Official UK procurement notice
RAF Museum Replacement 4D Theatre Attraction
Authority: The Royal Air Force Museum (Charity / VCSE)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Royal Air Force Museum is undertaking preliminary market engagement in relation to the potential replacement of its existing 4D cinema attractions at its London and Midlands sites.
The Museum is seeking information from the market regarding the potential supply, installation and commissioning of modern 4D theatre attractions at both sites, each with approximately 16 seats. The potential requirement includes motion seating technology, immersive audio, modern projection technology, environmental and special effects systems, accessible design, and ongoing maintenance and support.
The potential requirement may include removal of existing equipment and installations, strip-out, design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning, together with ongoing maintenance and support arrangements.
The Museum is also seeking information on potential commercial and delivery models, including outright purchase, supplier-funded concession arrangements and alternative commercial structures. The final scope, commercial model, contract value and procurement approach have not yet been determined.
This notice is for preliminary market engagement purposes only and does not constitute a procurement exercise, invitation to tender or commitment to procure.
Further information on the market engagement, including details of the potential requirement and the information sought from suppliers, is contained in the Market Engagement Information Pack. A Supplier Response Form is also available for suppliers wishing to participate.
As the Find a Tender notice does not provide for the upload of these supporting documents, suppliers wishing to participate should request the Market Engagement Information Pack and Supplier Response Form by emailing tender.returns@rafmuseum.org, quoting procurement reference 2026-RAFM-4D - Replacement 4D Theatre Attraction.
CPV: Audio-visual equipment · Installation services of radio, television, sound and video equipment · Multimedia equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How The Royal Air Force Museum buys Television and audio-visual equipment (CPV 3232), and who usually turns up
The Royal Air Force Museum’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: Television and audio-visual equipment (CPV 3232) →
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.
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 30 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 bid18%
2–333%
4–630%
7+18%
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 estimate57%
Within ±2%24%
Above estimate19%
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 3232Estimate not published
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 33 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid18%
2–333%
4–630%
7+18%
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
- 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
- 5 Oct 2026, 11:13 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Oct 2026, 12:47 BST
- Authority reference
2026-RAFM-4D- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-093781- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078086Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
5 Oct 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published22 days ago5 Oct 2026, 11:13 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 34 days30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
The Royal Air Force Museum is undertaking preliminary market engagement to obtain high-level market intelligence to inform its business case, procurement planning and potential future procurement strategy for the replacement of its existing 4D cinema attractions at its London and Midlands sites.
The engagement will seek information on available technologies and solutions, indicative capital and ongoing support costs, potential delivery and commercial models, including outright purchase and supplier-funded concession arrangements, and relevant supplier experience. The Museum is not seeking detailed proposals or tenders at this stage.
Suppliers wishing to participate should request the Market Engagement Information Pack and Supplier Response Form by emailing tender.returns@rafmuseum.org, quoting procurement reference 2026-RAFM-4D - Replacement 4D Theatre Attraction. The Market Engagement Information Pack provides further information on the potential requirement, the engagement process and the information sought from the market. The Supplier Response Form should be used for submitting responses.
The engagement process will comprise:
An online supplier briefing at 11:00 on 22 October 2026.
A site visit and engagement session at the Museum's Midlands site at 11:00 on 28 October 2026.
A site visit and engagement session at the Museum's London site at 11:00 on 30 October 2026.
Submission of completed Supplier Response Forms and any optional supporting information by 17:00 on 13 November 2026.
The Museum may invite one or more respondents to follow-up discussions during the weeks commencing 16 and/or 23 November 2026 to clarify or expand upon information provided.
Clarification questions regarding the market engagement should be submitted by email to tender.returns@rafmuseum.org. Questions may be answered individually or, where appropriate, the Museum may share questions and responses with other participants to ensure relevant information is made available consistently.
The Museum may review responses as they are received and may invite clarification discussions before the submission deadline. Participation in the preliminary market engagement is voluntary and will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement process. The Museum is under no obligation to invite all respondents to participate in follow-up discussions.
Suppliers are encouraged to obtain and review the Market Engagement Information Pack and Supplier Response Form before submitting a response.
This preliminary market engagement does not constitute a procurement exercise, invitation to tender or commitment to procure.
- Contract startsin 65 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 5 Oct 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Oct 2026, 11:13 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Oct 2026, 12:47 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
Change of submission deadline from 30 November 2027 to 30 November 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
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