Official UK procurement notice
Direct electron detector for the JEOL 2100 transmission electron microscope
Authority: Cardiff University (Education)
Cardiff University is seeking a direct electron detector to replace the ageing scintillator-based camera fitted to its JEOL 2100 transmission electron microscope. The replacement detector is required to extend the useful life of the microscope, improve image quality and resolution, and enable additional cryo-electron microscopy and electron-diffraction experiments.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionCardiff University is seeking a direct electron detector to replace the ageing scintillator-based camera fitted to its JEOL 2100 transmission electron microscope. The replacement detector is required to extend the useful life of the microscope, improve image quality and resolution, and enable additional cryo-electron microscopy and electron-diffraction experiments. The solution should also provide flexibility for potential transfer to another compatible microscope in the future.
CPV: Electron microscopes
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Published value£270,833
- Economic & financial standing
Total budget of £325,000 inclusive of VAT
- Technical & professional ability
See tender pack for information
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)
- Quality Response: 22%
- Responsible Procurement: 10%
- Total cost: 68%
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality Response: - Damage resistance under direct-beam illumination - 5%. - Detective quantum efficiency (DQE) at Nyquist - 5%. - Frame speed in frames per second (fps) - 5%. - Cryo-EM data acquisition software inclusion - 2.5%. - 3D electron diffraction (3DED) data acquisition software inclusion - 2.5%. - Python API for camera control inclusion - 2%.
- Responsible Procurement: - Warranty - 5%. - Maximise the lifecycles and minimise the environmental impacts - 3%. - Calculate, monitor and report Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions - 2%.
- Total cost: Product, software, installation, training, warranty
- Economic & financial standing
Total budget of £325,000 inclusive of VAT
- Technical & professional ability
See tender pack for information
- Price carries 68 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 6.8 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £379,509 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Cardiff University buys Microscopes (CPV 3851), and who usually turns up
Cardiff University’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Microscopes (CPV 3851) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 42 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid9% / 33%
2–348% / 61%
4–636% / 6%
7+6% / 0%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Awards below, close to or above the estimate, per lot. The buyer side adds below-threshold contracts with a pre-award estimate; an award inside a published range counts as close.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate52% / 36%
Within ±2%13% / 36%
Above estimate35% / 29%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
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What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 3851Published estimate£271k
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How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 18 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid33%
2–361%
4–66%
7+0%
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Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
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Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly. Contracts Finder appears in live search, the Retender Radar, contract pages, organisation counts, the earlier contracts and past suppliers on a tender's competition panel, the buyer's decision figure and its award against estimate; the other analytical figures are built from Find a Tender notices.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Nov 2026, 15:33 GMT
- Last source update
- 10 Nov 2026, 15:33 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 5 Jan 2027
- Authority reference
CU.2327.JJ- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-106784- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b8d2Find a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via In-tend- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 7 Dec 2026, 16:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 30 Nov 2026, 16:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- cy, en
Via In Tend (supplier.in-tend.co.uk/cardiffuniversity/home ↗)
Timeline
10 Nov 2026 → 27 Jan 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published1h ago10 Nov 2026, 15:33 GMT
- Today10 Nov 2026
- Clarification questions byin 19 days30 Nov 2026, 16:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 26 days7 Dec 2026, 16:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 56 days5 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 77 days27 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published10 Nov 2026, 15:33 GMTUK4
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Register on In Tend and search for 'CU.2327.JJ'. Contact [email protected] if you have any issues.
- Technical specifications Register on In Tend and search for 'CU.2327.JJ'. Contact [email protected] if you have any issues.
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender