Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) will be holding hybrid market engagement events in advance of the forthcoming tender opportunity. The purpose of these events is to provide suppliers with an overview of the proposed procurement approach, service requirements per Lot, indicative timelines, and to give suppliers the opportunity to better understand the HIWFRS requirements before the procurement process begins. 

The events will also help HIWFRS to gain a better understanding of the market and supplier capacity. During each event, the project team will provide a presentation covering the proposed approach to the procurement, the anticipated requirements for the services being commissioned for each Lot, and some general procurement information and guidance. This will be followed by a question and answer session, where suppliers will be able to ask questions of the project team and seek clarification on the information presented. There will be two market engagement event dates available: Thursday 10th September 2026 (in person and via Microsoft Teams) for suppliers based on the Isle of Wight relating to Lots 9-13. There is only one session on this date. This session will take place in the morning. Friday 11th September 2026 (in person and via Microsoft Teams) for Hampshire providers relating to Lots 1-8. 

To support capacity management, both a morning and afternoon session will be available. The content of each session will be the same. Suppliers interested in attending either event must register their interest (please see below) and indicate which event they wish to attend, and whether they wish to attend in person or virtually via Microsoft Teams. Registered suppliers will be added to the attendee register. Please note that attendance at the in-person events will be subject to venue capacity limits. Should capacity be reached at a particular location, any additional suppliers wishing to attend in person will be offered the opportunity to join virtually via Microsoft Teams instead.

Once registered, the event details (including specific locations and times) will be shared with the supplier via In-Tend. Any one supplier can only register a maximum of two representatives for an in-person event; there is no restriction on the number of attendees joining virtually via Microsoft Teams. 

Registration for the event can be found by going to

https://in-tendhost.co.uk/hampshire/

and searching for 'HF29663'. You will need to click on 'View Details' for the project and then click the 'Express Interest' button to be able to view the information. 

There will be a form to complete, to indicate which session your organisation would like to join and whether this will be on Teams, or in person - please complete this and return it via Intend correspondence.

In addition, we would also appreciate supplier feedback and kindly ask interested suppliers to complete and submit the Market Engagement Questionnaire attached to the In-Tend project, after the market engagement event, to help inform our approach. All answers provided will offer insight into how the market might consider this opportunity. Any information provided will be treated as confidential and non-binding; however, please note that responses may be used to inform the final specification and tender pack. The questionnaire on the In-Tend portal contains information to support completion. 

The questionnaire can be found in the tab titled `Market Engagement` within the project’. Please complete the questionnaire and then 'submit return' in red at the bottom of the screen by midday on Friday 18th September 2026.

Contact:

Email: [email protected]