Official UK procurement notice
Equipment Cabinets and Enclosures
Authority: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDstl has a requirement for the design, assembly and supply of a number of a 31U high 19 inch equipment cabinets, each containing seven electronic enclosures, and separately a Human Computer Interface (HCI), all built to a defined specification that will be provided with the full SOR.
The cabinet and enclosures are intended for use by the MOD and are to be designed to meet defence standards in accordance with DEFSTAN 08-107 Iss3. The equipment shall be designed to meet environmental criteria and will need to be subjected to EMC and environmental testing (temperature & vibration) in accordance with DEFSTAN 59-411 and 08-123.
The internal enclosures will consist of five custom electronic enclosures each with a design provided by Dstl but for the supplier to design the mechanical layout and wiring assembly arrangements; space for a 9U processing chassis provided by Dstl; and a chilled water heat exchanger.
The cabinet will need to be designed for two modes for cooling the equipment to account for the different environments that the system can be operated in. Either air cooled – air flows into and out of the cabinet therefore expelling wild heat into the surrounding area. Or chilled water cooling – air recirculates inside the cabinet to cool the enclosures, but heat is taken out of the cabinet by chilled water heat exchangers.
- How the procedure runs: This is a two stage competition. Stage 1 is a conditions of participation stage with criteria being marked as Pass/Fail. Suppliers who Pass all conditions of participation will be proceed to stage 2 when they will be invited to tender. For stage 1 the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) (including Conditions of Participation) is available within the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) and will be used to determine suppliers that meet the participation criteria to invite to submit a tender. This will also include the assessment of whether a supplier, its connected persons, associated persons or any intended subcontractors are excluded or excludable persons and whether the suppliers are UK suppliers under the Procurement Act. Within the PSQ there are Pass/Fail questions, a Fail resulting in exclusion from further participation in the tendering process. An Invitation to Tender (ITT) will be issued to those successful at PSQ. A clarification process will be used during the tendering period to allow suppliers to seek clarification from the Authority. A summary of the award criteria is in this notice and will be explained in the Tender Documents issued with the ITT at stage 2 of the competition. The Authority reserves the right to refine the award criteria before the Tender period in accordance with section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023. This may include revision to the weightings of the sub-criteria. The Authority reserves the right to amend the procurement, where such amendment would not be substantial, as follows, including and not limited to; • amendments to the tender documents which may provide clarification • refining the specification as the competitive flexible procedure progresses • reducing timescales. If any amendments are made, the Authority will consider whether any applicable tender deadlines should be revised, and whether any tender documents or notices need to be re-issued.
CPV: Electromechanical equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£1,500,000
- Economic & financial standing
Details can be found in the PSQ
- Technical & professional ability
- The supplier/ team shall demonstrate with documented evidence they have a track record in designing and manufacturing bespoke cabinets and enclosures that meet defence standards, including working closely with the customer to ensure requirements are met.
Pass criteria: the evidence provided by the supplier gives the customer confidence that the supplier has suitable capability, experience, track record and capacity to undertake the work outlined in this document
- The supplier team (including subcontractors) shall demonstrate a track record of undertaking environmental testing of customer equipment (covering EMC, vibration and temperature testing).
Pass criteria: the supplier evidence gives the customer confidence that the supplier has the experience and facilities for undertaking environmental testing.
- The supplier team (including subcontractors) shall confirm that they have suitable means for handling information at Official Sensitive and access to suitable facilities and personnel for undertaking the environmental testing at UK SECRET.
Pass criteria: the supplier confirms that they have these means available for handling such information and undertaking the testing.
Further details can be found in the PSQ
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 (2)
- Technical: 70%
- Price: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical
- Price
- Economic & financial standing
Details can be found in the PSQ
- Technical & professional ability
- The supplier/ team shall demonstrate with documented evidence they have a track record in designing and manufacturing bespoke cabinets and enclosures that meet defence standards, including working closely with the customer to ensure requirements are met.
Pass criteria: the evidence provided by the supplier gives the customer confidence that the supplier has suitable capability, experience, track record and capacity to undertake the work outlined in this document
- The supplier team (including subcontractors) shall demonstrate a track record of undertaking environmental testing of customer equipment (covering EMC, vibration and temperature testing).
Pass criteria: the supplier evidence gives the customer confidence that the supplier has the experience and facilities for undertaking environmental testing.
- The supplier team (including subcontractors) shall confirm that they have suitable means for handling information at Official Sensitive and access to suitable facilities and personnel for undertaking the environmental testing at UK SECRET.
Pass criteria: the supplier confirms that they have these means available for handling such information and undertaking the testing.
Further details can be found in the PSQ
- 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
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Defence & security
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 17 Apr 2025, 08:36 BST
- Last source update
- 25 Sept 2025, 08:54 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 14 Jul 2025
- Authority reference
RQ0000077037- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-015834- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050470Find a Tender
- How it runs
This is a two stage competition. Stage 1 is a conditions of participation stage with criteria being marked as Pass/Fail. Suppliers who Pass all conditions of participation will be proceed to stage 2 when they will be invited to tender.
For stage 1 the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) (including Conditions of Participation) is available within the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) and will be used to determine suppliers that meet the participation criteria to invite to submit a tender. This will also include the assessment of whether a supplier, its connected persons, associated persons or any intended subcontractors are excluded or excludable persons and whether the suppliers are UK suppliers under the Procurement Act. Within the PSQ there are Pass/Fail questions, a Fail resulting in exclusion from further participation in the tendering process.
An Invitation to Tender (ITT) will be issued to those successful at PSQ. A clarification process will be used during the tendering period to allow suppliers to seek clarification from the Authority. A summary of the award criteria is in this notice and will be explained in the Tender Documents issued with the ITT at stage 2 of the competition. The Authority reserves the right to refine the award criteria before the Tender period in accordance with section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023. This may include revision to the weightings of the sub-criteria.
The Authority reserves the right to amend the procurement, where such amendment would not be substantial, as follows, including and not limited to;
- amendments to the tender documents which may provide clarification
- refining the specification as the competitive flexible procedure progresses
- reducing timescales.
If any amendments are made, the Authority will consider whether any applicable tender deadlines should be revised, and whether any tender documents or notices need to be re-issued.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 12 May 2025, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline
- 12 May 2025, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Suppliers must submit the Procurement Specific Questionnaire via the Defence Sourcing Portal by the specified deadline in order to request to participate in the competition. Link to DSP oppotunity listing: contracts.mod.uk/esop/guest/go/opport… ↗
Timeline
17 Apr 2025 → 25 Sept 2025 · 9 dates- Planning notice published17 Apr 2025, 08:36 BST
- Tender notice published17 Apr 2025, 11:28 BST
- Next notice expected17 Apr 2025, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline12 May 2025, 17:00 BST
- Award decision expected by14 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts24 Jul 2025, 00:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent19 Aug 2025, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends1 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
- Latest notice published394 days ago25 Sept 2025, 08:54 BST
Notice history
8 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Apr 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published17 Apr 2025, 08:36 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published17 Apr 2025, 11:28 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active17 Apr 2025, 11:28 BST
- Procurement method changed17 Apr 2025, 11:28 BST
- Contract award notice published20 Aug 2025, 11:58 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete20 Aug 2025, 11:58 BST
- Contract signature expected3 Sept 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published25 Sept 2025, 08:54 BSTUK7
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-04: 1 release · 17 Apr 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steatite Limited4 Sept 2025 – 4 Aug 2028 | £1,649,818 | 18 Aug 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Steatite Limited
- Signed
- 16 Sept 2025
- Value
- £1,649,818
- Period
- 17 Sept 2025 – 31 Oct 2028
- Status
- active
No agreed KPIs: Dstl has determined that the inclusion KPIs and associated cost would not beneficially drive expected behaviours in consideration of the COTS specification and delivery linked payment of this requirement.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6final-stage tenders | 3 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- STEATITE LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: An Invitation to tender and associated documents will be issued to suppliers who pass all conditions of participation. Documents will be issued via the Defence Sourcing Portal, or by email.
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender