Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 9 Jan 2026, 15:38 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

TFL Equity in Motion - Calm spaces for neurodivergent customers

Authority: Docklands Light Railway Limited (Public body)

Services
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrends 1 Oct 2027 · starts 1 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This preliminary engagement notice is issued by Transport for London (TfL) and seeks to obtain market feedback on potential solutions to give neurodivergent customers a calm, quiet space when travelling on the TfL public transport network.

Its primary objective is to assess whether an off‑the‑shelf product can effectively meet the needs of neurodivergent customers, operate successfully within a live operational environment, and identify potential risks and opportunities across supply, operations, and cost models.

TfL's customer inclusion strategy, Equity in Motion, sets out how we are unlocking opportunity for Londoners by breaking down unfair barriers to travel. We are continuously looking for ways to make our network more inclusive and accessible.

Approximately 10 million journeys are made on TfL's public transport network per day, making for a busy, bustling, sensory-overloaded system. Given the transport system is over a century old, it was not designed to consider neurological difference; it falls far short of the principles and best practice showcased in PAS 6463: Design for the Mind: Neurodiversity & the Built Environment.

The overarching objectives of exploring a calm, quiet or seclusion space are to:

  • Test a possible solution to make our network more inclusive for neurodivergent customers
  • Meet our duties under the Equality Act and the Public Sector Equality Duty
  • TfL is looking to trial a product in a busy operational environment to test appetite and usage.
  • Space has been identified on the main concourse at Paddington Elizabeth line station.

We want to understand market capability and harness innovation.

CPV: Advertising and marketing services · Building installation work

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How Docklands Light Railway Limited buys Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934), and who usually turns up

Docklands Light Railway Limited’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: Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerDocklands Light Railway Limited · division 79
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 8 known-size awards · market: CPV 7934 · Greater London, n=109
13%53%

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.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 9 of 11 known-location awards · market: CPV 7934 · Greater London, n=100
82%57%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered 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 7934 · Greater London, n=27
—64 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 64 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 10 of 16 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7934 · Greater London, n=157
63%46%

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 buyer186 lots with bid counts · all categories
44% had one bid
The market36 lots with bid counts · CPV 7934 · Greater London
11% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid44% / 11%
Buyer: 81 of 186 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 36 lots with published bid counts.
2–346% / 11%
Buyer: 85 of 186 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 36 lots with published bid counts.
4–68% / 50%
Buyer: 15 of 186 lots with published bid counts. Market: 18 of 36 lots with published bid counts.
7+3% / 28%
Buyer: 5 of 186 lots with published bid counts. Market: 10 of 36 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 buyer25 lots with estimate and award · all categories
48% below estimate
The market34 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7934 · Greater London
24% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate48% / 24%
Buyer: 12 of 25 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 8 of 34 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%32% / 65%
Buyer: 8 of 25 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 22 of 34 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate20% / 12%
Buyer: 5 of 25 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 4 of 34 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 793412 monthsEstimate not published
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 36 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet11% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 36 similar lots
1 bid11%
4 of 36 similar past lots received 1 bid (11%).
2–311%
4 of 36 similar past lots received 2–3 (11%).
4–650%
18 of 36 similar past lots received 4–6 (50%).
7+28%
10 of 36 similar past lots received 7+ (28%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 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
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
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
9 Jan 2026, 15:38 GMT
Last source update
9 Jan 2026, 15:38 GMT
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-001985
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Advertising and marketing servicesBuilding installation work
Delivery area
London (UKI)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06031d Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

9 Jan 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published292 days ago
    9 Jan 2026, 15:38 GMT
  2. Market engagement264 days ago
    6 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    This Preliminary engagement notice and Market Sounding Questionnaire (MSQ) is issued by Transport for London (TfL) and seeks to obtain market feedback on potential solutions to give neurodivergent customers a calm, quiet space when travelling on the TfL public transport network.

    Its primary focus is to better understand whether an off-the-shelf product can cater for neurodivergent customers, be suitable for a live operational environment, any risks and opportunities in relation to supply and operation and cost models.

    This exercise does not form part of any formal procurement process. All responses will be carefully considered but will not bind TfL to any approach to the procurement, nor will responses be treated as conveying any promise or commitment on the part of the respondent.

    This preliminary engagement notice (PEN) is to inform the market of TfL's potential upcoming business requirements. Prior to commencing any procurement activities, we wish to better understand the market appetite by requesting you register your interest by completing the MS forms questionnaire: forms.office.com/e/m6REeiACvK ↗ by the deadline of 5pm on Friday 6th February 2026.

    Please email emeliawilson@tfl.gov.uk and bediakilic@tfl.gov.uk to obtain supporting documentation and/ or if you have any questions in regards to this opportunity.

    TfL reserves the right to conduct further market engagement in the future if required.

  3. Contract starts28 days ago
    1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    9 Jan 2026, 15:38 GMT
    UK2

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

Transport for London

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PHMT-6197-NWNZ 5 Endeavour Square, London, London, E20 1JNContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure