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Find a TenderAwarded without competitionContract details notice
Published 9 Jul 2026, 15:40 BST

Official UK procurement notice

National Timing Centre (NTC) Delivery Programme 2

Official notice

Authority: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (Central government)

GoodsDirect awardAbove thresholdLight touch regime
Sectors: Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment (32) Delivery: UK
Contract value (direct award)£180,000,000≈ £49m / year · £216,000,000 inc. VAT
Awarded 6 Jul 2026no call for competition
Awarded to NPL Management Limited
Contract term 3 yrs 8 moends 31 Mar 2030 · starts 31 Jul 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

National Timing Centre (NTC) Delivery Programme 2. The programme will build and operate an NTC to provide a resilient, terrestrial, sovereign, sustainable, and high-quality Timing Signal.

CPV: Communications infrastructure

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Awarded 3 yrs 8 mo
Contract period: 31 Jul 2026 – 31 Mar 2030 (3 yrs 8 mo)
Delivery: UK
32571000 Communications infrastructure

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Direct award
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Goods
Notice status
Awarded without competition
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
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
9 Jul 2026, 15:40 BST
Last source update
15 Sept 2026, 11:50 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087231
Latest notice
Contract details notice (UK7)
Classification (CPV)
Communications infrastructure
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c7d3 Find a Tender
Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
Published justification

Single supplier - technical reasons

Direct Award is made on the basis that NPL are the sole provider for technical reasons under Schedule 5, paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023 -

The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract -

(a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and

(b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

9 Jul 2026 → 15 Sept 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published103 days ago
    9 Jul 2026, 15:40 BST
  2. Next notice expected99 days ago
    13 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  3. Contract starts82 days ago
    31 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
  4. Latest notice published35 days ago
    15 Sept 2026, 11:50 BST

Notice history

6 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 9 Jul 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    9 Jul 2026, 15:40 BST
    UK1
  2. Transparency notice published
    14 Jul 2026, 12:46 BST
    UK5
  3. Status changed to complete
    14 Jul 2026, 12:46 BST
  4. Contract award notice published
    16 Jul 2026, 13:26 BST
    UK6
  5. Contract signature expected
    22 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
    scheduled
  6. Contract details notice published
    15 Sept 2026, 11:50 BST
    UK7
Routine re-releases (4)
  • 2026-07: 1 release · 9 Jul 2026

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £180,000,0001 award exc. VAT
Contracts signed 1latest 9 Aug 2026
Awarded toValueDateStatus
NPL Management Limited31 Jul 2026 – 31 Mar 2030£180,000,0006 Jul 2026Awarded

Contracts

  • National Timing Centre (NTC) Delivery Programme 2 · NPL Management Limited

    Signed
    9 Aug 2026
    Value
    £180,000,000
    Period
    10 Aug 2026 – 31 Mar 2030
    Status
    active
    3 agreed KPIs: Entry Level New Roles Created and Filled · NTP Ops: Accuracy (Clock Offset) · NTP Ops: Availability (Synchronisat ion to UTC (NPL)
    • Entry Level New Roles Created and Filled, Demonstrates uplift in capability and capacity in early years careers (graduates, apprenticeships, experienced hires ~ 5 years experience)
    • NTP Ops: Accuracy (Clock Offset), Demonstrate that the NTP service maintains internal synchronisation accuracy against the UTC (NPL) reference within the defined performance threshold.
    • NTP Ops: Availability (Synchronisat ion to UTC (NPL), Demonstrate continued availability and resilience of the NTP synchronisation service to UTC (NPL).

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PVWZ-3216-PVQL 22 Whitehall, London, London, SW1A 2EGContact email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender