Official UK procurement notice
PURCH2986 Contract Agreement for Electron Counting Detector for Cryo Transmission Electron Microscopy & Associated Services
Authority: University of Glasgow (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPURCH2986 Contract Agreement for Electron Counting Detector for Cryo Transmission Electron Microscopy & Associated Services and Maintenance for the period of 36 Months, with a further 2 optional extension periods of 12 months.
This procurement process is being conducted using the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation (CPN) in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 30 of the PC(S)R 2015. Although this procurement is being conducted under the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation (CPN), it is structured differently from a typical CPN process. This approach has been adopted to enhance the efficiency of evaluating supplier responses across both stages (SPD and ITT).
Tender documents available from Public Contracts Scotland.
Tender returns should be submitted via Public Contracts Scotland, no paper copies will be accepted. Should paper tenders be submitted, they will be rejected. Further to this any questions or communications regarding individual tender exercises must be sent via the Public Contracts Scotland Portal. Tender queries received through any other channel will not be answered. Should users of Public Contracts Scotland have any problems with the web site they should contact website Support Desk, contact details can be found by following the ‘Contact Us’ option on the left hand menu at www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/default.aspx ↗
- Two-stage procedure: up to 3 candidates will be invited to tender around 26 Nov 2026.
CPV: Imaging equipment for medical, dental and veterinary use
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Renewal
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 (6)
- Section 1 – Technical Specification: 35%
- Section 2 - Performance Output: 5%
- Section 3 - Technical Service Support: 20%
- Section 4 - Delivery & Installation: 6%
- Section 5 - Acceptance Testing: 4%
- price: 30%
Published award criteria (6)
- Section 1 – Technical Specification: 35%
- Section 2 - Performance Output: 5%
- Section 3 - Technical Service Support: 20%
- Section 4 - Delivery & Installation: 6%
- Section 5 - Acceptance Testing: 4%
- Price: 30%
- Condition of participationno text publishedMinimum: - Product liability insurance with a limit of indemnity of not less than one million pounds sterling 1,000,000 GBP in relation to any one claim or series of claims. -Public liability insurance with a limit of indemnity of not less than five million pounds sterling (5,000,000 GBP)…
- Successive reduction
- Candidates will be reduced successively across stages
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How University of Glasgow buys Imaging equipment for medical, dental and veterinary use (CPV 3311), and who usually turns up
University of Glasgow’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Imaging equipment for medical, dental and veterinary use (CPV 3311) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 40 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 bid33% / 33%
2–349% / 33%
4–612% / 33%
7+7% / 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 estimate55%
Within ±2%18%
Above estimate27%
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 3311Estimate 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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid30%
2–364%
4–65%
7+1%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford Instruments Nanotechnology Tools LimitedEarlier contract | PURCH2523 Provision of Contract Agreement for a Scanning Probe Microscopenotice published Jul 2025 | — | £191k | Matched as the earlier contract |
| M Squared Life LimitedWorked for this buyer | PURCH2281 PROVISION OF A CONTRACT FOR A MULTI-SPECTRAL LIGHT SHEET MICROSCOPE & ASSOCIATED MAINTENANCEnotice published Jan 2024 | — | — | Similar wording and category |
| Mediso Medical Imaging Systems UK LimitedWorked for this buyer | PURCH2886 - PPE1004192 Direct Award for the Provision of nanoScan Preclinical PET / CT 123S Platformnotice published Jan 2026 | — | — | Similar wording and category |
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| £58m11 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 1 live · £11k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 43% below n=2 | |
| £4.9m49 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 18 live · £824k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 12% below n=2 | |
| £1.3m4 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 1 live · £352k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 8% below n=1 | |
| £6.6m3 awards in 36m · last 8 months ago | 1 live · £905k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 23% below n=1 | |
| £300k1 awards in 36m · last 17 months ago | None on file | no comparable pairs |
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 · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Competitive procedure with negotiation
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Requests to participate open
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 26 Oct 2026, 12:08 GMT
- Last source update
- 26 Oct 2026, 12:08 GMT
- Authority reference
PURCH2986- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-100956- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-079002Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
Publisher note: Once the deadline has passed submissions can neither be created nor submitted. It is not advisable for Suppliers to wait until the last moment before creating and dispatching a response in case of any last minute problems. Please note large files should be uploaded as early as possible to ensure transfer before deadline. If a Supplier is having problems uploading to the PCS site, then the University must be informed well in advance and depending upon the merit of the case, the University may arrange for the tender to remain open on the PCS system for a short period after the deadline time stated. System problems do not fall under the University’s remit and should be referred to PCS. Postbox Security: Postbox submissions cannot be accessed by anyone, including Millstream, (the provider of the Public Contracts Scotland system) until the deadline. Freedom of Information The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), which came into force on 1 January 2005, designates University of Glasgow as a Scottish public authority and therefore subject to the provisions and obligations in that Act. This means that any person who makes a valid request for information held by University of Glasgow will be entitled to receive it, unless all or part of that information can be withheld by virtue of the exemptions in that Act. Under the Act, University of Glasgow may be required to disclose any information held relating to your response to anyone who makes a request under that Act. Such information may only be withheld if it meets one or more of the exemptions or conditions in that Act. Even if an exemption is available University of Glasgow may nevertheless disclose requested information. Information held cannot simply be classified as “confidential" or "commercial in confidence" to enable it to be protected from disclosure. University of Glasgow may publish the names and contact details of companies who have been issued with a Questionnaire on its website. Information may also be requested under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) tailored by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=846606. The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx. Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems. Community benefits are included in this requirement. For more information see: https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement/community-benefits-in-procurement/ A summary of the expected community benefits has been provided as follows: - employment and training opportunities for priority groups - vocational training - up-skilling of the existing workforce - equality and diversity initiatives - making sub-contracting opportunities available to SMEs, the third sector and supported businesses - supply-chain development activity - building capacity in community organisations - educational support initiatives - work with schools, colleges and universities to offer work experience Please advise what community benefits you commit to delivering as a result of this Contract? (SC Ref:846606)
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via Public Contracts Scotland- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 26 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Shortlist
- up to 3 candidates invited to tender · successive reduction of candidates · no negotiation
Timeline
26 Oct 2026 → 26 Nov 2026 · 3 dates- Notice publishedearlier today26 Oct 2026, 12:08 GMT
- Today26 Oct 2026
- Invitations to tender expectedin 30 days26 Nov 2026
- Submission deadlinein 31 days26 Nov 2026, 12:00 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
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Glasgow Sheriff Court & Justice of the Peace CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Technical selection criteria