Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 12 Aug 2026, 13:26 BST

Official UK procurement notice

UTC Ducting & Minor Highways Framework

Authority: Transport for Greater Manchester (Public body)

Framework agreementWorksAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£75,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 5 Nov 2026from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 8 yrsends 30 Jun 2035 · up to 1 Jul 2039 with extensions · starts 1 Jul 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

TfGM's current UTC Ducting & Minor Highways Framework is approaching the end of its current term and in advance of retender TfGM are seeking market input into delivery routes for either a new framework or alternative options that will meet TfGM's requirements over the coming four (or alternative) year period that will successfully meet the on-going demands of renewing and enhancing the Highway Network into future funding cycles.

The expiring framework has been used to deliver the following minor highways schemes:

  • The addition of SCOOT / MOVA ducting to existing traffic signal junctions
  • Bus stop kerbing and flagging upgrades
  • Construction of controlled pedestrian crossings (zebra, puffin, toucan etc)
  • Construction of new traffic signal junctions and upgrades to existing junctions.

Please note the values in this notice are based on a single supplier contracting arrangement. In the instance that a framework is established, the values and dates will be as follows:

Start Date: 01/05/2027

End Date: 30/04/2031

Estimated Value: £25,000,000

And in the instance that a single supplier contracting arrangement is established, the values and dates will be as follows:

Start Date: 01/05/2027

End Date: 30/04/2039

Estimated Value: £90,000,000

Following the market engagement phase, TfGM will confirm the contracting arrangement.

CPV: Building fittings · Construction consultancy services · Construction work · Designs

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 8 yrsSME
Contract period: 1 Jul 2027 – 30 Jun 2035 (8 yrs) · up to 1 Jul 2039 with extensions
Delivery: North WestEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
What this means for your bid
  • “UTC Ducting & Minor Highways Framework” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

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

How Transport for Greater Manchester buys Construction materials (CPV 4411), and who usually turns up

Transport for Greater Manchester’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Construction materials (CPV 4411) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerTransport for Greater Manchester · 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: 2 of 2 known-size awards · market: CPV 4411 · North West England, n=13
2 of 215%

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 North West England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 5 of 7 known-location awards · market: CPV 4411 · North West England, n=7
71%29%

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: 3 decided notices · market: CPV 4411 · UK-wide, n=24
223 days54 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 223 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.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 0 of 2 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4411 · North West England, n=5
0 of 240%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer20 lots with bid counts · all categories
0% had one bid
The market15 lots with bid counts · CPV 4411 · North West England
27% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 27%
Buyer: 0 of 20 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
2–310% / 20%
Buyer: 2 of 20 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
4–615% / 20%
Buyer: 3 of 20 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
7+75% / 33%
Buyer: 15 of 20 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 15 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.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.

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 223196 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£75m

This lot is listed as CPV 2231. The table above uses the notice category.

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 86 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet9% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 86 similar lots
1 bid9%
8 of 86 similar past lots received 1 bid (9%).
2–343%
37 of 86 similar past lots received 2–3 (43%).
4–633%
28 of 86 similar past lots received 4–6 (33%).
7+15%
13 of 86 similar past lots received 7+ (15%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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
Works
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Framework agreement
Who may use this agreement
Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
12 Aug 2026, 13:26 BST
Last source update
12 Aug 2026, 13:26 BST
Authority reference
20260603
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-076776
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Building fittingsConstruction consultancy servicesConstruction workDesigns
Delivery area
North West (UKD3)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e296 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

12 Aug 2026 → 1 Jul 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published75 days ago
    12 Aug 2026, 13:26 BST
  2. Market engagement38 days ago
    18 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST

    Market sounding questionnaires should be submitted via the ProContract procurement portal. Suppliers can register for free using the following link: procontract.due-north.com/Register ↗.

    Upon registration, Suppliers can access the opportunity via the following project reference: DN825487.

    Interested parties will need to express interest via ProContract and request the Market Engagement Documentation. procontract.due-north.com ↗ Project reference DN825487. Please use the messaging function within the project to confirm interest, documentation will be sent via this route.

  3. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  4. Tender notice expectedin 9 days
    5 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 246 days
    1 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    12 Aug 2026, 13:26 BST
    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 Greater Manchester

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PNJQ-2746-NWYT 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester, North West, M1 3BGContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure