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Published 29 Sept 2026, 14:59 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Geological Products and Services Framework

Official notice Competition analysis

Authority: ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (Public body)·On behalf of: DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Framework agreementServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Architecture & Engineering (71) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline value£5,900,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Nov 2026from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 4 yrs 1 moends 31 Mar 2031 · starts 1 Mar 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description
  1. Description

The Environment Agency is undertaking preliminary market engagement to inform the future procurement strategy for the provision of geological products and services.

The proposed arrangement is intended to provide access to geological expertise, datasets, interpretation, modelling and specialist advisory services. These services may support Environment Agency activities, including flood risk management, groundwater investigations, environmental protection, place-based planning, environmental monitoring and related technical programmes.

The Environment Agency wishes to understand market capability and capacity, potential innovations, commercial models and delivery approaches within the geological services sector. Feedback will help inform the future procurement strategy and any subsequent procurement activity.

The potential future arrangement may have an estimated value of up to £5.9 million over four years. This estimate is indicative and is provided for market engagement purposes only. No decision has been made on the final procurement route, framework structure, number of suppliers, lotting approach, award methodology, call-off arrangements or final value. This preliminary market engagement does not form part of a competitive tender process and does not commit the Environment Agency to undertake a subsequent procurement.

  1. Purpose of the engagement
  • Supplier capability and capacity to deliver all or part of the potential requirement.
  • Delivery models and the structure of the market.
  • Whether a single-supplier or multiple-supplier framework would be most effective.
  • Potential lotting arrangements.
  • Direct award, further competition or a combination of both for future call-off contracts.
  • Innovation, digital tools, data products and emerging technologies.
  • Commercial and contractual considerations.
  • Social value and sustainability opportunities.
  • Market risks, constraints and barriers to participation.
  1. How to participate

Suppliers interested in participating in this market engagement exercise should contact the Commercial Lead using the details below to request the market engagement documentation.

Paul Butler

Email: paul.butler@defra.gov.uk

The market engagement pack includes:

  • Market Engagement Specification
  • Market Engagement Questionnaire

Suppliers should submit one coordinated response per organisation by the published deadline.

Participation is voluntary. Suppliers will not be disadvantaged in any subsequent procurement if they do not participate, and participation will not give any supplier an advantage.

  1. Indicative timetable

Deadline for supplier responses

Friday 30 October 2026 at 2pm (Date Extended)

  1. Review of responses

Week commencing Monday 2 November 2026

(Date Extended)

  1. Expected commencement of the new arrangement:

1 March 2027

The dates above are indicative and may change following market engagement and internal approvals.

CPV: Geological consultancy services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
4 yrs 1 mo from 1 Mar 2027

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 4 yrs 1 moSME
Contract period: 1 Mar 2027 – 31 Mar 2031 (4 yrs 1 mo)
Eligibility: SME eligible
71351220 Geological consultancy services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
What this means for your bid
  • “Provision of Geological Products and Services Framework” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

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

How ENVIRONMENT AGENCY buys Engineering-related scientific and technical services (CPV 7135), and who usually turns up

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Engineering-related scientific and technical services (CPV 7135) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerENVIRONMENT AGENCY · division 71
The marketEngineering-related scientific and technical services (CPV 7135) · 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: 3 of 13 known-size awards · market: CPV 7135 · UK-wide, n=13
23%38%

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: no winner locations published · market: CPV 7135 · UK-wide, n=7
—29%

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address 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: no decision dates published · market: CPV 7135 · UK-wide, n=10
—83 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 83 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 1 of 2 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7135 · UK-wide, n=11
1 of 29%

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 buyer10 lots with bid counts · all categories
10% had one bid
The market61 lots with bid counts · CPV 7135 · UK-wide
2% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid10% / 2%
Buyer: 1 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 61 lots with published bid counts.
2–320% / 13%
Buyer: 2 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 8 of 61 lots with published bid counts.
4–630% / 28%
Buyer: 3 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 17 of 61 lots with published bid counts.
7+40% / 57%
Buyer: 4 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 35 of 61 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.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.

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 713549 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£5.9m
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 137 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet1% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 137 similar lots
1 bid1%
2 of 137 similar past lots received 1 bid (1%).
2–314%
19 of 137 similar past lots received 2–3 (14%).
4–627%
37 of 137 similar past lots received 4–6 (27%).
7+58%
79 of 137 similar past lots received 7+ (58%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 8 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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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
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
Framework agreement
Who may use this agreement
Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
29 Sept 2026, 14:59 BST
Last source update
15 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
Authority reference
C35686
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097518
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Geological consultancy services
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077cb3 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

29 Sept 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published28 days ago
    29 Sept 2026, 14:59 BST
  2. Latest notice published12 days ago
    15 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
  3. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  4. Market engagementin 3 days
    30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
    1. How to participate

    Suppliers interested in participating in this market engagement exercise should contact the Commercial Lead using the details below to request the market engagement documentation.

    Paul Butler

    Email: paul.butler@defra.gov.uk

    The market engagement pack includes:

    • Market Engagement Specification
    • Market Engagement Questionnaire

    Suppliers should submit one coordinated response per organisation by the published deadline.

    Participation is voluntary. Suppliers will not be disadvantaged in any subsequent procurement if they do not participate, and participation will not give any supplier an advantage.

    1. Indicative timetable

    Deadline for supplier responses

    Friday 30 October 2026 at 2pm (Date Extended)

  5. Tender notice expectedin 34 days
    30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 124 days
    1 Mar 2027

Notice history

6 events · 6 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Sept 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    29 Sept 2026, 14:59 BST
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    5 Oct 2026, 10:17 BST
    UK2
  3. Pipeline notice published
    9 Oct 2026, 11:37 BST
    UK1
  4. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    9 Oct 2026, 11:47 BST
    UK2
  5. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 Oct 2026, 14:14 BST
    UK2
  6. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (4)

I need to include my details as the point of contact.

I need to provide an e-mail address to allow Suppliers to contact me directly.

To extend the opportunity to 2:00 PM on Friday 30 October 2026

Amend Date

Routine re-releases (6)
  • 2026-10: 2 releases · 5 Oct 2026, 9 Oct 2026
  • 2026-09: 1 release · 29 Sept 2026

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

2 public bodies on the notice

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PNWW-1475-NYLN Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, London, SW1P 4DFContact email

Other public bodies

Official documents & specifications (6)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure