    UK1

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Ministry of Defence

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PHVX-4316-ZVGZ Kentigern House, 65 Brwon Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G2 8EXContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender