Official UK procurement notice
Laboratory Information System Upgrade
Authority: ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH AGENCY (Defra Network eTendering Portal)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe SampleManager is the software for the Laboratory Information Management Service system is used extensively for recording animal submissions, samples and testing, facilitates reporting of disease test results and underpins statutory disease testing for notifiable diseases, reportable diseases and other zoonotic diseases (human impacting diseases with primary biological reservoir in animals).
This system is critical to APHA’s management of animal disease outbreaks and assuring and facilitating international trade by demonstrating sufficient surveillance for disease-free status.
The purpose of this Transparency Notice is to announce APHA’s intention to enter into a contract to upgrade the SampleManager current version (12.1) which is now out of support to 21.3 version for a year with 12 months extend options.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 20 Aug 2025, 09:45 BST
- Last source update
- 30 Sept 2025, 12:19 BST
- Authority reference
C29998- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-060848- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-058aedFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights
- Published justification
Thermo Electron Ltd are the sole owners and licensor of SampleManager software, and there are no alternatives available to Animal and Plant Health Agency without rewriting all forecasting models.
It is the view of the Animal and Plant Health Agency that this contract is justifiable under Paragraph 5 in Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 to award the contract for the supply and support of the SampleManager software because, ThermoFisher Scientific own the intellectual property for the software, and there are no reasonable alternative, nor can another organisation supply and support the software. Additionally, it is the view of the Animal and Plant Health Agency that this contract is also justifiable under Paragraph 6 in Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 to award the contract for the supply and support of the SampleManager software because, at this time, no alternative solution is available and any decision to deviate from this software would require a redevelopment of all Animal and Plant Health Agency models, therefore competition is absent for technical reasons.
- Risks
The software upgrade is required to reduce the risk of: Security vulnerabilities – Once software reaches end of support, it no longer receives security updates, leaving it exposed to cyber security threats. Operational disruptions – The probability of functional and non-functional issues greatly increases with out of support software, leading to service level agreement (SLA) breaches. Higher maintenance costs – With out of support/older software, typically, workarounds and expensive customisations have to be implemented and supported to achieve the required business functionality.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
30 Sept 2025 → 3 Oct 2025 · 2 dates- Notice published391 days ago30 Sept 2025, 12:19 BST
- Standstill ends388 days ago3 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 20 Aug 2025- Transparency notice published20 Aug 2025, 09:45 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published24 Sept 2025, 12:53 BSTUK6
- Contract details notice published30 Sept 2025, 12:19 BSTUK7
- Contract signature expected7 Oct 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermo Fisher Diagnostics LtdLaboratory Information Management System SampleManager Upgrade8 Oct 2025 – 24 Sept 2026 · up to 22 Sept 2027Extensions: 12 months extension · Options: 12 months extension | £462,143 | 24 Sept 2025standstill to 3 Oct 2025 | Standstill |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific | £462,143 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 2 · Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Signed
- 2 Sept 2025
- Value
- £462,143
- Period
- 3 Sept 2025 – 2 Sept 2026 · up to 2 Sept 2027 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 12 Months extension
- Options
- Options to extend for another 12 months
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- Thermo Electron LtdAwarded supplier
- ThermoFisher ScientificAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender