Official UK procurement notice
Courier Services for Hampshire Scientific Services
Authority: Hampshire County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionHampshire County Council (the Authority) is tendering a contract for courier services to support Hampshire Scientific Services ("HSS").
HSS provides scientific advisory and analytical services to UK public authorities and is accredited to high quality standards required by Government. Under the Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority (SCPHA) arrangements, HSS coordinates the transport of time‑critical food and feed enforcement samples from East Suffolk ports to designated laboratories in Kent and Hampshire. These samples are collected for enforcement testing and are highly time‑critical, with some requiring collection, delivery, and analysis within a strict 24 hour window. Maintaining chain of custody, sample integrity, and timely delivery is critical to statutory enforcement work.
The purpose of this procurement is to appoint a suitably capable same‑day courier to deliver a robust, reliable and responsive service. The supplier will be required to provide secure, direct transport that preserves chain of custody and sample integrity, avoiding hub consolidation or processes that add delay or risk, and to provide scalable capacity to meet weekday demand with occasional weekend requirements.
The contract will be for an initial period of 19 months, with the option to extend for up to 2 additional 12-month periods. The Authority reserves the option to reduce the 19 month term by 7 days (1 week), so that the initial term would end on 29th June 2028. Any additional periods would then also reflect that amended date. This is to ensure this contract is co-terminus with the Authority's underlying contracts with the ports set out in the Specification.
CPV: Courier services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£628,000
- Economic & financial standing
This tender has the following Conditions of Participation. Further supplementary information on each of the requirements is contained within the tender documents.
- Corporate Social Responsibility – Suppliers are asked to confirm they meet their legal obligations and expectations of the Council regarding their approach to equalities and sustainability.
- Data Protection & ICO Registration – Suppliers are required to meet stated Data Protection standards and be registered with the Information Commissioners Office.
- Insurance – As a minimum, suppliers are required to hold, or commit to obtain prior to contract award, Public and Employer's Liability insurance. Minimum cover levels for these and any other additional insurance requirements relevant to this requirement, are detailed in the tender documents.
- Financial Standing & Business Risk – The Council uses Creditsafe and requires all suppliers to achieve a minimum Business Risk score of 30/100. For scores between 30 and 50, a Parent Company Guarantee or Performance Bond may be deemed required as appropriate. Suppliers must also be able to evidence at least 12 months of trading.
- Technical & professional ability
The tender has the following Conditions of Participation related to technical ability. Further supplementary information on each of the requirements is contained within the tender documents.
- Health & Safety - Suppliers are required to confirm that arrangements are in place to manage health and safety effectively.
- Relevant Experience - Suppliers are asked to provide details of at least 1 contract that demonstrates their technical and professional ability to deliver the services.
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 (5)
- Quality criterion 1 (Lot 0): 30%
- Quality criterion 2 (Lot 0): 15%
- Quality criterion 3 (Lot 0): 15%
- Quality criterion 4 (Lot 0): 10%
- Price criterion 1 (Lot 0): 30%
Published award criteria (5)
- Quality criterion 1 (Lot 0): Question 3 - Delivery Model Compliance
- Quality criterion 2 (Lot 0): Question 4 - Capacity, Responsiveness and Resilience
- Quality criterion 3 (Lot 0): Question 5 - Chain of Custody, Sample Integrity and Records
- Quality criterion 4 (Lot 0): Question 6 - Contract Management and Continuous Improvement
- Price criterion 1 (Lot 0): Total Submitted Weekly Price - for Journeys 1 to 7
- Economic & financial standing
This tender has the following Conditions of Participation. Further supplementary information on each of the requirements is contained within the tender documents.
- Corporate Social Responsibility – Suppliers are asked to confirm they meet their legal obligations and expectations of the Council regarding their approach to equalities and sustainability.
- Data Protection & ICO Registration – Suppliers are required to meet stated Data Protection standards and be registered with the Information Commissioners Office.
- Insurance – As a minimum, suppliers are required to hold, or commit to obtain prior to contract award, Public and Employer's Liability insurance. Minimum cover levels for these and any other additional insurance requirements relevant to this requirement, are detailed in the tender documents.
- Financial Standing & Business Risk – The Council uses Creditsafe and requires all suppliers to achieve a minimum Business Risk score of 30/100. For scores between 30 and 50, a Parent Company Guarantee or Performance Bond may be deemed required as appropriate. Suppliers must also be able to evidence at least 12 months of trading.
- Technical & professional ability
The tender has the following Conditions of Participation related to technical ability. Further supplementary information on each of the requirements is contained within the tender documents.
- Health & Safety - Suppliers are required to confirm that arrangements are in place to manage health and safety effectively.
