Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 30 Oct 2026, 09:37 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

TfWM Customer Website Replacement

Authority: West Midlands Combined Authority (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: UK
Planned pipeline value£400,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 11 Jan 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 6 moends 30 Sept 2027 · starts 31 Mar 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Transport for West Midlands is undertaking preliminary market engagement to inform the development of its requirements and procurement strategy for the replacement of its customer-facing website. The Authority is seeking market insight on potential technical solutions, delivery approaches, indicative costs and timescales, commercial models, key risks, dependencies and opportunities. This engagement is for information-gathering purposes only and does not constitute a call for competition or commitment to undertake a future procurement.

This preliminary market engagement exercise seeks to understand market interest in working with TfWM on this project, gather insights into possible market solutions, help support TfWM develop its requirements, and support the design of a suitable procurement approach.

Please note, any information provided as part of this market engagement exercise is for information only and will not be evaluated or form part of any tender process. Participation is voluntary and will not be used to limit competition in any way.

Reference: project_1279 - TfWM Customer Website Replacement (wmca.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/8576440301A187B5916C ↗)

CPV: Internet and intranet software development services · Internet browsing software development services · World wide web (www) site design services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How West Midlands Combined Authority buys Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221), and who usually turns up

West Midlands Combined Authority’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: Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerWest Midlands Combined Authority · all categories
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: 78 of 182 known-size awards · market: CPV 7221 · UK-wide, n=378
43%39%

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: 118 of 258 known-location awards · market: CPV 7221 · UK-wide, n=228
46%36%

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: 16 decided notices · market: CPV 7221 · UK-wide, n=61
68 days49 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 68 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 107 of 236 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7221 · UK-wide, n=582
45%65%

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 buyer24 lots with bid counts · all categories
17% had one bid
The market81 lots with bid counts · CPV 7221 · UK-wide
4% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid17% / 4%
Buyer: 4 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 81 lots with published bid counts.
2–325% / 33%
Buyer: 6 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 27 of 81 lots with published bid counts.
4–650% / 33%
Buyer: 12 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 27 of 81 lots with published bid counts.
7+8% / 30%
Buyer: 2 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 24 of 81 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 buyer15 lots with estimate and award · all categories
33% below estimate
The market57 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7221 · UK-wide
47% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate33% / 47%
Buyer: 5 of 15 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 27 of 57 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%47% / 33%
Buyer: 7 of 15 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 19 of 57 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate20% / 19%
Buyer: 3 of 15 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 57 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 726 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£400k

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 72. The comparison uses that group.

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 789 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet12% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 789 similar lots
1 bid12%
97 of 789 similar past lots received 1 bid (12%).
2–328%
219 of 789 similar past lots received 2–3 (28%).
4–628%
223 of 789 similar past lots received 4–6 (28%).
7+32%
250 of 789 similar past lots received 7+ (32%).
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 £400k, 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.

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
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
30 Oct 2026, 09:37 GMT
Last source update
30 Oct 2026, 09:37 GMT
Authority reference
PRT-DIGDAT-ESG-2026-0008
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-102977
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Internet and intranet software development servicesInternet browsing software development servicesWorld wide web (www) site design services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07943f Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

30 Oct 2026 → 31 Mar 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published1h ago
    30 Oct 2026, 09:37 GMT
  2. Today
    30 Oct 2026
  3. Market engagementin 19 days
    18 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT

    Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), is undertaking preliminary market engagement to inform the requirements and procurement strategy for the proposed replacement of its customer-facing website.

    This preliminary market engagement exercise seeks to understand market interest in working with TfWM on this project, gather insights into possible market solutions, help support TfWM develop its requirements, and support the design of a suitable procurement approach.

    Please note, any information provided as part of this market engagement exercise is for information only and will not be evaluated or form part of any tender process. Participation is voluntary and will not be used to limit competition in any way.

    Interested suppliers are invited to review the PME documentation and submit a written response through the e-tendering portal by 12:00 noon on 18 November 2026. Responses should address the supplier questions and include a completed Appendix C: Indicative Cost Estimate. Any pricing provided must be indicative and non-binding. It will be used to support market analysis, budget planning and the development of the future procurement strategy.

    The Authority will review the written responses and may use the information to shape the project scope, technical requirements, delivery approach, procurement route, contract structure and commercial model for any future procurement.

    This exercise is for information-gathering purposes only. It is not a call for competition, pre-qualification exercise or invitation to tender. Participation will not provide any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement and does not commit WMCA to proceeding with a procurement or awarding a contract.

    If you are interested in this engagement exercise, then please register on wmca.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/8576440301A187B5916C ↗ and access project_1279 - TfWM Customer Website Replacement.

    Please note, responses will not be accepted following the deadline date of 18 November 2026.

  4. Tender notice expectedin 73 days
    11 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 151 days
    31 Mar 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    30 Oct 2026, 09:37 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

West Midlands Combined Authority

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PGMD-1353-PZVX 16 Summer Lane, Birmingham, West Midlands, B19 3SDContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure