Official UK procurement notice
RBGKEW1573 phenoTest for SPEED project
Authority: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew intends to award a contract for the provision of a custom-built phenoTest 3D X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging platform to support the ARIA-funded SPEED project.
The contract will include delivery, installation, commissioning, software licences, maintenance, calibration, technical support and training.
The platform will be used to measure dynamic seed and seedling traits at individual-seed level using non-destructive longitudinal 3D X-ray CT imaging. The requirement includes access to the associated proprietary hardware, software, algorithms and processing workflows necessary to generate and analyse the required research data.
The supplier will retain ownership of the equipment. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew will receive operational access to the platform and the associated rights required to use the system for project purposes.
Delivery, installation and commissioning are required in sufficient time to support project milestones, with installation planned at Wakehurst, West Sussex, United Kingdom.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award — no call for competition
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 2 Oct 2026, 11:56 BST
- Last source update
- 2 Oct 2026, 11:56 BST
- Authority reference
RBGKEW1573- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-093272- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077f8fFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights; Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew intends to award this contract directly to PhenoKey B.V. under section 41(1)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023. The authority considers that the direct award justification relating to intellectual property and exclusive rights applies because the requirement depends upon patented and licensed technology that can only be supplied through PhenoKey B.V. Evidence obtained by the authority confirms that the required solution relies upon protected methods, proprietary software, algorithms and associated intellectual property rights that are necessary to deliver the required functionality. The authority has concluded that no other supplier can lawfully provide access to the required combination of technology, licences and associated services. The authority also considers that the direct award justification relating to technical reasons applies because only PhenoKey B.V. can provide the required phenoTest 3D X-ray computed tomography platform and there are no reasonable alternatives. The requirement includes non-destructive longitudinal phenotyping of individual seeds and seedlings, integration of proprietary hardware and software, and compatibility with previous Kew research. The platform has been validated for the species required by the project and is required to generate comparable research outputs within the project timescales. Alternative suppliers, products and methods would not provide the required combination of technical capability, validated performance, intellectual property access and research comparability. The authority considers that the exclusivity arises from third-party intellectual property rights and essential technical requirements rather than from any artificial narrowing of the specification. Supporting patent, licensing, technical and no-reasonable-alternatives evidence is retained on the procurement file.
- Risks
- Technical refinements identified during manufacture, installation, commissioning or validation of the custom-built phenoTest platform
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhenoKey B.V.SME9 Nov 2026 — 31 Aug 2028 | £600,000 | — | Standstill |
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 2 Oct 2026- Contract signature expected2 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Transparency notice published2 Oct 2026, 11:56 BSTUK5
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- PhenoKey B.V.Awarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender