As we now gradually emerge from lockdown, it is important that all businesses familiarise themselves quickly with the current status of projects; both those that have just been let and those that have yet to be awarded. Importantly, data below summarises this for you and helps quantify the pent-up demand there is, rolling forward, in this sector.

As I am sure you are aware, our contract data available on PREEMPT, is refined from thousands and thousands of European (OJEU) CPV codes, down to those codes relevant to the work we monitor on the Social Housing Sector. This is our Master Focal Research CPV and Categories List.

There must therefore have been a direct match with one or more of these codes, for a project to be shown on PREEMPT, our online portal.

OJEU and FTS Systems
Until 31st December 2020, all these major projects were tendered and awarded through the OJEU system and any tender notice, having been submitted via this system prior to 1st January 2021, must still run through to a Contract Award on the OJEU system.

However, from the end of the Brexit transition period i.e. 1st January 2021, the government set up its own bidding system, known as the ‘Find a Tender Service’(FTS). This has now gone LIVE.

Hence, we are monitoring projects daily, making their way through both the OJEU and the new FTS system.

Recent Analysis of Tenders/Notices 2020/21
Our recent analysis has shown the following status of projects sieved through our Master List for GB:
• In 2021 (i.e. from 1st January to 3rd March 2021) only 148 relevant tenders/notices, which contain 368 lots, were issued through FTS and NO Awards were made.
• During 2020 (i.e. 1st January to 31st December 2020) 797 tenders/notices, relevant to social housing, were issued, containing 2569 Lots. However, only 44% of these have been awarded, to date i.e. 56% have NOT yet been confirmed as awarded.

These potential projects are now all displayed, (down to individual Lot detail), on a new layout on PREEMPT called ‘Future’ projects. So potentially PREEMPT allows you to look at any chosen Housing Association, Local Authority with housing stock, ALMO or Procurement Consortia and see details of their Past/Present/ and now Future contracts, all on one screen.

There is also a ‘Future’ Report, which lists all social housing tenders/notices, which have come out (over the last 18 months) but have yet to be awarded, and this report can be reviewed in date order, (i.e. the most recent first) and by organisation and ‘Lot’ detail. This is updated daily.

‘Future’ projects are moved, once awarded, onto the ‘Present’ layout and from ‘Present’ to ‘Past’ once the contract has ended. In this way, for example, details of Contractors are retained on this screen for 18 months, to provide you with their historic relationship with a landlord or procurement consortia.

More improvements to this section of PREEMPT are due next month, including being able to bespoke CPV settings and categories, in order to highlight those ‘Future’ notices that would “match” your company’s line of business.

Obtaining access to this data
If you’d like to learn more about PREEMPT and how Focal Research can help your business, please feel free to get in touch and we’d be happy to arrange a virtual meeting.