Preliminary market engagement and expressions of interest
Buyers may sound out the market before advertising, and must publish a preliminary market engagement notice or say why not. What to send, and what it commits you to.
Updated on September 5, 2026
Preliminary market engagement is the process by which a public body talks to potential suppliers before it advertises a contract, to understand what the market can offer, what it costs and how the requirement should be shaped. In the United Kingdom it is the closest equivalent of the French appel à manifestation d'intérêt. Responses are not tenders and create no contract.
How it works
The Procurement Act 2023 puts preliminary market engagement on a statutory footing. An authority may engage the market to develop its requirements, prepare the procurement, identify likely suppliers or build their capacity to bid. If it does so, it must publish a preliminary market engagement notice (notice type UK2) before publishing the tender notice, or explain in the tender notice why it did not. That transparency requirement is new and is one of the most useful signals a supplier can watch.
The Act also sets the boundary. Engagement must not put any supplier at an unfair advantage or distort competition; if it does, and the effect cannot be neutralised by sharing the information with everyone, the supplier concerned must be excluded. In practice buyers publish an open invitation with a questionnaire, run supplier days or hold one-to-one sessions, then publish a summary.
Beyond procurement, the phrase "expression of interest" is used for other opportunities: leases and occupation of public land, community asset transfers, concession and property competitions, and the first stage of some grant programmes leading to a call for proposals. Those follow their own rules, not the Act. In Ireland the equivalent is a prior information notice or a market consultation published on eTenders.
What it means for a bidder
Responding costs little and puts you in front of the buyer before competition starts. It is the moment to explain what is technically realistic, to argue for lots a smaller firm can bid for, for deliverable timescales, or for the certifications that actually matter.
Be careful with commercially sensitive material: what you send can end up in the published specification and be seen by your competitors. And do not confuse this with the selection stage of a live procurement. Responding guarantees you no invitation, and staying silent excludes you from nothing.
Example
A combined authority publishes a preliminary market engagement notice to find operators able to supply and run 200 e-bikes for a hire scheme. Eleven organisations respond. The engagement leads the authority to run a below-threshold procurement for a pilot worth about £180,000 including VAT, then a full above-threshold competition for the roll-out, open to everyone and not only to those who responded.
Frequently asked questions
Does responding commit me to anything?
No. It is a statement of interest, with no status as an offer and no obligation to bid later.
Can a contract be awarded straight after market engagement?
Not for a public contract: a proper procurement must follow. For a property or land opportunity, the expression of interest exercise can itself be the selection process.
How does this differ from a planned procurement notice?
A planned procurement notice is a formal advance notice of a specific contract, with legal effects on tendering periods. Market engagement is a conversation.