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active
Official procurement procedure

E-Books, E-Book Collections and E-Textbooks - APUC

Library books
Textbooks
UK
Scotland (UKM)
Published value
£34,500,000
Submission deadline 4 Feb 2026, 16:00 GMT
Lots published5
Procurement Executive Summary
AI & Search Synopsis
Generated from official OCDS record
Tenderline Synopsis: APUC Limited: "E-Books, E-Book Collections and E-Textbooks - APUC". Published status: active. Published value: £34,500,000. 5 published lots. Recorded submission deadline: 4 Feb 2026, 16:00 GMT. See the official notice for participation instructions.
Contracting AuthorityAPUC LimitedScope & CategoriesNot publishedSubmission Window
Closed
4 Feb 2026, 16:00 GMT
Submission GatewayDirect notice routeLegal Basis & RegimeStandard procurementEstimated Value (exc. VAT)£34,500,000
Bidder Intelligence · Authority Profile: APUC Limited
Market Analytics
View Authority Profile →
Derived from OCDS awards & bid statistics
Published history for APUC Limited. These figures describe retained records, not a forecast of bids or a measure of buyer bias.
Published-to-award variance
Not availableInsufficient comparable data
Requires at least 5 comparable procedures
Competition Density
5.6Bids / Report
11.5% of reports have one bid
Supplier ConcentrationNo estimate
Insufficient attributable awardsNo concentration estimate available
Payment Terms
Check noticePublished terms
Payment obligations depend on the applicable regime and contract. Consult the official documents.
Coverage: 142 active published awards; 130 bid reports (which may be per lot). Supplier values exclude multi-supplier awards, frameworks and DPS, and use GBP only. They are published award values, not payments. Published-to-award variance compares single-lot, single-award, single-supplier GBP procedures with explicitly non-framework/non-DPS status; increases remain in the average. Unpublished data stays unknown. Awarded suppliers are winners, not all bidders.
Procedure terms
Contracting AuthorityAPUC Limited
Procedure methodNot published
Procurement categoryNot published
Statusactive
Framework / DPSFramework
CompetitionNot published
Above thresholdNot published
Legal basisNot published
Tender period startsNot published
Clarification deadlineNot published
Electronic submissionNot published
Submission languagesNot published
Published15 Dec 2025, 16:16 GMT
Last source update15 Dec 2025, 16:16 GMT
Recurring procurementYes
ClassificationLibrary books, Textbooks
Delivery area
UK
Scotland (UKM)
OCIDocds-h6vhtk-050477
What is being bought
The Authority is acting on behalf of the HE and FE institutions in Scotland and oversea campuses, Members of the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) which includes amongst its members, the National Library of Scotland, the National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members Please refer to Appendix E - List of Institutions for more detail. The Authority is seeking Contractors to supply a wide range of academic content in digital format and associated content and services from Aggregators and Publishers. The scope will include: E-Books E-Book Collections (Publishers packages) E-Textbooks Associated digital content
What changed
From the official release history
  1. Published value updated to £34,500,000
    15 Dec 2025, 16:16 GMT
  2. Status changed to active
    15 Dec 2025, 16:16 GMT
  3. Official notice release published
    15 Dec 2025, 16:16 GMT
  4. Submission deadline changed to 4 Feb 2026, 16:00 GMT
    15 Dec 2025, 16:16 GMT
  5. Published value updated to £20,000,000
    17 Apr 2025, 09:10 BST
  6. Status changed to planned
    17 Apr 2025, 09:10 BST
  7. Official notice release published
    17 Apr 2025, 09:10 BST
  8. Buyer information updated
    17 Apr 2025, 09:10 BST
Lots and requirements (5)
Published by the contracting authority
  • Lot 1 · #1
    Title by Title purchase and Collections
    active
    Published value£8,000,000
    This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members. The Authority intends to appoint a maximum of 8 Contractors to supply Title-by-title purchasing of e-books via an aggregator platform for delivery via the aggregator’s own platform. Packages may be offered, such as DDA and EBA Programmes, and audiobooks. Contractors will offer perpetual access licences but may also offer alternatives (e.g. 365-day licences, including POA models) where perpetual licensing is not available. Additional information: Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
    Contract periodNot published
    EligibilityNot published
    Options / renewalNot published
  • Lot 2 · #2
    Title by Title and Collections (Access on a Third Party Platform)
    active
    Published value£8,000,000
    This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members. The Authority intends to appoint a maximum of 8 Contractors to supply Title by Title and Collections, with access provided on a 3rd Party Platform) The lot will enable the purchase of content via an aggregator with the content provided on a third-party’s platform. Additional information: Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
    Contract periodNot published
    EligibilityNot published
    Options / renewalNot published
  • Lot 3 · #3
    Aggregated subscriptions packages
    active
    Published value£1,500,000
    This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members. The Authority intends to appoint a maximum of 6 Contractors to provide Subscription e-book packages via an aggregator or a third-party platform. Packages may include wider digital content in addition to e-books. Package content is likely to be pre-defined in nature. Additional information: Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
    Contract periodNot published
    EligibilityNot published
    Options / renewalNot published
  • Lot 4 · #4
    E-Textbooks
    active
    Published value£8,000,000
    This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members. The Authority intends to appoint a maximum of 5 Contractors to supply E- Textbook content via an aggregator and hosted on the aggregators or publisher’s platform Additional information: Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
    Contract periodNot published
    EligibilityNot published
    Options / renewalNot published
  • Lot 5 · #5
    E-Books and E-Textbooks (Title by Title & Collections)
    active
    Published value£9,000,000
    1. This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members. The Authority intends to appoint a maximum of 20 Contractors to supply E-Books and E-Textbooks (Title by Title & Collections) negotiated directly with the publisher and hosted on the publisher’s or an aggregator’s platform. Additional information: Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
    Contract periodNot published
    EligibilityNot published
    Options / renewalNot published
Timeline
  1. Procedure published
    15 Dec 2025, 16:16 GMT
  2. Submission deadline
    4 Feb 2026, 16:00 GMT
Commercial outcome and competition
AwardsNo award published
ContractsNo contract published
Bid statisticsNo aggregate bid statistics published
Buyer and organisations in this procedure

APUC Limited

Contracting authority GB-FTS-2420
View buyer profile

  • APUC Limited
    buyer
    centralPurchasingBody

    Unit 27, Stirling Business Centre, Wellgreen, Stirling, UKM, FK8 2DZ
    lwatts@apuc-scot.ac.uk
    +44 1314428950
    Published organisation website

  • Stirling Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court Sheriff Court
    reviewBody

    Sheriff Court House, Viewfield Place, Stirling, FK8 1NH
    +44 1786462191
Documents (0)
Official links; attachments are not copied
No data
No linked documents are published
Related procedures (0)
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No related procedures published