Official UK procurement notice
Ecological sampling at Scottish Offshore Wind Farms
Authority: Scottish Government (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Marine Directorate (MD) has a requirement for an external provider to undertake marine sampling for a selection of target species across a range of functional groups (e.g. fish, benthic and plankton) at four offshore wind farm sites and adjacent control areas, on the east coast of Scotland. Sampling will be carried out across 3 phases: winter 2025-spring 2026 , summer 2026 and autumn 2026.
This sampling work will contribute to the ECOCHANGE Project (Consequences of Changes to Habitats and implications for a Net Gain Energy approach), led by the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate, alongside the University of Liverpool the University of Glasgow SUERC and funded by The Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Evidence and Change programme. The samples collected through this work will be analysed through a subsequent workstream (not included in the scope of this contract) and the data will ultimately provide insight into the food web structure within the North Sea marine ecosystem and how food webs may be impacted by OWF infrastructure. Understanding this relationship is crucial with the increase in development of OWFs to reach Net Zero targets. This work will shed light on the effect of OWF infrastructure on marine biodiversity which will inform Marine Enhancement and Nature Positive policies.
CPV: Agricultural, farming, fishing, forestry and related products · Environmental services · Marine research services · Marine survey services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The procurement will follow an Open ProcedureAwardedRenewal
The procurement will follow an Open Procedure.
4C.4 Bidders must confirm that they will include the standard clause in all contracts used in the delivery of the requirements, ensuring payment of subcontractors at all stages of the supply chain within 30 days and include a point of contact for subcontractors to refer to in the case of payment difficulties. This will require active monitoring of payment performance and provision of evidence and reporting to the Scottish Government on a regular basis. Bidders who fail to answer “Yes” to this question will not have their tender considered further.
4C.7 Light Touch: Bidders will be required to confirm that they will employ environmental management measures that meet the following requirements: Evidence that their organisation has taken steps to build their awareness of the climate change emergency and consideration of how they will respond. This should include details of planned projects and actions to reduce the bidder’s carbon emissions.
4C.10 Bidders will be required to confirm whether they intend to sub-contract and if so, for what proportion of the contract.
Bidders must confirm that they will pay staff that are involved in the delivery of services under the contract, at least the real Living Wage. Any tenderer who answers "No" to this question will not be subject to further evaluation.
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 award criteria (2)
- Quality: 70
- Price: 30
- Economic & financial standing
Current Ratio of 1.2
The acceptable range for each financial ratio is:
1 April 2022: 31 March 2025
The ratio will be calculated as follows:
total current assets divided by total current liabilities.
Minimum: Employer’s (Compulsory) Liability Insurance = as required by law Public Liability Insurance = 1,000,000 (one million) GBP Professional Risk Indemnity Insurance = 1,000,000 (one million) GBP
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- 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 · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 17 Sept 2025, 14:09 BST
- Last source update
- 30 Dec 2025, 08:56 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- 10 Nov 2025 – …
- Authority reference
CASE/796997- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-086365- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-059c49Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
Publisher note: Question Scoring Methodology for Award Criteria outlined in invitation to tender: 0 — Unacceptable. Nil or inadequate response. Fails to demonstrate an ability to meet the requirement. 1 — Poor. Response is partially relevant but generally poor. The response addresses some elements of the requirement but contains insufficient/limited detail or explanation to demonstrate how the requirement will be fulfilled. 2 — Acceptable. Response is relevant and acceptable. The response addresses a broad understanding of the requirement but may lack details on how the requirement will be fulfilled in certain areas. 3 — Good. Response is relevant and good. The response is sufficiently detailed to demonstrate a good understanding and provides details on how the requirements will be fulfilled. 4 — Excellent. Response is completely relevant and excellent overall. Bidders must complete the SPD (Scotland) to demonstrate adherence to the Exclusion and Selection Criteria for this procurement. (SC Ref:819499)
How it was run
Official noticeTender documents are also served through a separate tool: https://www.publictendersscotland.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/esop/pts-host/public/pts/web/login.html ↗
- Submission deadline
- 10 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Participation fee
- document
- Bid validity
- 180 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 10 Nov 2025, 12:30 GMT
Timeline
29 Sept 2025 → 5 Jan 2026 · 5 dates- Next notice expected388 days ago29 Sept 2025, 00:00 BST
- Submission deadline346 days ago10 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Bids opened346 days ago10 Nov 2025, 12:30 GMT
- Notice published296 days ago30 Dec 2025, 08:56 GMT
- Contract starts290 days ago5 Jan 2026
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Oct 2025- Status changed to active10 Oct 2025, 11:15 BST
- Procurement method changed10 Oct 2025, 11:15 BST
- Deadline published: 10 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT10 Oct 2025, 11:15 BST
- Status changed to complete30 Dec 2025, 08:56 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean EcologySubcontracting: Karelle Fishing LLP (Kinnaird Marine) for Vessel Provision. | £359,210 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 086365-2025-CASE/796997-1 · Ocean Ecology
- Signed
- 17 Dec 2025
- Value
- £359,210
- Period
- … – 31 Mar 2027
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2bids · 2 electronic · 2 from abroad | 1 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Sherrif Court HouseReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Ocean EcologyAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Technical selection criteria