AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
ESPO, trading as Leicestershire County Council, has published a contract award notice for a three-lot catalogue framework for musical instruments and associated products. All three awards remain pending, with signature dates scheduled after standstill; the notice does not evidence signed or active contracts.
Published outcomePending awards name seven suppliers across three lots: Frederick Hyde Limited (t/a Chamberlain Music), Drums for Schools Limited, Sartoris Products Limited (t/a Educational Aids), Normans (Burton Upon Trent) Limited (t/a Normans Musical Instruments), Ocarina Workshop Limited, The Soundbeam Project Limited and Warwick Music Limited (t/a pBone Music).
Market significanceThe framework has a published total estimated net value of £833,333, including a possible extension. Lot 1 is a multi-supplier award, while Lots 2 and 3 have one and two named suppliers respectively.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
10 supplier records analysed
Frederick Hyde Limited (t/a Chamberlain Music)
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots Lot 1. Supply of Musical Instruments · Unallocated share of £500,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among seven suppliers for pending Award 1; the £500,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
Drums for Schools Limited
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots Lot 1. Supply of Musical Instruments · Unallocated share of £500,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among seven suppliers for pending Award 1; the £500,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
Sartoris Products Limited (t/a Educational Aids)
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots Lot 1. Supply of Musical Instruments · Unallocated share of £500,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among seven suppliers for pending Award 1; the £500,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
Normans (Burton Upon Trent) Limited (t/a Normans Musical Instruments)
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots Lot 1. Supply of Musical Instruments · Unallocated share of £500,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among seven suppliers for pending Award 1; the £500,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
Ocarina Workshop Limited
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots Lot 1. Supply of Musical Instruments · Unallocated share of £500,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among seven suppliers for pending Award 1; the £500,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
The Soundbeam Project Limited
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots Lot 1. Supply of Musical Instruments · Unallocated share of £500,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among seven suppliers for pending Award 1; the £500,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
Warwick Music Limited (t/a pBone Music)
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots Lot 1. Supply of Musical Instruments · Unallocated share of £500,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among seven suppliers for pending Award 1; the £500,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
Normans (Burton Upon Trent) Limited (t/a Normans Musical Instruments)
99% confidenceAward 2 · Lots Lot 2. Musical Instrument Essentials · £233,333 net GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Normans is the sole named supplier for pending Award 2, which has a published net value of £233,333.
Frederick Hyde Limited (t/a Chamberlain Music)
98% confidenceAward 3 · Lots Lot 3. Smartbuy Musical Instrument · Unallocated share of £100,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among two suppliers for pending Award 3; the £100,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
Normans (Burton Upon Trent) Limited (t/a Normans Musical Instruments)
98% confidenceAward 3 · Lots Lot 3. Smartbuy Musical Instrument · Unallocated share of £100,000 net award value GBP · Pending
View supporting evidence
Named among two suppliers for pending Award 3; the £100,000 net value is shared and no supplier allocation is published.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Published award notice
99% confidence16 October 2026
View supporting evidence
UK6 contract award notice 097868-2026 was published on this date.
Award status
99% confidencePending for all three awards
View supporting evidence
Awards 1, 2 and 3 each have status 'pending'.
Standstill end
99% confidence27 October 2026
View supporting evidence
Each award records a standstill period ending 27 October 2026 at 23:59:59 UTC.
Scheduled signature date
99% confidence28 October 2026
View supporting evidence
Each award includes a scheduled futureSignatureDate milestone of 28 October 2026.
Planned framework start
99% confidence1 March 2027
View supporting evidence
Each pending award records this contract-period start date.
VALUES
Published values explained
Total published framework estimate
99% confidence£833,333 net; £1,000,000 gross
View supporting evidence
The three pending awards total £833,333 net (£500,000 + £233,333 + £100,000) and £1,000,000 gross (£600,000 + £280,000 + £120,000).
Lot 1 published estimate
99% confidence£500,000 net; £600,000 gross
View supporting evidence
Pending Award 1 value.
Lot 2 published estimate
99% confidence£233,333 net; £280,000 gross
View supporting evidence
Pending Award 2 value.
Lot 3 published estimate
99% confidence£100,000 net; £120,000 gross
View supporting evidence
Pending Award 3 value.
Value treatment
99% confidencePublished total includes the extension option
View supporting evidence
Each award's renewal description states that total estimated values include the option to extend.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Tender notice published
99% confidence5 August 2026
View supporting evidence
Release history records tender notice 074181-2026 on this date.
Tender submission deadline
99% confidence4 September 2026, 12:00 BST
View supporting evidence
Process submission deadline.
Award decision date
99% confidence8 October 2026
View supporting evidence
Each pending award records this date.
Assessment summaries sent
99% confidence16 October 2026
View supporting evidence
Each award records assessmentSummariesDateSent on this date.
Initial planned end date
99% confidence31 March 2029
View supporting evidence
Each award's contract period ends on this date.
Maximum stated extent date
99% confidence28 February 2031
View supporting evidence
Each award records maxExtentDate of 28 February 2031.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Framework purpose
99% confidenceCatalogue framework for musical instruments and associated products, for ESPO stock and direct delivery to end-user establishments
View supporting evidence
Procurement description.
Lot 1
99% confidenceSupply of Musical Instruments
View supporting evidence
Award 1 title.
Lot 2
99% confidenceMusical Instrument Essentials
View supporting evidence
Award 2 title.
Lot 3
99% confidenceSmartbuy Musical Instrument
View supporting evidence
Award 3 title.
Geographic delivery
99% confidenceUnited Kingdom
View supporting evidence
Each award item lists delivery region UK.
Product flexibility
99% confidenceESPO may add or remove products during the framework, provided they remain within scope
View supporting evidence
Options description for each award.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
99% confidenceOpen procedure
View supporting evidence
Tender procurementMethodDetails is 'Open procedure'.
Framework arrangement
99% confidenceFramework agreement
View supporting evidence
Tender techniques state hasFrameworkAgreement: true.
Lot structure
99% confidenceThree lots
View supporting evidence
Procurement description and tender lots.
Competition metrics
99% confidenceUnknown
View supporting evidence
Information on numbers of tenders, unsuccessful suppliers, evaluation scores and ranking is not supplied in the published notice.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Initial term
99% confidence1 March 2027 to 31 March 2029
View supporting evidence
Contract period recorded for each pending award.
Extension option
99% confidenceUp to 23 further months after the initial period
View supporting evidence
Renewal description for each award.
Extension conditions
99% confidenceDependent on ESPO, ESPO customer and market needs, and sales performance
View supporting evidence
Renewal description.
Award/contract state
99% confidenceNot evidenced as signed or active
View supporting evidence
All awards are pending and list a future scheduled signature milestone.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Supplier allocation model
99% confidenceMulti-supplier panels on Lots 1 and 3; sole named supplier on Lot 2
View supporting evidence
Award supplier lists show seven suppliers for Lot 1, two for Lot 3 and one for Lot 2.
Value concentration
99% confidenceLot 1 represents £500,000 net of the £833,333 total published net estimate
View supporting evidence
Published award values.
Call-off/pricing detail
99% confidenceUnknown
View supporting evidence
The notice does not publish call-off rules, pricing schedules, catalogue pricing or individual supplier value allocations.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Pending award status
99% confidenceThe notice is an award notice, but all three awards remain pending; it does not confirm signature, contract conclusion or operational commencement.
View supporting evidence
Award statuses are pending; future signature milestone is scheduled for 28 October 2026.
Shared-value treatment
99% confidenceLot 1 and Lot 3 values are shared award estimates and cannot be attributed to individual suppliers.
View supporting evidence
Multiple suppliers are named for those awards, with no allocation data supplied.
Supplier identity basis
98% confidenceSupplier names are reproduced from the published notice; separate verified legal company names were not supplied.
View supporting evidence
Supplier verification status is not_applicable and verified company-name fields are null.
Published-information gap
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice includes bid counts, evaluation outcomes, supplier-specific allocations, call-off rules, pricing and signed-contract evidence.
View supporting evidence
No such fields or documents are provided in the source data.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- All three awards are pending. The published notice includes a future signature milestone, so it does not evidence signed, concluded or active contracts.
- Lot 1 and Lot 3 values are shared across multiple named suppliers; individual supplier allocations are not published.
- Separate verified legal supplier names were not supplied; supplier names are reported from the source notice, including stated trading names.
- Information not supplied in the published notice includes tender response counts, evaluation scores, selection rationale, pricing, call-off mechanisms, supplier-specific values and signed-contract documents.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
ESPO musical instruments frameworkLeicestershire County Council procurementmusical instruments tender awardChamberlain MusicNormans Musical InstrumentsDrums for SchoolsEducational AidspBone Music
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Has the ESPO Musical Instruments framework been signed?
No signed contract is evidenced. All three awards are marked pending and each has a scheduled signature date of 28 October 2026.
What is the published value of the framework?
The published estimated value is £833,333 net (£1,000,000 gross). The notice states that this includes the possible extension.
Which suppliers are named on the pending awards?
Frederick Hyde Limited (t/a Chamberlain Music), Drums for Schools Limited, Sartoris Products Limited (t/a Educational Aids), Normans (Burton Upon Trent) Limited (t/a Normans Musical Instruments), Ocarina Workshop Limited, The Soundbeam Project Limited and Warwick Music Limited (t/a pBone Music).
When is the framework planned to start?
The pending awards state a planned start date of 1 March 2027, subject to the awards progressing to concluded contracts.
ProcuraAxis award analysis supplements, but does not replace, the official award notice, contract data or procurement documents. “Awarded” does not by itself prove that a contract has been signed.