--- title: "003843 - Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-07743a" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07743a" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07743a.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07743a.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "Durham County Council" published: "2026-09-17" --- # 003843 - Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets Buyer: Durham County Council Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-07743a [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07743a) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07743a.json) ## Summary Durham County Council is exploring the supply of standalone virtual reality headsets for use in care settings across County Durham. The requirement is for complete equipment, including accessories and chargers, together with immersive 360-degree experiences that can be delivered safely in seated, supervised one-to-one or small-group sessions. Content is intended to support reminiscence, relaxation, wellbeing, social interaction and meaningful activities, particularly for older people, people living with dementia and other adult service users. The solution should support personalised individual use and planned group sessions. It may include locally relevant content about County Durham and the North East, including places, history and culture. This is primarily a goods requirement combining computer equipment, multimedia equipment and software. This is a preliminary market engagement exercise at the planning stage, intended to help shape a possible future procurement; it is not an invitation to tender. The Council expects to use supplier responses to make any later exercise feasible, focused and attractive to the market. Written response questionnaires are expected by Friday 9 October 2026 at 12 noon, with access through the Open Tendering Portal after registration. The indicative contract period is 1 February 2027 to 31 January 2028. The estimated value is £15,000 excluding VAT, or £18,000 including VAT. The planned procurement is below the relevant threshold and is presented as one lot, with the Council identifying it as suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community or social enterprises. This engagement will suit suppliers able to provide and support standalone VR hardware, charging equipment, operating software and immersive content for care environments. Strong candidates will be able to demonstrate safe, accessible delivery for seated users, including older people and people living with dementia, and support both individual and small-group activities. Relevant capability includes content for reminiscence, relaxation, wellbeing, social connection and meaningful activity, with a process for regular content refreshes to sustain repeat use. Suppliers able to provide County Durham or North East content, or develop and commission experiences reflecting local places, history and culture, will be well placed. The Council is also looking for intuitive operation by social care staff after training, with clear guidance on suitability and safe use. ## Notice The Council is inviting suppliers to participate in preliminary engagement to gain insight from the market with the purpose of making any potential future exercise, well framed, feasible, focused and of likely interest to the market. Durham County Council (DCC) is looking to explore the market options for Virtual Reality (VR) headsets suitable for use in a range of care settings. Scope * Provision of standalone virtual reality headsets suitable for use in a range of care settings, including all required accessories and chargers * The solution must provide immersive 360-degree experiences that can be delivered safely in seated, supervised one-to-one or small group sessions. * Content should support reminiscence, relaxation, wellbeing, social interaction and meaningful activity primarily for older people, including people living with dementia and other adult service user groups as appropriate. * The supplier should provide local content relevant to County Durham and the North East where available, with the option to develop or commission new experiences linked to local places, history, culture and service-user interests. * Content should be refreshed regularly so the service has access to new experiences over time and can maintain interest for repeat users. * The specification should support both individual personalised use and planned group activity sessions within a range of care settings. * The solution must be suitable for social staff to operate following training, with clear guidance on when VR may or may not be appropriate for an individual. Written response questionnaires ca ### Planning Information Written response questionnaires can be accessed free of charge by registering on the Open Tendering Portal at www.open-uk.org The deadline for written submissions, via the Open Portal is Friday 9th October at 12 noon. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088139-2026 | | 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, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 17 Sep 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 1 Feb 2027 - 31 Jan 2028 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £15,000 | | 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 | Durham County Council | | Locality | DURHAM | | Postcode area | Durham | | Postcode | DH1 5WB | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) | | ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear | | ITL 3 | TLC41 Durham | | Local authority | County Durham | | Electoral ward | Framwellgate & Newton Hall | | Westminster constituency | City of Durham | | Delivery location | TLC14 Durham | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 30 - Office and computing machinery, equipment and supplies except furniture and software packages - 32 - Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment - 48 - Software package and information systems ### Codes - 30200000 - Computer equipment and supplies - 32322000 - Multimedia equipment - 48000000 - Software package and information systems ## Release History - 17 Sep 2026 at 11:58 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088139-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088139-2026 17th September 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - http://www.durham.gov.uk/ - 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-07743a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07743a.json.