Pipette Maintenance, Calibration and Repair Services

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is responsible for planning, preventing and responding to external health threats, and providing intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage. UKHSA ensures the nation can respond quickly and at greater scale to deal with pandemics and future threats. It does this through advocacy, partnerships, world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, and the delivery of specialist public health services. UKHSA is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the United Kingdom Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Laboratories across the UKHSA estate collectively use thousands of pipettes for a broad range of diagnostic and research assays and experiments. These instruments require calibration at regular intervals (between six-monthly and annual) to ensure working accuracy and precision is maintained. Requirements span 19 departments across seven sites with varying calibration needs based on scientific requirements which include, but are not limited to, UKAS, GxP and ISO9001 standards.

The UKHSA has a potential requirement for a pipette maintenance, calibration and repair service for the pipettes in circulation within the organisation and is conducting a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise to assess the market and identify supplier(s) who have the capability to deliver the requirement.

A scope of requirements is currently being prepared however, prior to initiating any procurement exercise, UKHSA wishes to engage the market to better understand both the level of capability to deliver the service and the level of interest to supply. Responses will then be used to inform the most appropriate potential route to market which has yet to be determined.

This is not a call for competition but a PME exercise to gain insight into the market and to identify any potential challenges which will inform the procurement approach ahead of a possible Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the service. UKHSA aims to ensure any subsequent ITT is best aligned with current market capabilities and capacity. The number and quality of responses to this PME may impact on UKHSA’s decision whether or not to proceed with a competitive procurement.

Please note this PME is for information-gathering purposes only and does not form part of the formal procurement process. Neither does it constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the UKHSA will take procurement action in this matter. Further, the UKHSA will not be responsible for any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of any response(s).

Specification. The specification of requirements is expected to include:

1. Calibration of all makes and models of POVA (Piston-operated Volumetric Apparatus) and electronic pipettes, according to the volumes, locations and service levels and frequencies as set out in the table of ‘Expected requirements for pipette calibration’ in Annex 1.
2. Services will need to be carried out:

a. Off-site at the provider’s central service centre (Primary Service Centre)

b. On site at UKHSA’s laboratories across England by mobile service staff, and

c. At an on-site clinic at one of UKHSA larger sites by managed, site-based staff. There are up to three FTE (Full Time Equivalent) roles potentially in the scope of TUPE for this requirement.

3. Provision of spares/replacement parts as needed, both commonly required and more atypical parts.
4. Servicing and provision of parts for smaller numbers of electronic and fixed-volume pipettes.
5. In-person pipette user training sessions delivered to all sites as requested. Training is expected to be required once annually at each of the two larger sites (Colindale and Porton) and as required on an ad-hoc basis at five smaller sites (Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Manchester, York).

Provider requirements. Requirements are expected to include that the provider must:

1. Have the capacity and flexibility to be able to meet a fluctuating level of requirements as the volume of pipettes passing through the on-site clinic can vary considerably from month to month.
2. Be able to consistently deliver a turn-around-time of 10 days or less, with failure rates on average below 20%.
3. Be ISO17025 accredited.
4. Be able to deliver calibration and servicing compliant to a range of standards including but not limited to ISO8655, ISO9001, ISO15186, ISO17025 and GxP.
5. Have robust and transparent systems and processes in place to enable them to manage differing and fluctuating service requirements across the various sites while ensuring accurate invoicing for services delivered.

UKHSA invites potential providers to register their interest by completing the Microsoft Form, via the link included in this notice, by 17:00 (BST) on Thursday 30 July 2026. Responses will help UKHSA ascertain if the capability to deliver this requirement is available within the market and the level of interest in tendering for the opportunity if UKHSA determines the requirement is suitable for competition.

forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx ↗

If a response is not received by the stated deadline, it will have no impact on that organisation’s ability to participate in any future procurement.

All information provided will be treated as commercially sensitive and used solely for the purposes of market research.

This notice is for information only and the information contained herein, including information relating to the nature and scope of the requirement, the estimated value and contract dates is indicative only and is neither exhaustive nor binding and the Authority reserves the right, at its absolute discretion, to amend it at the time of issue of any further notices or at any other time.