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AwardedFind a Tender · award

RBGKEW1500 - Seed viability X-ray cabinet

Buyer: Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew →

BuyerBoard of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
StatusAwarded
DeadlineNot published
ValueValue not published
Published28 Jan 2026

What is being bought

The Millennium Seed Bank laboratories (RBG Kew) are seeking to update their X-Ray Machine to continue supporting the assessment of quality seed collections during the cleaning and processing stage to assess the final number of "good" seeds prior to banking, which allows to keep the collections to be kept at top quality.

Delivery location

UKC · UKD · UKE · UKF · UKG · UKH · UKI · UKJ · UKK

Categories

X-ray devices 33111000

Lot details

Lot 1

The Millennium Seed Bank laboratories (RBG Kew) are seeking to update their X-Ray Machine to continue supporting the assessment of quality seed collections during the cleaning and processing stage to assess the final number of "good" seeds prior to banking, which allows to keep the collections to be kept at top quality. Market route via Single Tender Action is justified because early market engagement demonstrated that competition is absent for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative or substitute available that can meet RBG Kew's combined scientific and IT compliance requirements.

Statuscancelled

Award criteria
price

What is included

ItemCategoryQuantity
1Not publishedNot published

Comparable-procurement analytics

Benchmarked against retained Find a Tender procedures with CPV division 33. The category anchor is X-ray devices (33111000); this is a deliberately broad market comparator. The comparison is shown at several levels rather than pretending one company or region is always the best benchmark.

Comparison setProceduresReported bids per procedureNamed award suppliersPrice evidence
Market: CPV division 332,0832 median · 94.6 average (748 of 2,083 with a bid count)6.1 average (870 of 2,083 with named award suppliers)Not published
Same buyer0Not publishedNot publishedNot published
Delivery region: UKC641 median · 11.7 average (10 of 64 with a bid count)4.8 average (10 of 64 with named award suppliers)Not published

“Reported bids” is an official aggregate, sometimes reported per lot; it is the closest available competition measure. “Named award suppliers” are winners, not all applicants.

Price-outcome signal

Not enough comparable procedures currently publish both a GBP tender value and a usable lowest-valid-bid value to calculate a responsible price-reduction benchmark. Tenderline deliberately does not infer a saving from named award suppliers or from missing award values.

Procurement strategy & market signals

Framework agreementNot published
Dynamic purchasing systemNot published
Competitive procurementNot published
Recurring requirementNot published
Procurement method rationaleThe STA is justified because early market engagement demonstrated that competition is absent for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative or substitute available that can meet RBG Kew's combined scientific and IT compliance requirements. The supplier is offering a highly competitive price for a state-of-the-art unit, along with maintenance support that will ensure core operations can continue and enable new research activities, such as efficient measurement of X-ray seed density. The equipment's specifications, specialised agricultural/seed-focused design, and accompanying software are not available from other suppliers.
Rationale classificationsThe procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
Special regimeNot published
Covered byGPA
Submission policyNot published
Selection criteriaNot published
Risk detailsNot published

Planning & early market engagement

BudgetNot published
No-engagement rationaleNot published
Planning documents0
Planning milestones0

No planning milestones published.

Related procurements

No linked framework, prior procurement or reprocurement published.

Awards

Contracts

007729-2026-1

Statusactive
Value£150,000

Documents & submission route

No documents are published in the current source record.

Source data inventory

Diagnostic view. “Not published” means this current release does not provide a value.

OCIDocds-h6vhtk-06113c
Latest release ID007729-2026
Latest release timestampWed Jan 28 2026 16:08:10 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Sourcefind-a-tender
Official notice URLNot published
Tender statuscomplete
Procurement methodlimited
Procurement method detailsAward procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Main procurement categorygoods
Above thresholdNot published
Legal basis32014L0024
Tender period: startNot published
Tender period: endNot published
Expression of interest deadlineNot published
Enquiry deadlineNot published
Award period: startNot published
Award period: endNot published
Submission method detailsNot published
Submission languagesNot published
Electronic catalogue policyNot published
Total tender valueNot published
Tender lots in source1
Tender items in source1
Tender documents in source0
Awards in latest release1
Contracts in latest release1
Parties in latest release3

Notice history

DateEventReference
28 Jan 2026award, contract007729-2026

All source data

Unmodified official OCDS data retained by Tenderline for this procurement process.

Complete current OCDS release JSON
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  "id": "007729-2026",
  "tag": [
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  "date": "2026-01-28T16:08:10Z",
  "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06113c",
  "buyer": {
    "id": "GB-COH-803428",
    "name": "Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew"
  },
  "awards": [
    {
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      "relatedLots": [
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  "tender": {
    "id": "RBGKEW1500",
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      {
        "id": "1",
        "status": "cancelled",
        "hasOptions": false,
        "description": "The Millennium Seed Bank laboratories (RBG Kew) are seeking to update their X-Ray Machine to continue supporting the assessment of quality seed collections during the cleaning and processing stage to assess the final number of \"good\" seeds prior to banking, which allows to keep the collections to be kept at top quality.\nMarket route via  Single Tender Action is justified because early market engagement demonstrated that competition is absent for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative or substitute available that can meet RBG Kew's combined scientific and IT compliance requirements.",
        "awardCriteria": {
          "criteria": [
            {
              "type": "price"
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    "items": [
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          {
            "region": "UKD"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKE"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKF"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKG"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKH"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKI"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKJ"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKK"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "title": "RBGKEW1500 - Seed viability X-ray cabinet",
    "status": "complete",
    "coveredBy": [
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    "legalBasis": {
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    "description": "The Millennium Seed Bank laboratories (RBG Kew) are seeking to update their X-Ray Machine to continue supporting the assessment of quality seed collections during the cleaning and processing stage to assess the final number of \"good\" seeds prior to banking, which allows to keep the collections to be kept at top quality.",
    "classification": {
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    "procurementMethod": "limited",
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    "procurementMethodRationaleClassifications": [
      {
        "id": "D_OUTSIDE_SCOPE",
        "scheme": "TED_PT_AWARD_CONTRACT_WITHOUT_CALL",
        "description": "The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive"
      }
    ]
  },
  "parties": [
    {
      "id": "GB-COH-803428",
      "name": "Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew",
      "roles": [
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        "postalCode": "TW93AE",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "THE HERBARIUM"
      },
      "details": {
        "url": "http://www.kew.org",
        "classifications": [
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          {
            "id": "05",
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        ]
      },
      "identifier": {
        "id": "803428",
        "scheme": "GB-COH",
        "legalName": "Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew"
      },
      "contactPoint": {
        "email": "procurement@kew.org"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "GB-COH-01800317",
      "name": "Southern Scientific Limited",
      "roles": [
        "supplier"
      ],
      "address": {
        "region": "UK",
        "locality": "West Sussex,",
        "postalCode": "BN5 9SL",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "Scientific House, Henfield Business Pk, Shoreham Rd,Henfield"
      },
      "details": {
        "scale": "sme"
      },
      "identifier": {
        "id": "01800317",
        "scheme": "GB-COH",
        "legalName": "Southern Scientific Limited"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "GB-FTS-172912",
      "name": "Head of Procurement & Contract Management, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew",
      "roles": [
        "reviewBody"
      ],
      "address": {
        "locality": "London",
        "postalCode": "TW9 3AE",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "The Herbarium, Kew Green"
      },
      "identifier": {
        "legalName": "Head of Procurement & Contract Management, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew"
      }
    }
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "contracts": [
    {
      "id": "007729-2026-1",
      "value": {
        "amount": 150000,
        "currency": "GBP"
      },
      "status": "active",
      "awardID": "007729-2026-1",
      "dateSigned": "2025-12-09T00:00:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "initiationType": "tender"
}
Complete JSON history (1 releases)
28 Jan 2026 · 007729-2026 · award, contract
{
  "id": "007729-2026",
  "tag": [
    "award",
    "contract"
  ],
  "bids": {
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  "buyer": {
    "id": "GB-COH-803428",
    "name": "Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew"
  },
  "awards": [
    {
      "id": "007729-2026-1",
      "status": "active",
      "suppliers": [
        {
          "id": "GB-COH-01800317",
          "name": "Southern Scientific Limited"
        }
      ],
      "relatedLots": [
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      ]
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  ],
  "tender": {
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    "lots": [
      {
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        "status": "cancelled",
        "hasOptions": false,
        "description": "The Millennium Seed Bank laboratories (RBG Kew) are seeking to update their X-Ray Machine to continue supporting the assessment of quality seed collections during the cleaning and processing stage to assess the final number of \"good\" seeds prior to banking, which allows to keep the collections to be kept at top quality.\nMarket route via  Single Tender Action is justified because early market engagement demonstrated that competition is absent for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative or substitute available that can meet RBG Kew's combined scientific and IT compliance requirements.",
        "awardCriteria": {
          "criteria": [
            {
              "type": "price"
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          ]
        }
      }
    ],
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "1",
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        "deliveryAddresses": [
          {
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          {
            "region": "UKE"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKF"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKG"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKH"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKI"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKJ"
          },
          {
            "region": "UKK"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "title": "RBGKEW1500 - Seed viability X-ray cabinet",
    "status": "complete",
    "coveredBy": [
      "GPA"
    ],
    "legalBasis": {
      "id": "32014L0024",
      "scheme": "CELEX"
    },
    "description": "The Millennium Seed Bank laboratories (RBG Kew) are seeking to update their X-Ray Machine to continue supporting the assessment of quality seed collections during the cleaning and processing stage to assess the final number of \"good\" seeds prior to banking, which allows to keep the collections to be kept at top quality.",
    "classification": {
      "id": "33111000",
      "scheme": "CPV",
      "description": "X-ray devices"
    },
    "procurementMethod": "limited",
    "mainProcurementCategory": "goods",
    "procurementMethodDetails": "Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition",
    "procurementMethodRationale": "The STA is justified because early market engagement demonstrated that competition is absent for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative or substitute available that can meet RBG Kew's combined scientific and IT compliance requirements.\nThe supplier is offering a highly competitive price for a state-of-the-art unit, along with maintenance support that will ensure core operations can continue and enable new research activities, such as efficient measurement of X-ray seed density. The equipment's specifications, specialised agricultural/seed-focused design, and accompanying software are not available from other suppliers.",
    "procurementMethodRationaleClassifications": [
      {
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    ]
  },
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      "id": "GB-COH-803428",
      "name": "Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew",
      "roles": [
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      "address": {
        "region": "UKI75",
        "locality": "KEW GREEN",
        "postalCode": "TW93AE",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "THE HERBARIUM"
      },
      "details": {
        "url": "http://www.kew.org",
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          },
          {
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        ]
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        "id": "803428",
        "scheme": "GB-COH",
        "legalName": "Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew"
      },
      "contactPoint": {
        "email": "procurement@kew.org"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "GB-COH-01800317",
      "name": "Southern Scientific Limited",
      "roles": [
        "supplier"
      ],
      "address": {
        "region": "UK",
        "locality": "West Sussex,",
        "postalCode": "BN5 9SL",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "Scientific House, Henfield Business Pk, Shoreham Rd,Henfield"
      },
      "details": {
        "scale": "sme"
      },
      "identifier": {
        "id": "01800317",
        "scheme": "GB-COH",
        "legalName": "Southern Scientific Limited"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "GB-FTS-172912",
      "name": "Head of Procurement & Contract Management, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew",
      "roles": [
        "reviewBody"
      ],
      "address": {
        "locality": "London",
        "postalCode": "TW9 3AE",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "The Herbarium, Kew Green"
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      }
    }
  ],
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      "dateSigned": "2025-12-09T00:00:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "initiationType": "tender"
}