118_25 Weather Forecasting Services

This is for a Preliminary market engagement (PME) where the tender documentation is not yet available. However, interest (Expressions of interest) is being sought for this here, and for a Request for Information survey exercise to be completed as detailed below (the engagement period is due to end on 09/05/2025, although the Expression of interest window may be kept open beyond this).

PLEASE ACCESS THE MESSAGES AREA/SECTION ON THE ACTIVITY DASHBOARD (ONCE AN EXPRESSION OF INTEREST HAS BEEN COMPLETED) FOR ANY FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS FOR THIS PRELIMINARY MARKET ENGAGEMENT, INCLUDING THE RFI DOCUMENTATION.

An ESPO national framework for the provision of weather forecasting services.

The duration of the framework agreement is expected to be for 2 years (24 months), with the option to extend for up to a further 2 years (24 months). The total estimated value stated includes the option period.

Suppliers will be engaged with via a Request for Information survey exercise (see the Messages area/section of this eProcurement Portal, which is accessed via the Activity dashboard screen, for further details on this). The aims of the engagement are:
• To engage with providers in the market
• To obtain views on the procurement process to be used
• To assess the market’s capacity to meet ESPO’s requirements
• To assess any changes to the market
• To identify any potential risks or challenges in the market
• To determine with social value is relevant to the market
• To ensure the market is prepared for carbon reduction plans to be included as a condition of participation for the procurement

Note: for any questions relating to the operation of the Portal itself, ProContract, these should be submitted to Proactis, and the following links (URL's) can be used for this for supplier support and system technical queries: https://www.proactis.com/uk/support-login/ or via https://suppliersupport.proactisservicedesk.com/. OTHERWISE, ANY QUESTIONS RELATING TO THIS PME should be submitted to ESPO by accessing the Messages area/section once an Expression of interest has been completed.

Economic operators should note that this is a preliminary market engagement exercise (and NOT a competitive tender process at this stage). The participation of an economic operator in this preliminary market engagement will not constitute any contractual agreement between the respondent and the Contracting Authority/Client. An economic operator's participation, or lack of participation, in this preliminary market engagement shall not impact the ability of the economic operator to participate in any resulting tender exercise. Economic operators should note that any interest indicated does not constitute a commitment to participate in any future tendering exercise.

For further details on the Procurement Act, including registration on the Central Digital Platform, this can be found as follows:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/information-and-guidance-for-suppliers

Or otherwise, please refer to the ESPO Website as follows:

https://www.espo.org/the-procurement-act-2023