Official UK procurement notice
Uniform Supply and Management Service
Authority: Transport for Wales Rail Limited (Utility Buyer) (Public body)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTransport for Wales (TfW) is undertaking pre-procurement market engagement in relation to a future requirement for the provision of corporate and operational uniform garments across its organisation.
The proposed requirement is expected to include the supply, manufacture, storage, inventory management and distribution of branded uniform garments for both operational and non-operational colleagues. The service may also include the provision of bespoke garments, including maternity wear, together with an online uniform management and ordering platform for employees and administrators.
Transport for Wales is seeking to understand market capability, available delivery models, stock holding arrangements, technological innovations and commercial approaches within the uniform sector to help inform the development of the procurement strategy and service specification.
The requirement excludes personal protective equipment (PPE), thermal clothing and seasonal accessories such as hats, scarves and gloves.
CPV: Garments · Occupational clothing, special workwear and accessories
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Transport for Wales Rail Limited (Utility Buyer) buys Occupational clothing, special workwear and accessories (CPV 1810), and who usually turns up
Transport for Wales Rail Limited (Utility Buyer)’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: Occupational clothing, special workwear and accessories (CPV 1810) →
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 outside 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 62 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 bid21% / 8%
2–342% / 31%
4–626% / 4%
7+11% / 58%
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 estimate50% / 27%
Within ±2%36% / 47%
Above estimate14% / 27%
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 18Published estimate£5.5m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 18. The comparison uses that group.
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 105 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–323%
4–628%
7+40%
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
- 7 Oct 2026, 11:35 BST
- Last source update
- 7 Oct 2026, 11:35 BST
- Authority reference
TFW1083.00- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-094639- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078272Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
7 Oct 2026 → 1 Jul 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published20 days ago7 Oct 2026, 11:35 BST
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 7 days4 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Transport for Wales (TfW) is seeking expressions of interest from suppliers operating within the uniform and workwear sector to participate in pre-procurement market engagement activities planned for early November 2026.
The purpose of the engagement is to obtain market feedback on the proposed scope of requirements, understand supplier capability and appetite, explore delivery and stock management models, and inform potential mobilisation timescales for a future procurement opportunity.
Subject to the level of market interest received, TfW may undertake a virtual market engagement event, issue a supplier questionnaire, or adopt a combination of both approaches. Further details will be provided to interested suppliers following registration.
Suppliers interested in participating in the market engagement activities are invited to register their interest by emailing supplychain@tfw.wales by Sunday 25 October 2026.
Information gathered through the engagement will be used solely to inform the development of the procurement strategy and specification and will not form part of any future procurement evaluation process.
- Tender notice expectedin 26 days23 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 245 days1 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published7 Oct 2026, 11:35 BSTUK2
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 noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- Transport for WalesContracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentWelsh devolved regulations apply
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