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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Line Search Before We Dig

NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS LIMITED · Contract award notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 2 Oct 2026, 01:30.

Opportunity overview

An online system which any third party can use to help them find utility pipes and cables in order to work safely. By undertaking a simple search, each enquirer gets an instant response for all the apparatus owned and/or operated by the Asset Owners All enquirers (users) receive an instant response to their enquiry advising if their site is inside or outside an Area of Interest (AOI) that would be designated by NGN. The result of this filtering process means that enquirers receive faster response times and NGN only receive relevant enquiries, eliminating any wasted time checking enquiries that are not near our assets. At present NGN receive approx 30,000 enquiries per month from enquirers who have plans to excavate nearby or close to our pipelines. The key benefit highlights are as follows: 1. Increased asset protection through significant annual enquiry volume growth 2. Less anticipated 3rd party damage to our assets 3. Reduced costs relating to internal investigations and legal support resulting from incidents 4. Increase in revenue from chargeable damages 5. Increased revenue from chargeable asset plans (mapping providers, conveyancers, land search companies) - 6. Stakeholder recognition & brand awareness - over 3,000,000 searches per annum 7. Increased customer service - search results provided to customer within 10 minutes versus current SLA of within 10 days. 8. Garden Mains (HSE challenge) - providing customers with mains inside their land boundary visibility of where the main is.

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

LINESEARCHBEFOREUDIG LIMITED

Matched by number
Published award value
£492k
Awarded
11 May 2026
Award ID
1
Status
pending
Identifier
GB-COH 07822531
Location
Ashby-De-La-Zouch, UKF22, LE65 2AB, United Kingdom

Classification

No classification was supplied.

Lots

  • Lot 1Value not stated

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
ocds-h6vhtk-0696af
Status
complete
Procurement Method
direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Why this procedure was chosen
A Direct Award to LinesearchBeforeUdig (LSBUD) is justified due to the platform's unique market position, critical safety function, and lack of viable equivalent alternatives. 1. Market Uniqueness and Sole Supplier Characteristics LSBUD is the national safe digging service, protecting over 60% of Great Britain's utility infrastructure and processing around 4 million enquiries annually. Its extensive membership-160+ asset owners across electricity, gas, water, telecoms, and fuel networks-makes it the only UK platform with this level of asset coverage and integration. No alternative platform provides comparable reach, national adoption, or instant multi utility response capabilities. 2. Regulatory and Safety Imperatives Safe dig compliance, HSE expectations, and risk mitigation obligations rely on immediate, accurate asset data. LSBUD is specifically designed to reduce asset strikes and improve safety outcomes, offering instant AOI responses within seconds. Replicating this functionality elsewhere would introduce unacceptable delays and risks. 3. Operational Efficiency and Risk Reduction LSBUD's ability to filter enquiries ensures NGN only receives relevant requests, preventing thousands of potential unsafe excavations and supporting faster customer responses. The proven model is already widely used by major UK utilities, including UK Power Distribution, which relies on LSBUD for asset searches. 4. High Switching Barriers Switching would require rebuilding integrations with 160+ network operators, re establishing data sharing agreements, and implementing new operational procedures-an impractical and costly undertaking. The absence of equivalent providers creates a de facto sole supplier environment. Conclusion: Given LSBUD's national infrastructure role, unrivalled asset-owner participation, and essential contribution to safety and operational efficiency, a Direct Award is a proportionate, defensible route that ensures continuity, compliance, and risk minimisation.

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Procedure reasons

Entry 1
Id
singleSuppliersTechnicalReasons
Entry 2
Id
additionalRepeatExtensionPartialReplacement

Special regime

utilities

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
complete

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Name
NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS LIMITED
Id
GB-COH-05167070

Identifier

Scheme
GB-COH
Id
05167070

Additional Identifiers

Entry 1
Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PRNB-9357-PVLR

Address

Street Address
1100 Century Way
Locality
Colton Leeds
Postal Code
LS15 8TU
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKE42

Contact

Name
Deborah Turner

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Id
privateUtility
Description
Private utility
Organisation 2
Name
LINESEARCHBEFOREUDIG LIMITED
Id
GB-COH-07822531

Identifier

Scheme
GB-COH
Id
07822531

Additional Identifiers

Entry 1
Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PQQG-7261-NCCZ

Address

Street Address
The Head Office Ivanhoe Office Park
Locality
Ashby-De-La-Zouch
Postal Code
LE65 2AB
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKF22

Contact

Roles

supplier

Details

Scale
sme
Vcse
No
Public Service Mission Organization
No
Sheltered Workshop
No

Award information

Award 1
Id
1
Title
Linesearch before you Dig
Status
pending
Date
12 May 2026, 00:00
Main Procurement Category
services
Above Threshold
Yes

Items

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
CPV
Id
48600000
Description
Database and operating software package
Entry 2
Scheme
CPV
Id
48800000
Description
Information systems and servers
Entry 3
Scheme
CPV
Id
76100000
Description
Professional services for the gas industry

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKC
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 2
Region
UKD
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 3
Region
UKE
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 4
Region
UKF
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 5
Region
UKG
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 6
Region
UKH
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 7
Region
UKI
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 8
Region
UKJ
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 9
Region
UKK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Value

Including VAT
590,400
Amount
492,000
Currency
GBP

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-COH-07822531
Name
LINESEARCHBEFOREUDIG LIMITED

Standstill Period

Ends
25 May 2026, 23:59

Contract period

Starts
11 Aug 2026, 00:00
Ends
10 Aug 2030, 23:59

Related lots

1

Documents

Entry 1
Id
043603-2026
Document Type
awardNotice
Notice Type
UK6
Description
Contract award notice on Find a Tender
Published
12 May 2026, 16:18
Format
text/html

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
1
Type
futureSignatureDate
Due
11 Aug 2026, 23:59
Status
scheduled

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Colton Leeds · UKE42 · LS15 8TU · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

2 published notice versions reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

2 VERSIONS
  1. 043464-2026Transparency notice on Find a Tender ·
  2. 043603-2026Contract award notice on Find a Tender ·