Official UK procurement notice
Northern Ireland Sorting Services
Authority: BANK OF ENGLAND
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionProvision of banknote sorting services within Northern Ireland to sort Bank of England banknotes for authenticity and quality.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure 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
- 1 Dec 2025, 20:55 GMT
- Last source update
- 1 Dec 2025, 20:55 GMT
- Authority reference
PROC/520- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-078681- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05ec66Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
Eligible suppliers must operate in Northern Ireland and possess highly specialised infrastructure, including secure vault storage, note sorting equipment, and robust security protocols; and have the financial capacity to hold large values of cash.
A change in supplier could introduce incompatible infrastructure, processes, and security protocols, which could undermine the integrity of the Northern Ireland Sorting Services framework.
Transitioning to a new supplier would require significant technical reconfiguration, including new security vetting and infrastructure audits. These changes would be disproportionate relative to the value and scope of the services and would risk operational disruption.
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 1 Dec 2025- Transparency notice published1 Dec 2025, 20:55 GMTUK5
- Contract signature expected12 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIB Group (UK) Plc1 Jan 2026 – 31 Dec 2028 · up to 31 Dec 2030Extensions: Two 1-year options to extend | £160,000 | — | Standstill |
| BANK OF IRELAND UK PLC15 Dec 2025 – 14 Dec 2028 · up to 14 Dec 2030Extensions: Two 1-year options to extend | £1,120,000 | — | Standstill |
| NatWest Group15 Dec 2025 – 14 Dec 2028 · up to 14 Dec 2030Extensions: Two 1-year options to extend | £1,800,000 | — | Standstill |
| NORTHERN BANK LIMITED15 Dec 2025 – 14 Dec 2028 · up to 14 Dec 2030Extensions: Two 1-year options to extend | £560,000 | — | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
4 commercial parties on the notice- AIB Group (UK) PlcAwarded supplier
- BANK OF IRELAND (UK) PLCAwarded supplier
- NORTHERN BANK LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- National Westminster Bank plcAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender