Official UK procurement notice
Strategic Design Partner to Support Deconversion - Framework Agreement
Authority: United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory (Public body)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPlease note this notice is a copy of notice reference: 2026/S 000-027524 from March 2026, which is being republished to replace an incorrect notice reference: 2026/S 000-077106.
This Contract Award Notice confirms the appointment by UKNNL of a single supplier framework agreement to undertake the role of "Strategic Design Partner" to support UKNNL with HALEU Deconversion.
The Strategic Design Partner (SDP) Framework is intended to comprise of four stages, these are:
Stage 1: Defining Period
Stage 2: Preliminary Design
Stage 3: Detailed Design
Stage 4: Design Support During Manufacture
UKNNL will enter into a new call-off for each stage of work, UKNNL reserves the right to not award future call-offs and to amend the call-off schedule for alternative HALEU Deconversion related design work. UKNNL will continually assess Key Performance Indicators to inform decision making surrounding future call-offs.
- How the procedure runs: The Competitive Flexible Procedure will consist of three distinct stages, allowing for an initial assessment of interested suppliers. A fourth stage is included as an optional stage and UKNNL reserves the right to add/remove additional stages including a negotiation stage as required. Suppliers will be evaluated against the specific objectives of the contract through the following stages: Stage 1: Procurement Specification Questionnaire (Shortlisting) - DEADLINE 28th November 2025 Stage 2: Supplier Presentations Stage 3: Final Tender - DEADLINE estimated to be 16th January 2026 Stage 4: Negotiation (optional stage used if required) Shortlisting will be to the highest ranked 5 suppliers. Should suppliers score equal in all questions, UKNNL may submit more or less suppliers through to Stage 2 and Stage 3. If negotiation is required, the preferred supplier identified in Stage 3 will proceed through to the negotiation stage. Interested parties should refer to the Invitation to Tender document on the e-tendering portal for full guidance on the procedure and associated evaluation criteria for all stages. UKNNL reserves the right to award the framework agreement before completing all stages should supplier numbers reduce to 1 and sufficient evaluation have been undertaken to determine if the supplier is able to offer the most advantageous tender. UKNNL will not be bound by the inclusion of the tenderer’s own terms and conditions in any part of the submission, unless expressly agreed to in writing. There is a known unknown risk that UKNNL may need to vary the scope of the framework to include design support to also support other deconversion related design support, outside of the rig design. Currently UKNNL cannot include this scope in the framework and do not know the scale and value of this risk. This risk if materialised may require a modification to the contract to expand the contract scope to include wider engineering-based activities. If this is required, the supplier will be made aware in writing and agreement on additional scope agreed via a call-off contract. If the risk materialised UKNNL will modify the contract where awarding a new contract would not be in the public interest.
CPV: Engineering design services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
- Places
- up to 1 suppliers · 5 bids received (5.0 per place) · 1 appointed (full)
- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 16 Mar 2026
Published description of the framework
The framework is a single supplier framework, all awards are direct to that supplier.
The framework operates under an NEC PSC contract with the ability to contract using options A, C or E.
A rate card has been provided which is subject to increases as stipulated in the contract.
- Preliminary Design Call-off Contract · United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory · 20 Aug 2026
- Defining Period · United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory · 26 Mar 2026
Notices that name this framework as their framework in the official record. Many call-offs are never published, so this is a floor, not utilisation.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£3,500,000
- Economic & financial standing
Financial Capacity: Turnover Ratio Financial Capacity: Acid Ratio Insurances GDPR Refer to the tender documents for full details on the conditions of participation and evaluation criteria. The Procurement Specific Questionnaire includes the Conditions of Participation questions, this is used for shortlisting in stage 1.
- Technical & professional ability
Relevant Experience and Contract Examples Safety, Health and Wellbeing Nuclear Safety Culture Cyber Essentials Plus Refer to the tender documents for full details on the conditions of participation and evaluation criteria. The Procurement Specific Questionnaire includes the Conditions of Participation questions, this is used for shortlisting in stage 1.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (4)
- Technical Criteria: 60%
- Programme: 10%
- Commercial Evaluation: 20%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (4)
- Technical Criteria: For stage 3: final tender
- Programme: For stage 3: final tender
- Social Value: For stage 3: final tender
- Commercial Evaluation: For stage 3: final tender
- Economic & financial standing
Financial Capacity: Turnover Ratio Financial Capacity: Acid Ratio Insurances GDPR Refer to the tender documents for full details on the conditions of participation and evaluation criteria. The Procurement Specific Questionnaire includes the Conditions of Participation questions, this is used for shortlisting in stage 1.
- Technical & professional ability
Relevant Experience and Contract Examples Safety, Health and Wellbeing Nuclear Safety Culture Cyber Essentials Plus Refer to the tender documents for full details on the conditions of participation and evaluation criteria. The Procurement Specific Questionnaire includes the Conditions of Participation questions, this is used for shortlisting in stage 1.
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Strategic Design Partner to Support Deconversion - Framework Agreement” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 1 suppliers, not a single contract, and call-offs are awarded directly: getting appointed is the whole game.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use the vehicle
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 24 Oct 2025, 09:42 BST
- Last source update
- 20 Aug 2026, 12:39 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 11 Mar 2026
- Authority reference
NNLC661- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-072122- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05d301Find a Tender
- How it runs
The Competitive Flexible Procedure will consist of three distinct stages, allowing for an initial assessment of interested suppliers. A fourth stage is included as an optional stage and UKNNL reserves the right to add/remove additional stages including a negotiation stage as required. Suppliers will be evaluated against the specific objectives of the contract through the following stages: Stage 1: Procurement Specification Questionnaire (Shortlisting) - DEADLINE 28th November 2025 Stage 2: Supplier Presentations Stage 3: Final Tender - DEADLINE estimated to be 16th January 2026 Stage 4: Negotiation (optional stage used if required) Shortlisting will be to the highest ranked 5 suppliers. Should suppliers score equal in all questions, UKNNL may submit more or less suppliers through to Stage 2 and Stage 3. If negotiation is required, the preferred supplier identified in Stage 3 will proceed through to the negotiation stage. Interested parties should refer to the Invitation to Tender document on the e-tendering portal for full guidance on the procedure and associated evaluation criteria for all stages. UKNNL reserves the right to award the framework agreement before completing all stages should supplier numbers reduce to 1 and sufficient evaluation have been undertaken to determine if the supplier is able to offer the most advantageous tender. UKNNL will not be bound by the inclusion of the tenderer’s own terms and conditions in any part of the submission, unless expressly agreed to in writing. There is a known unknown risk that UKNNL may need to vary the scope of the framework to include design support to also support other deconversion related design support, outside of the rig design. Currently UKNNL cannot include this scope in the framework and do not know the scale and value of this risk. This risk if materialised may require a modification to the contract to expand the contract scope to include wider engineering-based activities. If this is required, the supplier will be made aware in writing and agreement on additional scope agreed via a call-off contract. If the risk materialised UKNNL will modify the contract where awarding a new contract would not be in the public interest.
- Risks
There is a known unknown risk that UKNNL may need to vary the scope of the framework to include design support to also support other deconversion related design support, outside of the rig design. Currently UKNNL cannot include this scope in the framework and do not know the scale and value of this risk. This risk if materialised may require a modification to the contract to expand the contract scope to include wider engineering-based activities. If this is required, the supplier will be made aware in writing and agreement on additional scope agreed via a call-off contract. If the risk materialised UKNNL will modify the contract where awarding a new contract would not be in the public interest.
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 16 Jan 2026, 13:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 28 Nov 2025, 13:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
24 Oct 2025 → 20 Aug 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published357 days ago24 Oct 2025, 09:42 BST
- Market engagement344 days ago6 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
UKNNL will be hosting a Market Engagement Session on MS Teams on Thursday 6th November from 11:00-12:00. Suppliers can sign-up to attend this market engagement/briefing session by emailing [email protected] and [email protected] confirming the names and email addresses of attendees. To engage with UKNNL suppliers must: 1. Sign-up to the engagement session 2. Attend the session 3. Provide feedback/ ask questions UKNNL wishes to confirm appetite in the market for this contract and ensure the contracting model is attractive to potential suppliers. If you would like to pre submit questions ahead of the call please email these to [email protected] and [email protected] . We plan to share the attendees list of the call with all attendees. If you do not wish for your details to be shared, please notify us when registering and we will remove your information from the list before distributing.
- Tender notice published343 days ago7 Nov 2025, 15:16 GMT
- Next notice expected343 days ago7 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Clarification questions by322 days ago28 Nov 2025, 13:00 GMT
- Admission / appointment period ends273 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown16 Jan 2026, 13:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent232 days ago27 Feb 2026
- Standstill ends220 days ago10 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Award decision expected by219 days ago11 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts215 days ago16 Mar 2026
- Latest notice published57 days ago20 Aug 2026, 12:39 BST
Notice history
13 events · 6 releases on Find a Tender · since 24 Oct 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published24 Oct 2025, 09:42 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published7 Nov 2025, 15:16 GMTUK4
- Status changed to active7 Nov 2025, 15:16 GMT
- Procurement method changed7 Nov 2025, 15:16 GMT
- Deadline published: 16 Jan 2026, 13:00 GMT7 Nov 2025, 15:16 GMT
- Contract award notice published27 Feb 2026, 10:27 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete27 Feb 2026, 10:27 GMT
- Procurement method changed27 Feb 2026, 10:27 GMT
- Buyer details updated27 Feb 2026, 10:27 GMT
- Contract signature expected11 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published25 Mar 2026, 16:38 GMTUK7
- Contract details notice published13 Aug 2026, 10:46 BSTUK7
- Contract details notice published20 Aug 2026, 12:39 BSTUK7
Routine re-releases (6)
- 2026-02: 1 release · 27 Feb 2026
- 2025-11: 1 release · 7 Nov 2025
- 2025-10: 1 release · 24 Oct 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NORTH WEST PROJECTS LIMITED (trading as ACTEMIUM DESIGN UK)12 Mar 2026 – 11 Mar 2030 | £3,500,000 | 27 Feb 2026 | Awarded |
2 suppliers are admitted to this framework without individual award values or dates, see the supplier list below.
Contracts
All 2 of these contracts carry the same published figure, £3,500,000, the framework's maximum for the whole notice, not each contract's own value. They are not eleven separate sums.
Contract 2
- Signed
- 9 Jul 2026
- Value
- £887,764
- Period
- 13 Jul 2026 – 24 Feb 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2027 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- The contract may be extended in accordance with the contract terms and conditions (NEC4 PSC).
No agreed KPIs: Contract is not in excess of £5million.
Contract 1 · NORTH WEST PROJECTS LIMITED (trading as ACTEMIUM DESIGN UK)
- Signed
- 13 Mar 2026
- Value
- ceiling above
- Period
- 16 Mar 2026 – 15 Mar 2030
- Status
- active
Contract 3
- Signed
- 13 Mar 2026
- Value
- ceiling above
- Period
- 16 Mar 2026 – 15 Mar 2030
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5final-stage tenders | 0 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- United Kingdom National Nuclear LaboratoryContracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government
Framework contractors & participating bidders
1 commercial party on the notice- NORTH WEST PROJECTS LIMITED (trading as ACTEMIUM DESIGN UK)Framework contractor
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender