Official UK procurement notice
144000 · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe 13 Pounder is a ceremonial gun and carries out 18 musical drives and Royal Salutes annually. They are used as part of the enduring OP BRIDGE (a Royal death and funeral ceremony) and carry significant Royal and Government interest. The 13pdr is over 100 years old having entered service in 1904 as a horse drawn artillery piece and was first issued in 1946 as a saluting gun to the then Riding Troop, later renamed as The King’s Troop RHA (Royal Horse Artillery). Its principal function being to provide Royal Salutes and its secondary function is as a hearse for State Funerals. There are qty 9 of the 13pdr guns and a George gun. The George gun has received no modification as it does not get fired, its sole purpose is to carry the coffin at state funerals.
The breech block and carrier components, last refurbished in 1967, have worn and are no longer providing a secure fit, with significant “play” between the parts. Due to the age of the gun there is a lack of historical documentation, technical drawings and material specifications for the parts and the supply of parts have been found lacking, many of the parts being obsolete. The breeches are wearing out and starting to crack on the 13pdr which increases the chances of a misfire. If this occurred during a high-profile public show it would be damaging to defence reputation and require time consuming misfire drills to be conducted. This repair procedure would allow the breeches to be brought up to standard again, giving confidence that the equipment will function, safely, as intended.
This notice is not a request for expressions of interest so please do not apply to be invited to tender. This notice advises that the Authority has decided to negotiate a contract with the named supplier on a single source basis, and is published for reasons of transparency. If you are interested in becoming a sub-contractor for this requirement, you should apply directly to the supplier named above.
CPV: Military defence services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Technical/Quality: 40%
- Financial: 40%
- Commercial: 20%
Published award criteria (3)
- Commercial: 20
- Technical/Quality: 40
- Financial: 40
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Negotiated without publication of a contract notice
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32009L0081 Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Directive 2009/81/EC)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 14 Feb 2025, 13:41 GMT
- Last source update
- 14 Feb 2025, 13:41 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-005151- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04e1e4Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice; The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development under the conditions stated in the directive
- Published justification
Babcock (SPC Contract) do not currently have the technical experience to do this task, the equipment to conduct the investigation of material specification requirements or the repairs. They would have to sub-contract to a supplier which would not provide a value for money solution. There are no known Service Sources or extant Framework Arrangements available and due to the value of the required work being more than 50% of the value of the previous contract, it is not possible to add to this to the existing contract. The original contract providing the breech repair scheme valued at £67k and the repairs themselves valued at £144k.
Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii)(c) - Technical reasons
Advance Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) have specialist expertise in machining, casting, welding, additive manufacturing, composites, designing for manufacturing, testing, and training and have completed work in support of the 13pdr previously. Going out to another contractor would potentially mean repeating the trials process that AMRC have already conducted or using the AMRC report which is impractical and could cause some questions over liability if the repairs were not successful. Given the age of the equipment and how niche this item is, it is necessary to use specific know-how and tools which AMRC have at their disposal. There is also the element of safety and reputation given that these guns are used to fire and are fired in public and / or on special occasions. The gun misfiring could cause injury and / or reputational damage.
Regulation 16(1)(d)(ii) - Repetition of Works or Services
AMRC have recently compiled a breech repair scheme as tasked by DE&S and therefore have the knowledge to confidently complete this repair. This contract will be a follow on contract from this previous work and the desire is for the same contractor to carry out the remaining necessary work in the interest of consistency, saving of time and value for money. This work conforms to the basic project with which the original contract was awarded and is within the required five years of the original contract. The original contract was awarded by the non-competitive negotiated procedure and notice was given of this additional work now required. The value of this additional work is over the required (50%) threshold to be able to extend the original contract.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)13 Pounder Breech RepairSubcontracting: declared | £144,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
13 Pounder Breech Repair · Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)
- Signed
- 14 Feb 2025
- Value
- £144,000
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)Awarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.