- Relevant Experience - Suppliers are asked to provide details of at least 1 contract that demonstrates their technical and professional ability to deliver the services.
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 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
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- 2 Jul 2026, 10:53 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Aug 2026, 15:39 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 25 Nov 2026
- Authority reference
UN27942- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-080477- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c216Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
In accordance with the the Contract Terms & Conditions at Annex 3, the Council shall pay the Supplier any sums due no later than a period of 30 days from the date on which the Council has received a valid and undisputed invoice. For an invoice to be deemed valid it must meet the requirements of Schedule 2 – Payment and Invoicing of the Contract Terms & Conditions.
- Risks
Local Government Reorganisation
Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is part of the Government plans to replace the current two-tier system of county councils and district/borough councils with unitary councils across the country. The County of Hampshire is impacted by this and is currently progressing through the LGR process.
During the life of this contract, the LGR process will progress and will impact this contract. Impacts may include, but are not limited to, contract changes such as a change to the legal name/entity of the Authority you currently contract with, increases and/or decreases in the value/volume of goods/services/works required due to the change in size/scope of the Contracting Authority, changes to the scope of the nature of goods/services/works required, or the requirement may no longer be needed and will terminate. Although any contract scope changes should broadly relate to the nature of the existing scope, new goods/services/works of a related nature may be required that were not previously included. The scale and exact timing of the changes to your contract will be communicated to you when appropriate, as all contractual arrangements will need to be able to adapt to the LGR changes as required, to ensure smooth transition and continuity of services. For more information on LGR within Hampshire please go to www.hants.gov.uk/lgr ↗
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 25 Sept 2026, 14:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 14 Sept 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
2 Jul 2026 → 7 Dec 2026 · 8 dates- Planning notice published118 days ago2 Jul 2026, 10:53 BST
- Market engagement95 days ago24 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
The current intention is to publish the tender for these services in August 2026.
The future tender will be published on the Authority's e-tendering portal In-Tend: in-tendhost.co.uk/hampshire/ ↗. If your organisation is not registered on the Hampshire In-Tend portal, please go to the website stated above and click on the 'Register' tab - registration is free.
This notice is provided for information only to inform the market of this opportunity. A summary of requirements has been provided below.
No response is required at this stage, and this notice does not constitute a call for competition.
SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS
HSS holds a contract with Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority (SCPHA) to test imported food prior to its release for sale. The aim is to establish a robust, reliable, and responsive daily collection service for the transportation of food and feed samples from the Ports to designated laboratories located in Kent and Hampshire. Collections are required most weekdays from the port of Felixstowe, with less frequent collections from the ports of Harwich and Ipswich.
These samples are collected for enforcement testing purposes and are highly time-sensitive, with some requiring collection, delivery, and laboratory analysis within a strict 24-hour window. Maintaining chain of custody and sample integrity is critical. To maintain this integrity and traceability, the courier service must provide timely, secure, and direct transportation from collection to delivery. The use of overnight transport hubs or any process that introduces delays, additional handling or increases the risk of sample damage or loss is not acceptable.
The Supplier will be expected to provide electronic proof of delivery for all consignments, and maintain a secure and auditable chain of custody. Clear communication and operational arrangements will be required to manage changes, late instructions, and escalation routes for service issues, to minimise disruption.
We are therefore looking for a courier partner who can demonstrate:
- Robustness, reliability and efficiency in in delivering time-critical services.
- Flexibility to respond to changing requirements including occasional cancellations and additional collection points.
- Clear and proactive communication, ensuring seamless coordination and rapid issue resolution.
- Robust handling procedures that protect sample integrity and maintain a secure, fully traceable chain of custody at all times.
Typical collection times from Felixstowe are:
- 12:00 for same day delivery (by 14:30) to Kent ME19 4YT (Monday to Saturday)
- 15:30-17:30 for next day delivery (by 10:30) to Hampshire PO5 4LL (Monday., Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)
Saturday collections and deliveries may also be needed. Sunday and Bank Holiday collections will not be required.
Volumes vary but currently average approximately 6 consignments per day to Kent and 4 to Hampshire.
- Next notice expected71 days ago17 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published65 days ago24 Aug 2026, 15:39 BST
- Clarification questions by44 days ago14 Sept 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline33 days ago25 Sept 2026, 14:00 BST
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 28 days25 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 39 days7 Dec 2026
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Jul 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published2 Jul 2026, 10:53 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published24 Aug 2026, 15:39 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active24 Aug 2026, 15:39 BST
- Procurement method changed24 Aug 2026, 15:39 BST
- Deadline published: 25 Sept 2026, 14:00 BST24 Aug 2026, 15:39 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender