Official UK procurement notice
Purchase of International Specialist Courier Services for APHA
Authority: ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH AGENCY (Central government)·On behalf of: DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Sectors: Transport & Passenger Services (60)Postal and telecommunications services (64) Delivery: UK
Published estimate £955,000≈ £441k / year · £1,146,000 inc. VAT · 2 value updates
Submissions closed 14 Nov 2025
Next notice expected 18 Aug 2025
Contract term 2 yrs 2 moup to 4 yrs 2 mo with extensions · starts 1 Feb 2026
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAnimal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) require a specialist courier supplier to manage the secure, time-critical collection and international delivery of approximately 2,000 consignments per year. While these volumes are indicative and cannot be guaranteed, the consignments include high-risk materials classified as Category A (UN2814 & UN2900) and Category B (UN3373), which must be transported both within the UK (including Northern Ireland) and globally, covering Europe, Non-EU countries, and other international destinations. Due to the specialist nature of the consignments, the suppliers must hold appropriate licenses for the transportation of infectious substances, manage chilled and dry ice shipments, provide import services, and navigate complex customs clearance procedures.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Sept 2029, 23:59 BST.
How the procedure runs: Following the evaluation of both Stage 1 of Technical and Commercial, the authority reserves the right to reissue the technical evaluation questions, pricing schedule, or any part thereof to the two highest scoring bidders, or any other bidder that has scored within 3% (total score) of the highest scoring bidder, for a Best and Final more…
Offer (BAFO). This is an optional stage for the Authority to ensure that the Most Advantageous Tender is selected, that the requirement has been fully understood, and that bidders are provided a fair chance to compete where the Authority does not feel ready to award after Stage 1 evaluation. Bidders should submit their best possible tender and price in the first instance, as it is not guaranteed that this stage will be used.
CPV: Air transport services · Courier services · Mail delivery services · Multi-modal courier services · Non-scheduled airmail transport services · Parcel delivery services · Parcel transport services · Post and courier services · Postal services · Postal services related to parcels · Scheduled airmail transport services · Transport services (excl. Waste transport)
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Lot 1AwardedRenewalPublished value£955,000
- Value
- £955,000 exc. VAT · £1,146,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- Extensions will be subject to service demand and satisfactory contract performance.
60000000 Transport services (excl. Waste transport)60161000 Parcel transport services60400000 Air transport services60411000 Scheduled airmail transport services60421000 Non-scheduled airmail transport services64100000 Post and courier services
What it takes to win
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published — the tender pack may add moreHow bids were scored
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical Evaluation — 50%
- Commercial Evaluation — 50%
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
- Cancelled
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Sept 2029
- First published
- 30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BST
- Last source update
- 30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 30 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Authority reference
P-35795- Latest notice
- Procurement termination notice (UK12)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-054f3fFind a Tender
- How it runs
Following the evaluation of both Stage 1 of Technical and Commercial, the authority reserves the right to reissue the technical evaluation questions, pricing schedule, or any part thereof to the two highest scoring bidders, or any other bidder that has scored within 3% (total score) of the highest scoring bidder, for a Best and Final Offer (BAFO). This is an optional stage for the Authority to ensure that the Most more…
Advantageous Tender is selected, that the requirement has been fully understood, and that bidders are provided a fair chance to compete where the Authority does not feel ready to award after Stage 1 evaluation. Bidders should submit their best possible tender and price in the first instance, as it is not guaranteed that this stage will be used.
How it was run
Official noticeAccess & registration note: Free
- Submission deadline
- 14 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 5 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗
Any questions, requests to participate or tender submissions must be submitted electronically via this portal.
Timeline
9 published dates · Europe/London- Planning notice published18 Jun 2025, 15:35 BST
- Market engagement16 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
Defra Group Commercial on behalf of Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) intends to publish a tender opportunity for the provision of International Specialist Courier service, tentatively scheduled for August 2025. The successful supplier(s) will be required to collect and deliver Category A more…
(UN2814 & UN2900) and/or Category B (UN3373) consignments to and from UK addresses and deliver them internationally, including to Northern Ireland, Europe, Non-EU countries, and worldwide destinations. Given the specialist nature of these consignments, suppliers must hold the appropriate licenses for transporting biological substances under chilled conditions using dry ice. Additionally, suppliers will need to provide import services and manage complex customs clearance process. The tender opportunity is expected to be divided into 2 lots: Lot 1 - Transportation of Category A samples Lot 2 - Transportation of Category B samples Suppliers will have the option to bid for one or both lots. Please note that this approach may be subject to change based on the outcome of our supplier engagement. An initial market engagement exercise took place in November 2024. This notice now serves to resume the procurement process ahead of the forthcoming tender. We are considering holding a virtual supplier engagement event, provisionally scheduled for 16th July 2025 via Microsoft Teams. This session will provide an overview of our requirements and invite supplier feedback. A Q&A session will follow, giving participants the opportunity to raise questions which will be addressed by our team. If your organisation is interested in this upcoming opportunity, please register your interest by emailing [email protected]. In your response, kindly confirm the following: 1) Whether your organisation intends to submit a tender. 2) Whether you would like to attend the supplier engagement event, if so, please provide the names and email addresses of the proposed attendees. We would appreciate receiving all expressions of interest by 12pm on 14th July 2025. Thank you for your time and interest. We look forward to hearing from you. - Next notice expected396 days ago18 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published341 days ago13 Oct 2025, 16:21 BST
- Clarification questions by318 days ago5 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline309 days ago14 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by231 days ago30 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts230 days ago1 Feb 2026, 00:00 GMT
- Latest notice published173 days ago30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecastAwards 1
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| supplier not published | — | 27 Mar 2026 | CancelledThis notice is to inform all interested parties that Defra Group has taken the decision to terminate the current procurement process for the above‑referenced opportunity. Following an internal financial review of the tender submissions received, the organisation has determined that the tender prices are unaffordable within the current budget. Consequently, we are unable to proceed to contract award under this procurement exercise. The organisation intends to undertake a re‑tender of this requirement in due course. Details of any future procurement activity will be published through the appropriate procurement channels in line with all relevant regulations. We recognise and appreciate the time and effort invested by all bidders and apologise for any inconvenience caused by this decision. |
Notice history
12 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 18 Jun 2025- Procurement termination notice published30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BSTUK12
- Published value updated30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BSTwas £955,000
- Status changed to complete30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BST
- Procurement method changed30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BST
- Deadline withdrawn30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BST
- Buyer details updated30 Mar 2026, 10:23 BST
- Tender notice published13 Oct 2025, 16:21 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £955,00013 Oct 2025, 16:21 BSTwas £1,500,000
- Status changed to active13 Oct 2025, 16:21 BST
- Procurement method changed13 Oct 2025, 16:21 BST
- Deadline published: 14 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT13 Oct 2025, 16:21 BST
- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Jun 2025, 15:35 BSTUK2
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRSBeneficiary authorityView profile →
- DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRSProcuring entityDefra is working on the procurement on behalf of the APHA.View profile →
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- Procurement termination notice Procurement termination 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