Official UK procurement notice
Manual RF cryogenic probe station with four RF probe arms and cryogen-free operation
Authority: NPL Management Limited (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNPL require a RF cryogenic probe station with four installed RF probe arms. The system must support cryogen-free operation using a closed cycle refrigerator. The base temperature must not exceed 5.5 K, and the temperature must be controllable from 6 K to 350 K. The system must support RF measurements from DC to 40 GHz using groundsignal-
ground (GSG) probes. The system must accommodate samples with a diameter of at least 2 inches. Vibration at the sample stage must be less than 1 micrometre.
The system must include all necessary components, including a turbomolecular pumping system, a microscope with a zoom ratio of at least 12:1, probes, and a calibration substrate.
The supplier must install and verify the system and provide user training.
CPV: Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses) · Probes
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1PlannedPublished value£310,000
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How NPL Management Limited buys Medical consumables (CPV 3314), and who usually turns up
NPL Management Limited’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Medical consumables (CPV 3314) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 48 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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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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 bid13%
2–317%
4–623%
7+48%
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 estimate53%
Within ±2%26%
Above estimate21%
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 3314Published estimate£310k
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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 48 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid13%
2–317%
4–623%
7+48%
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Where the award 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 statistical guide from past awards, 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.
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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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- 27 Oct 2026, 10:18 GMT
- Last source update
- 27 Oct 2026, 10:31 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Feb 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-101383- Accelerated
- Qualifying planned procurement notice
- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0790d7Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 19 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 11 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT
- Electronic submission
- Not allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
27 Oct 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 7 dates- Planning notice published11h ago27 Oct 2026, 10:18 GMT
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 17 days13 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Prior to initiating the procurement, NPL wishes to establish the level of market interest in the forthcoming procurement process.
Suitably qualified and experienced suppliers who may have an interest in this project are invited to register for this Preliminary Market Engagement.
The purpose of the market engagement is to help assess the reaction of the market, to understand risks and future possibilities to ensure a future proofed procurement strategy and resulting contract.
Any submission received in response to this exercise will not constitute any contractual agreement between the respondent and NPL. Nor does the receipt of a response automatically include the respondent in the procurement process.
A Tender Notice will be issued to the market which will provide details of how the relating procurement documentation can be accessed and timescales for submission of the said tender response.
Interested parties shall bear their own costs of participation in this Market Engagement of whatever nature. NPL shall not be liable for the costs, expenses or losses howsoever arising (including, without limitation, any loss of profit or other economic loss incurred), regardless of the outcome of the Market Engagement.
The next stage in the process will be considered once this exercise has been completed.
If you have any questions, or would like to register interest to the above, please [email protected] to request a Preliminary Market Engagement Supplier Questionnaire.
- Tender notice expectedin 69 days4 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Clarification questions byin 75 days11 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 83 days19 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT
- Contract startsin 96 days1 Feb 2027
- Award decision expected byin 97 days1 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 27 Oct 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Oct 2026, 10:18 GMTUK2
- Planned procurement notice published27 Oct 2026, 10:31 GMTUK3
- Status changed to planned27 Oct 2026, 10:31 GMT
- Procurement method changed27 Oct 2026, 10:31 GMT
- Deadline published: 19 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT27 Oct 2026, 10:31 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender