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Stanfell

Leads before the tender: private UK projects

Most of the work you want is never tendered.

Tender alerts are complete for public buyers, who have to advertise. Private companies do not. A haulier adding a yard, a recycler adding a line or a developer building a battery site asks two or three suppliers it already knows, and the only public trace of the decision is the permission that came first.

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CM/T-4/2026/0163written for equipment and EPC

Private storage developer commits a 60 MW site

  • Milestone passed 14 September 2026; window opens November 2027.
  • 60 MW held by a project company owned by a private developer.
  • No EPC, civils or electrical contractor announced.
  • The developer's earlier projects were let without a public tender.

Sixty megawatts, a date, and a developer whose last three projects were let privately. No tender will ever tell you about this one; the permission is the only notice there will be.

What puts a card here
A private company is permitted to grow, months before it chooses a supplier.
When the money moves
Typically months before any order, and for private buyers there may never be a tender at all.

Side by side.

Neither is better in general. They answer different questions, and many suppliers need both.

AspectTender alert servicesStanfell
Who it coversPublic bodies and regulated utilities that must advertisePrivate companies, which never have to advertise
When you hearWhen the buyer has already decided what to buyWhen the buyer has been allowed to grow and has not yet chosen
What you do nextAnswer a specification written by someone elseHelp write the specification, or be on the list of those asked
CompetitionEveryone subscribed to the same alertWhoever the buyer already knows, which can be you
What arrivesNotices matched to keywordsCards in your categories, each with the figure, the date and a reading

Three things the card tells you that a list cannot.

The permission is the start of it. What makes the call worth making is what the other records say about the company holding it, 13 of them read together.

  1. The permission that precedes the purchase, which is often the only public sign that a purchase is coming.
  2. How long there is before the order, so you are known to the buyer before the shortlist exists.
  3. Who the buyer really is, including the parent behind a project company.

Who reads this one.

  • Suppliers selling to private companies
  • Contractors outside public frameworks
  • Equipment suppliers with long lead times
  • Service companies competing on relationships

Questions about this one.

Does this replace my tender alerts?
Not if you sell to councils, the NHS or water companies. Keep them. This covers the private side of the market, which tender alerts cannot see because nothing is ever published.
How far ahead of an order is a card?
It depends on the trade: weeks for vehicles, months for process plant, a year or more for energy equipment. Every card carries the date that decides it, so you can see how much time there is.

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