Official UK procurement notice
PME - 250247 Contract for the Supply, Commissioning, Installation & Maintenance for a Dynamic & a Static Mechanical Testing Frame, & Associated Grips & Environmental Test Chambers.
Authority: Queen's University Belfast (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC), led by Queen's University Belfast, is key to an exciting future for manufacturing in Northern Ireland, as an industry-led, open-access manufacturing and engineering innovation centre with state-of-the-art facilities and an expert engineering team, underpinned by academic excellence.
AMIC is expanding its core capabilities in Digital Factory, Smart Design, Sustainable Polymers and Composites Nanotechnology and Photonics. With a growing team of engineers and technologists (currently 50 strong) and building upon a track-record of collaboration with manufacturers it will deliver industry 4.0 solutions for industry. Supported through a £98M investment via Belfast Region City Deal, a 10,000m2 Factory of the Future facility will open at Global Point Newtownabbey in early 2026. The equipment being purchased is critical to the organisational strategy.
As part of this project Queen's University Belfast wish to procure a Femtosecond Laser Workstation.
CPV: Servo-hydraulic test apparatus
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Queen's University Belfast buys Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring (CPV 3854), and who usually turns up
Queen's University Belfast’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring (CPV 3854) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
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.
Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Northern Ireland.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 45 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.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
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 bid61% / 50%
2–333% / 50%
4–66% / 0%
7+0% / 0%
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 estimate28% / 57%
Within ±2%24% / 29%
Above estimate48% / 14%
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 3854Estimate not published
i
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 47 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid34%
2–330%
4–66%
7+30%
i
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.
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revvity (UK) Ltd.Live contract | 250075 - Contract for supply, Delivery, Installation, commissioning and Maintenance of an In vivo Optical Imaging Systemruns to Jan 2031 | — | — | Matched as the earlier contract |
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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- 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
- 10 Dec 2025, 09:11 GMT
- Last source update
- 10 Dec 2025, 12:48 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-081480- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f25fFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
10 Dec 2025 → 20 Apr 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published316 days ago10 Dec 2025, 09:11 GMT
- Market engagement275 days ago19 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
AMIC is expanding its core capabilities in Digital Factory, Smart Design, Sustainable
Polymers and Composites, Nanotechnology and Photonics.
As part of this project, Queen's University Belfast is seeking expressions of interest from
suppliers as we wish to procure a Femtosecond Laser Workstation.
Queen's staff wish to engage with suppliers prior to procuring this equipment to:
1 - gain a better understanding of what the market can offer and if the market can respond
to a tender meeting our requirements.
2 - identify potential suppliers able to provide the requirement.
3 - understand potential lead times.
4 - gain an understanding of the commercial profile for the requirement.
A pre-market engagement questionnaire has been published here: intendhost ↗.
co.uk/queensuniversitybelfast. Interested parties are asked to complete and
return this questionnaire via the InTend platform within 40 days of this notice. Queen's
may then contact suppliers for further discussion of the information received in the
questionnaire. Queen's do not guarantee that they will speak to every supplier who
submits a return.
Participation in the pre-market engagement exercise is not a pre-requisite to participation
in any future tender exercise, however, the information provided may be used to inform
decisions around the tender exercise. Queen's welcome all participation in this Pre Market
engagement exercise.
This Pre Market Engagement exercise is not a call for competition and does not commit
Queen's to proceed with a formal procurement. Queen's is not obligated to adopt supplier
feedback into the process.
Please note that Queen's University is closed 23 December 2025 - 1 January 2026 inclusive. Any queries received during this time will be answered when the University re-opens.
- Tender notice expected244 days ago19 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts185 days ago20 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Dec 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Dec 2025, 09:11 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Dec 2025, 12:48 GMTUK2
Published amendments (1)
Please note this notice has been re-published in error. This pre-market engagement exercise closed on the 17th of October 2025. Queen's University intend to publish a tender for this equipment in the new year.
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender