Planning

Design Support Provider

SELLAFIELD LIMITED

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Planning

19 Nov 2025 at 16:05

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

14 May 2025 at 14:13

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Sellafield Limited, a public authority in the sub-central government sector, is preparing for a significant procurement process titled "Design Support Provider." The current stage is planning, with a preliminary market engagement notice issued to refine requirements and gather market feedback. Sellafield Limited, located in Warrington, UK, aims to launch formal competition for design support services under Lot 8 of the Crown Commercial Service RM6356 Framework Agreement in April 2026. The deadline for the initial engagement milestone is set for 5th December 2025. This procurement falls under the services category and encompasses various tasks essential to the decommissioning mission, focusing on design engineering and safety case support for nuclear facilities.

This tender presents an excellent opportunity for businesses, especially those offering niche nuclear design and safety case specialisations. With a gross contract value of GBP 360 million over four years, the procurement aims to establish long-term partnerships with suppliers capable of providing intelligent customer oversight and specialist design support. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to participate, with resilience in the supply chain as a priority. The framework agreement structure allows tenderers to bid for multiple contracts, fostering growth potential for firms proficient in civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, and process design in the nuclear sector. The procurement approach is structured to balance a competitive environment and the establishment of a capable and responsive supply chain.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Design Support Provider

Notice Description

Sellafield Ltd plan to call for competition under Lot 8 of the new Crown Commercial Services RM6356 Construction Professional Services 2 (CPS2) Framework Agreement that is due to go live in April 2026. Sellafield Ltd. anticipates the call for competition commencing in April 2026. Design support is a critical enabler to the Sellafield Ltd mission. Delivery of design engineering and safety case support services are essential to the Sellafield decommissioning mission covering new assets, asset care, retrievals, and remediation projects. It will support the intelligent customer function for the other delivery models and provide early-stage client support to conclude the most appropriate point to commence scope transfer (i.e. value transition point). The contracts will deliver a design scope associated with the provision of Intelligent Customer (IC) oversight and niche nuclear design and safety case specialisms for the Sellafield Ltd Enterprise. The scope established to support the Sellafield enterprise aligns to capability provision. At the primary level it aligns to: * Client support - IC design support and independent capabilities, including early front-end design and studies support (pre-value transition point) * Operational support - providing a design and safety case provision to operational nuclear facilities, often needed quickly and with integrated working and on plant access. Value is realised through responsiveness to plant scenarios, minimising equipment downtime and reducing the need for replacement systems with associated Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit(CDEL) expenditure. * Safety case and specialist nuclear capability - supplements existing internal capabilities and focuses on enabling access to specialist skills that otherwise wouldn't be sustainable as part of full lifecycle delivery models. The competition will be managed as ten procurements based on scope aligned to different areas of the business. They will be undertaken in three tranches: Tranche 1 1. Contract 1 - Design support to Plant-Facing Design Office (PFDO) civil, structural and architectural 2. Contract 2 - Design support to PFDO multi-discipline mechanical, electrical and instrumentation 3. Contract 3 - Design support to PFDO manufactured products 4. Contract 4 - Design support to PFDO process Tranche 2 5. Contract 5 - Design support to Site project office client 6. Contract 6 - Design support to Remediation / legacy projects 7. Contract 7 - Design support to Retrievals client 8. Contract 8 - Design support to Studies and engineering capability Tranche 3 9. Contract 9 - Design support to Infrastructure front-end enabling 10. Contract 10 - Design support to Safety case Tenderers can bid for all contracts. If a supplier bids for all contracts, the intention is to restrict award to four (4) contracts, to enable a resilient supply chain. Suppliers who are approved on Lot 8 and wish to submit bids for five(5) or more contracts of this procurement, will be required to state a 'Preferred Contracts' in the event they are scored highest on both bids. The proposed duration for contracts is four (4) years, with no opportunity to extend for a further.

Planning Information

Following publication of this UK2 Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) Notice Sellafield Ltd will be undertaking PME to prepare effectively before calling for competition. The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to provide potential participants who have bid for Lot 8 of CPS2 (and the wider Supply Chain), with the opportunity to engage with Sellafield Ltd. to better understand what the market can offer which will allow Sellafield Ltd. to refine and shape our requirements for Design Support Provider services. Sellafield Ltd. also want to gather feedback on the proposed timescales, contract restrictions, Call-Off term and approach for the commercial model. Suppliers must register their interest to obtain further information and provide feedback about this opportunity via the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield Ltd E-procurement system, Atamis. This can be found at the following address: https://atamis-2464.my.site.com/s/Welcome. Once you have registered on Atamis, you can access all documentation and submit feedback using the record reference C28065, Design Service Providers Engagement Vehicle. Further information and UK1 notices can be found in the following records: C25802 - Plant-Facing Design Office (PFDO) Civil, Structural and Architectural UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021371-2025] C25855 - PFDO: Multi-discipline Mechanical, Electrical and Instrumentation UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/020851-2025] C25788 - PFDO: Manufactured Products Organisation UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021141-2025] C25789 - PFDO: Process UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021152-2025] C25799 - Site Project Office Client UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021111-2025] C25786 - Remediation / Legacy Projects UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/020813-2025] C25857 - Retrievals Client UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/020858-2025] C25787 - Studies and Engineering Capability UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021134-2025] C25797 - Infrastructure - Front-end Enabling UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021356-2025] C25804 - Safety Cases UK1 Notice: [https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021340-2025]

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-051363
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075370-2025
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

79933000 - Design support services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£300,000,000 £100M-£1B
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
19 Nov 20253 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
1 Apr 20262 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
31 May 2026 - 31 May 2030 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
SELLAFIELD LIMITED
Additional Buyers

SELLAFIELD LIMITED - HINTON

Contact Name
Mark Kowe
Contact Email
dsp.engagement@sellafieldsites.com
Contact Phone
019467 28333

Buyer Location

Locality
WARRINGTON
Postcode
WA3 6GR
Post Town
Warrington
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD6 Cheshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD61 Warrington
Delivery Location
TLD11 West Cumbria, TLD61 Warrington
Local Authority
Warrington
Electoral Ward
Birchwood
Westminster Constituency
Warrington North

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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