--- title: "PRE MARKET ENGAGEMENT EXERCISE - Provision of Protective Clothing, Safety Footwear and Personal Protective Equipment" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council" published: "2026-09-10" --- # PRE MARKET ENGAGEMENT EXERCISE - Provision of Protective Clothing, Safety Footwear and Personal Protective Equipment Buyer: Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f.json) ## Summary Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is preparing to buy protective clothing, safety footwear and personal protective equipment (PPE) for its requirements. The purchase covers protective and safety clothing, protective gear and protective footwear. This is a goods supply contract intended to provide the council with the equipment needed for its operations. The buying organisation is based at Craigavon Civic and Conference Centre in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. The council is seeking market input before finalising its procurement strategy and technical specification, with the aim of developing an affordable and deliverable supply arrangement. Suppliers offering a broad range of workplace protective clothing, safety footwear and PPE should consider whether their product range and distribution capability fit the requirement when it reaches the market. This procurement is at the planning stage and is currently a preliminary market engagement exercise, not an invitation to tender. The council expects to use market feedback to shape the procurement strategy and specification, including consideration of efficient and effective purchasing methods. A questionnaire is scheduled for completion by 24 September 2026, and the next notice is expected by 30 November 2026. The council intends to award the contract in late 2026. The planned contract period is 1 March 2027 to 28 February 2029, with a possible extension to 28 February 2031. There is one planned lot, with an estimated gross value of £691,200. The planned lot is marked as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and includes a renewal option. The engagement will suit manufacturers, wholesalers, specialist distributors and integrated suppliers of protective workwear, safety footwear and PPE. Businesses with established product catalogues, reliable sourcing and distribution, and the capacity to supply a public-sector organisation over a multi-year period should prepare to assess the requirement. The council is specifically looking for market insight that can help it develop a deliverable and affordable specification, so suppliers can contribute evidence about product ranges, supply models, purchasing routes and efficient fulfilment. SMEs are expressly considered suitable for the planned lot. Suppliers should use the engagement stage to explain how they can provide compliant protective clothing, footwear and equipment at a practical scale, and to highlight delivery arrangements or service features that could support an effective contract. ## Notice Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council ('ACBCBC') intend to commence a robust, credible and transparent preliminary market engagement exercise to develop a deliverable and affordable option for the 'Provision of Protective Clothing, Safety Footwear and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)' in order to achieve a successful contract award in late 2026. The purpose of this preliminary market engagement (PME) is to gather insights and feedback from the market to inform the development of the procurement strategy and specification for the 'Provision of Protective Clothing, Safety Footwear and Personal Protective Equipment' as well as assisting ACBCBC to ensure that the most efficient and effective methods of procurement are considered. This market engagement exercise will be participation from the supply base through the questionnaire uploaded in Documents section, where further information regarding participation is available. ### Planning Information Questionnaire - published on eTendersNI (ref CfT_6726994) ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085701-2026 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Goods | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | SME | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 10 Sep 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 30 Nov 2026 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 1 Mar 2027 - 28 Feb 2029 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £691,200 | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Planning | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council | | Locality | CRAIGAVON | | Postcode area | Northern Ireland | | Postcode | BT64 1AL | | Country | Northern Ireland | | ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland | | ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland | | ITL 3 | TLN07 Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | | Local authority | Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | | Electoral ward | Craigavon Centre | | Westminster constituency | Upper Bann | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 18 - Clothing, footwear, luggage articles and accessories - 35 - Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment ### Codes - 18143000 - Protective gear - 18830000 - Protective footwear - 35113400 - Protective and safety clothing ## Release History - 10 Sep 2026 at 10:23 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085701-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085701-2026 10th September 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f65f.json.