Find a TenderOpen for tender Tender notice
Published 28 Sept 2026, 11:15 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Pipette Servicing, Maintenance and Calibration Services

Authority: Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (Central government)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Published estimate£208,335≈ £69k / year · £250,002 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 23 Oct 202616:00 BST · 25d 3h left
Clarification cut-off 16 Oct 202616:00 BST · questions to the authority
Contract term 3 yrsup to 5 yrs with extensions · starts 1 Jan 2027
Bids per lot · the market 4division 50 · n=232 · competition analysis ↓

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Berkshire & Surrey Pathology Services (BSPS), hosted by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, is seeking a suitably qualified supplier to provide pipette calibration, servicing, maintenance and repair services across its pathology sites.

  • The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Aug 2031, 23:59 BST.

CPV: Calibration services · Repair and maintenance services of precision equipment

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Lot 1Renewal 3 yrsSMEPublished value£208,335
Contract period: 1 Jan 2027 — 31 Dec 2029 (3 yrs) · up to 5 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleDelivery: South EastTurnover guideline: ~£138,763/yr≈ 2× annual value
Value
£208,335 exc. VAT · £250,002 inc. VAT
Extensions
The contract will have an initial term of 3 years, with the option to extend for up to 2 additional years, exercised as two separate 12-month extensions (3+1+1). · The contract will have an initial term of 3 years, with the option to extend for up to 2 additional years, exercised as two separate 12-month extensions (3+1+1).
50430000 Repair and maintenance services of precision equipment50433000 Calibration services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids are scored
Quality: 75%Price: 25%
Published sub-criteria (2)
  • Technical & Quality Questionnaire — 75%
  • Commercial Schedule — 25%

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

Repair and maintenance services of precision equipment (CPV 5043) in South East England — and who usually turns up

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust has too little published record in this market to describe on its own; the South East England market stands beside whatever it has. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Repair and maintenance services of precision equipment (CPV 5043) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.

This authority

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

contract notices in 36 months: 31 in all categories (4 without competition · 22 route not published)

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no bid reports published.

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

—no bid reports published
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no bid reports published.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

—no bid reports published
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no comparable estimate → award pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

—no comparable estimate → award pairs
Deadline → award date
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.

Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no award dates published.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

—no award dates published
Notice updates
i

How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.

Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 54 notices.

Last 24 months.

0all categories · 24m · n=54 notices
Awarded without competition
i

How often this buyer awards without a competition.

Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 9 notices.

Last 36 months.

44%all categories · 36m · n=9 notices
How procedures are run robust · n=9
i

Which procedures buyers here use.

Notices by the procedure they declare: open, selective, limited or direct. Open and selective are competitions; limited and direct are not.

Based on 31 notices · all categories, last 36 months.

  • Open 44%
  • Selective 22%
  • Limited 22%
  • Direct 11%

31 notices · all categories. Open and selective are competed (they feed the bid and price figures above); limited and direct are not; notices publishing no route are outside all four.

The market · delivery region

South East England · Repair and maintenance services of precision equipment (CPV 5043)

contract notices delivered in South East England in 36 months: 2 in CPV 5043 (1 competed, 1 route not published) · 650 in division 50 (466 competed, 117 route not published)

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 50), last 36 months: 232 lots. 123 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 4) and 109 from older notices (bids received, middle 5).

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

4division 50 · 36m · n=232 lots
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 50), last 36 months: 232 lots.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

10%division 50 · 36m · n=232 lots
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 50), last 36 months: 116 pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

at estimatedivision 50 · 36m · n=116 pairs
Deadline → award date
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.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 50), last 36 months: 119 notices.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

61ddivision 50 · 36m · n=119 notices
SME bidders
i

How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.

SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 50), last 36 months: 183 lots.

Last 36 months.

78%division 50 · 36m · n=183 lots
Winners based in the region
i

How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.

Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 50), last 36 months: 309 awards.

Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.

Last 36 months.

75%division 50 · 36m · n=309 awards
Bids per lot robust · n=232
i

How the number of bidders is spread across lots.

Each lot with a published bid count is put in a band: one bid, two to three, four to six, seven or more. Real competitions only.

Based on 232 lots on 202 contested notices · division 50, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 10%
  • 2–3 32%
  • 4–6 28%
  • 7+ 29%

Middle value 4 · 232 lots on 202 contested notices · division 50.

Winning award vs estimate robust · n=116
i

How often winners come in below, near or above the estimate.

Each lot with both an estimate and an award is placed by how far the award sat from the estimate.

Based on 116 lot pairs · division 50, last 36 months.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

  • Below estimate 32%
  • Within ±2% 47%
  • Above estimate 22%

116 lot pairs · division 50.

robust · n=116
i

Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.

We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.

Based on the South East England market’s usual movement over 116 lots (division 50), applied to the £208,335 estimate on this notice. The range comes from the region’s middle half.

A benchmark, not a price to bid.

The middle award in South East England (division 50, n=116 pairs) lands at estimate: on this notice’s £208,335 that is about £208,335, middle half £188,543–£208,335 (quartiles from South East England · division 50). Context for a bid, not a recommended price.
Coverage and what to read with care
  • Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
  • Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
  • “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open for tender
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Yes · next expected 1 Aug 2031
First published
28 Sept 2026, 11:15 BST
Last source update
28 Sept 2026, 11:15 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 18 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
Authority reference
C464854
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Calibration servicesRepair and maintenance services of precision equipment
Delivery area
South East (UKJ11)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077b54 Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Submit via Atamis (Health Family)
Submission portal named on this notice: Atamis (Health Family) · Who buys & how to bid on Atamis
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · one account PER buying organisation portal · password resets come "from Salesforce.com" (check spam)
Expression of interest (EOI)
—
Tender submission deadline
23 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
Clarification deadline
16 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Instructions to access the tender documents: Please follow the following link to go to the portal: atamis-1928.my.salesforce-sites.com ↗ Search Contract Reference C464854 and click on the Opportunity Title. From here you are able to view the document and register interest. Clicking ‘Register Interest’ will prompt you to log in or create an account. This will enable you respond to the questions directly using the templates provided and then upload back on to the portal.
Published estimate £208,335 excludes VAT (£250,002 including VAT).

Timeline

5 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice publishedearlier today
    28 Sept 2026, 11:15 BST
  2. Clarification questions byin 18 days
    16 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
  3. Submission deadlinein 25 days
    23 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
  4. Award decision expected byin 82 days
    18 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 95 days
    1 Jan 2027, 00:00 GMT

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Tender notice published
    28 Sept 2026, 11:15 BSTUK4

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PLMQ-6855-CXLL Portsmouth Road, Frimley, South East, GU16 7UJ

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Conflict of interest declarationtenderConflict of interest declaration

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender