Official UK procurement notice
STEP Interim Socio-economic Evaluation
Authority: UK Fusion Energy Ltd (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement description- Baseline Evaluation
Aims
-Set out current data, indicators and contextual evidence.
-Identify what would likely happen without STEP to support later assessment of additionality.
-Test the validity of STEP’s theory of change, assumptions and risks.
-Assess data availability, quality, and feasibility for longterm evaluation.
Scope
-Codevelop the theory of change and logic model.
-Expand the benefits library with metrics, data sources and recommendations for future monetisation.
-Specify data sources, quality plans, counterfactual logic, and longterm lag assumptions.
-Highlight evidence gaps and uncertainties.
- Impact Evaluation
Aims
-Assess progress towards STEP’s Tranche 1 and T2a objectives.
-Examine early technical advances and initial economic/social effects.
-Forecast potential longerterm impacts where possible.
-Identify what data and systems must be established now to enable robust T2a and future evaluations.
Scope
-Mixedmethods approach including early monetisation and nonmonetised impact assessment.
-Develop methodologies to value fusionspecific benefits (jobs, skills, supply chain, innovation, infrastructure).
-Use baseline counterfactuals to determine additionality.
-Include placebased, distributional analysis and uncertainty testing.
-Produce a set of highimpact case studies.
- Process Evaluation
Aims
-Assess whether delivery aligns with STEP’s mission, plans and intent.
-Review progress against milestones, delivery structures, partnerships, resources and governance.
-Understand stakeholder engagement, risk management, dependencies and overall programme maturity.
-Identify lessons learned and readiness for transition to future tranches.
Scope
-Review programme documentation and structures.
-Conduct stakeholder interviews across UKIFS, partners and external organisations.
-Use the theory of change to analyse delivery barriers and enablers.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Culham… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
CPV: Economic research services · Evaluation consultancy services · Research services · Social research services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Fusion Energy Ltd buys Market research services (CPV 7931), and who usually turns up
UK Fusion Energy Ltd’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: Market research services (CPV 7931) →
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 32 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.
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.
1 bid10% / 15%
2–357% / 25%
4–610% / 22%
7+24% / 38%
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 estimate30% / 48%
Within ±2%65% / 43%
Above estimate5% / 9%
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 7931Published estimate£300k
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 144 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid15%
2–325%
4–622%
7+38%
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
- 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
- 27 Feb 2026, 15:57 GMT
- Last source update
- 27 Feb 2026, 15:57 GMT
- Authority reference
PP-UKIFS-546- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-018100- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065ec1Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
27 Feb 2026 → 1 Jun 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published241 days ago27 Feb 2026, 15:57 GMT
- Market engagement227 days ago13 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
To respond to this PMEN, please complete and submit Appendix 1: Questionnaire via the facility in the Delta portal by 17:00 GMT on 13/03/2026.
Early responses would be appreciated to help inform planning decisions.
If you experience any difficulties with the portal, please contact the portal helpdesk helpdesk@delta-esourcing.com cc operationalprocurement.step@ukifs.uk
Information obtained from responses to Appendix 1: Questionnaire will help UKIFS understand current market capabilities and shape the scope, direction, and design of the future procurement activities.
If you have any questions about this PMEN, please contact UKIFS through the Delta portal. We are keen to engage with suppliers to assist with the PMEN completion if needed, to ensure quality responses enabling us to shape the future requirement and procurement.
- Contract starts148 days ago1 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Feb 2026, 15:57 GMTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender