Official UK procurement notice
Centre for AI Measurement
Authority: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionEstablishing a new Centre for AI Measurement. The Centre will host a programme of work to:
a) Establish a centre of excellence focussed on enabling and accelerating the creation of new testing and evaluation tools for AI systems (the Centre for AI Measurement).
b) Create a programme of research and development on good practice, evaluation and performance measures for AI systems, with a focus on highly capable AI systems.
c) Support industry in developing, validating and verifying new products and services for AI assurance.
d) Coordinate knowledge sharing and communication within the AI assurance sector, those furthering the science of measurement with regard to AI, and international partners.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 7 Jan 2026, 10:39 GMT
- Last source update
- 12 Feb 2026, 10:19 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-012718- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0600b1Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
Direct award is justified under Procurement Regulations 24, Schedule 5, point 6, due to the absence of competition for technical reasons and the lack of reasonable alternatives.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
16 Jan 2026 → 12 Feb 2026 · 2 dates- Standstill ends283 days ago16 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Notice published257 days ago12 Feb 2026, 10:19 GMT
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 Jan 2026- Transparency notice published7 Jan 2026, 10:39 GMTUK5
- Contract award notice published7 Jan 2026, 11:10 GMTUK6
- Contract signature expected19 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published12 Feb 2026, 10:19 GMTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NPL Management Limited1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2030 | £10,500,000 | 7 Jan 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · NPL Management Limited
- Signed
- 21 Jan 2026
- Value
- £10,500,000
- Period
- 1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2030
- Status
- active
1 agreed KPI: Research outputs, Social Value
- Research outputs, Social Value, Number of research outputs per year must be 3 or more, Number of collaborati ve R&D projects and/or industry engageme nt events must be 3 or more in total, Number of events and or external engagements delivered per year must be 3 or more, Number of training / outreach events (schools or SMEs or community based outreach) delivered through the programme must exceed 3 or more.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- NPL MANAGEMENT LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender