Official UK procurement notice
Gamma Irradiation of NHSBT Tissue Allografts and Consumables
Authority: NHS Blood and Transplant (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionGamma Irradiation of NHSBT Tissue Allografts and Consumables
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is looking to appoint a suitable supplier to provide gamma irradiation services for tissue allografts and consumables used by NHSBT Tissue and Eye Services (TES).
NHSBT wishes to engage with suppliers before commencing a formal procurement process. The purpose of this engagement is to improve NHSBT’s understanding of current market capability, capacity, service delivery options and supplier interest in this requirement.
The successful Supplier will be required to provide gamma irradiation of tissue products to an absorbed dose specification of 25kGy minimum and 40kGy maximum, and consumables to an absorbed dose specification of 25kGy minimum and 45kGy maximum.
The Supplier must be able to process a range of tissue products and consumables, provide suitable frozen storage at approximately -20°C where required, maintain appropriate temperature records and return irradiated products within a maximum turnaround time of 72 hours.
The Supplier must provide an irradiation certificate before products are released back to NHSBT. The certificate must include the minimum and maximum absorbed dose, routine dose, irradiation batch number and the relevant NHSBT product batch number.
The Supplier will also be required to support dose mapping and performance qualification activities, undertake compatibility trials for new materials where required, operate an appropriate quality management system and maintain suitable validation, calibration, recall and business continuity arrangements.
NHSBT intends to hold preliminary market engagement meetings. Meetings are expected to be held remotely, with final dates and times to be confirmed.
To enable NHSBT to finalise the arrangements, interested organisations should send an expression of interest by email to Sahithi Bandi [email protected] no later than November 13th 2026.The response should include the organization’s name, proposed attendees and a brief overview, or website link, describing the relevant services available.
Participation in this market engagement does not guarantee any future business. NHSBT is not committed to undertaking a procurement exercise or awarding a contract as a result of this notice. NHSBT will not reimburse suppliers for any costs incurred in participating in this engagement.
CPV: Services provided by medical laboratories
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
- Extensions
- Extension options published
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage — how this market runs before the tender is published
How NHS Blood and Transplant buys Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514) — and who usually turns up
NHS Blood and Transplant’s own published record, next to the South West England market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514) →
How the contest usually goes
This buyer’s published record next to the market where the work is delivered — contested contracts only, counted per lot
i
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.
Here, local means registered in South West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South West England.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 29 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?
i
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 bid38% / 14%
2–343% / 33%
4–610% / 28%
7+10% / 25%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate39% / 36%
Within ±2%17% / 55%
Above estimate44% / 9%
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.
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.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors — from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 8514Published estimate£80,000
i
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 36 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid14%
2–333%
4–628%
7+25%
i
Where the winning 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 guide, 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.
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ||||
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ||||
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each figure explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two sides are never blended. A lot’s own market is read at its delivery region where the lot names one; where it names several, or none that can be resolved, the chart falls back to the UK-wide record for the same category and says so under the bar. An empty cell means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- When we call out a difference. A buyer figure is only flagged against the market when the sample is large enough that the gap is unlikely to be chance; at most two callouts appear, always phrased as a comparison with both numbers and the sample size.
- Coverage (re-measured 5 Oct on the live record, 94,497 awarded procedures of the last three years). 51 % publish a bid count and 72 % a delivery region, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice names none, labelled. Of the 17,687 award-vs-estimate pairs, 34 % sit exactly on the estimate — the buyer published the award at the figure it advertised. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden, and a distribution is not drawn as percentages below ten observations.
- “Match”, text similarity, the expected-bid figure and the distribution drawn beneath it are model outputs, not published facts or win probabilities. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- 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
- 8 Oct 2026, 15:22 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Oct 2026, 15:22 BST
- Authority reference
C476187- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095319- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0783fdFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
4 published dates · Europe/London- Planning notice publishedearlier today8 Oct 2026, 15:22 BST
- Market engagementin 29 days6 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMTGamma Irradiation of NHSBT Tissue Allografts and Consumables NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is looking to appoint a suitable supplier to provide gamma irradiation services for tissue allografts and consumables used by NHSBT Tissue and Eye Services (TES). NHSBT wishes to engage with suppliers before commencing a formal procurement process. The purpose of this engagement is to improve NHSBT’s understanding of current market capability, capacity, service delivery options and supplier interest in this requirement. The successful Supplier will be required to provide gamma irradiation of tissue products to an absorbed dose specification of 25kGy minimum and 40kGy maximum, and consumables to an absorbed dose specification of 25kGy minimum and 45kGy maximum. The Supplier must be able to process a range of tissue products and consumables, provide suitable frozen storage at approximately -20°C where required, maintain appropriate temperature records and return irradiated products within a maximum turnaround time of 72 hours. The Supplier must provide an irradiation certificate before products are released back to NHSBT. The certificate must include the minimum and maximum absorbed dose, routine dose, irradiation batch number and the relevant NHSBT product batch number. The Supplier will also be required to support dose mapping and performance qualification activities, undertake compatibility trials for new materials where required, operate an appropriate quality management system and maintain suitable validation, calibration, recall and business continuity arrangements. NHSBT intends to hold preliminary market engagement meetings. Meetings are expected to be held remotely, with final dates and times to be confirmed. To enable NHSBT to finalise the arrangements, interested organisations should send an expression of interest by email to Sahithi Bandi [email protected] no later than November 13th 2026.The response should include the organization’s name, proposed attendees and a brief overview, or website link, describing the relevant services available. Participation in this market engagement does not guarantee any future business. NHSBT is not committed to undertaking a procurement exercise or awarding a contract as a result of this notice. NHSBT will not reimburse suppliers for any costs incurred in participating in this engagement.
- Tender notice expectedin 54 days1 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 87 days4 Jan 2027
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 8 Oct 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published8 Oct 2026, 15:22 BSTUK2
- First planning notice published8 Oct 2026, 15:22 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender