AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Natural England has concluded and signed a contract with GROUNDED RESEARCH LIMITED for qualitative social-science research into how medium and large landowners/managers view the 30by30 opportunity.
Published outcomeOne active award and active contract are recorded for GROUNDED RESEARCH LIMITED. The contract was signed on 1 October 2026, runs from 12 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, and has a stated net value of £44,310 and gross value of £51,992.
Market significanceThis is a below-threshold research-services commission intended to inform engagement and uptake of the 30by30 target among medium and large landowners/managers.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
GROUNDED RESEARCH LIMITED
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · £44,310 net; £51,992 gross GBP · Verified supplier; active award and contract
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Award 1 names GROUNDED RESEARCH LIMITED as supplier. The supplied company-number verification identifies company 15781973 as GROUNDED RESEARCH LIMITED. Contract 1 is linked to award 1 and states the values.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Procurement status
98% confidenceComplete
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Tender lot 1 is marked complete in the supplied tender data.
Award status
98% confidenceActive
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Award 1 is marked active.
Contract status
98% confidenceActive
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Contract 1 is marked active.
Contract signature
99% confidenceSigned on 1 October 2026
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Contract 1 records dateSigned as 2026-10-01.
Contract period
99% confidence12 October 2026 to 31 March 2027
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Contract 1 period startDate is 2026-10-12 and endDate is 2027-03-31.
VALUES
Published values explained
Contract value, excluding VAT
99% confidence£44,310
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Contract 1 value.amount is 44310 GBP.
Contract value, including VAT
99% confidence£51,992
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Contract 1 value.amountGross is 51992 GBP.
Opportunity value maximum
92% confidence£45,000
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Process-level value_max is 45000 GBP.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Tender notice first published
98% confidence3 September 2026
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Release history records tender notice 083266-2026 on 2026-09-03.
Submission deadline
98% confidence23 September 2026, 23:59
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Process submission_deadline is 2026-09-23T23:59:00+01:00.
Contract signed
99% confidence1 October 2026
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Contract 1 dateSigned is 2026-10-01.
Contract start
99% confidence12 October 2026
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Contract 1 period startDate is 2026-10-12.
Contract end
99% confidence31 March 2027
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Contract 1 period endDate is 2027-03-31.
Contract details notice published
99% confidence19 October 2026
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Contract document 098466-2026 records datePublished as 2026-10-19.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Requirement
98% confidenceQualitative social-science research on the appeal of 30by30 for landowners/managers not directly involved in designing the target.
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Process description.
Target participants
97% confidenceMedium and large landowners and/or managers, particularly those potentially able to meet silver and gold tier thresholds in the 30by30 Delivery Plan.
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Process description.
Intended use
97% confidenceTo help facilitate uptake of the 30by30 target among the target group.
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Process description.
Service classifications
96% confidenceResearch services; survey services; social research services.
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Award item CPV classifications include 73110000, 79311000 and 79315000.
Delivery coverage
96% confidenceEngland regions UKC, UKD, UKE, UKF, UKG, UKH, UKI, UKJ and UKK.
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Award item delivery addresses list these UK regions.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
99% confidenceBelow-threshold open competition
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Tender procurementMethod is open and procurementMethodDetails is 'Below threshold - open competition'.
Main category
98% confidenceServices
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Award mainProcurementCategory is services.
Lots
98% confidenceOne lot recorded (lot 1)
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Tender data contains lot 1; award 1 is related to lot 1.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Contract term
99% confidence12 October 2026 to 31 March 2027
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Contract 1 period.
Above-threshold status
99% confidenceNo
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Contract 1 aboveThreshold is false.
VAT treatment
99% confidenceBoth net and gross contract amounts are published.
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Contract value records amount £44,310 and amountGross £51,992.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Award structure
97% confidenceThe published record shows one supplier, one award and one related lot, so the stated contract value is attributable to the single recorded contract.
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Award 1 names one supplier and relates to lot 1; contract 1 is linked to award 1.
Price comparison
94% confidenceThe published net contract value (£44,310) is below the process-level maximum value (£45,000).
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Process value_max is £45,000; contract amount is £44,310.
Selection rationale
99% confidenceUnknown
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No evaluation scores, bidder ranking, award rationale or bid count is supplied.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Value presentation
99% confidenceThe notice supplies both net and gross contract values; they are reported separately to avoid ambiguity.
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Contract 1 records amount £44,310 and amountGross £51,992.
Lot detail
99% confidenceLot 1 has no published title, description or separate lot value.
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Supplied lot record contains no title, description or value amount.
Competition information
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice: bid count, evaluation method, scores and award rationale.
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No such fields appear in the supplied data.
Renewal information
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice: extension or renewal options.
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No extension or renewal terms appear in the supplied contract data.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- No bid count, evaluation scores, award rationale or pricing breakdown is published.
- Lot 1 has no published title, description or individual value.
- No extension or renewal terms are supplied.
- The process-level maximum value and signed contract value use different published value fields; the analysis reports each as labelled rather than treating them as the same measure.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Natural EnglandGROUNDED RESEARCH LIMITED30by30landowner researchsocial researchpublic procurement
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who won the Natural England 30by30 research contract?
GROUNDED RESEARCH LIMITED won the recorded award.
What is the contract value?
The published contract value is £44,310 excluding VAT and £51,992 including VAT.
When does the contract run?
It runs from 12 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 and was signed on 1 October 2026.
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.