Official UK procurement notice
Replacement Pharmacy Dispensing Robot
Authority: NTW Solutions Limited (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement description- Purpose of this Market Engagement
NTW Solutions is undertaking early market engagement to explore options for replacing its automated pharmacy dispensing robot.
The current system is supported until September 2027. This exercise is intended to understand market capability in advance of any future procurement.
This is not a tender or call to competition. The objectives are to:
- Assess market capability and maturity
- Understand available solutions and service models
- Inform the scope, specification and procurement approach
- About the Organisation
NTW Solutions provides pharmacy services supporting NHS clinical services across multiple sites. Medicines management is a safety-critical function operating within a regulated NHS and digital environment.
- High-Level Requirement
The dispensing robot is a core operational asset supporting:
- Automated, secure storage and dispensing of medicines
- Accurate and efficient individual dose dispensing into monitored dosage systems
- Stock control, tracking and auditability
- Reduced manual handling and improved workforce efficiency
- High reliability in a time-critical, high-volume environment
The replacement solution must provide a robust, scalable and future-proof platform.
At this stage, NTW Solutions is interested in understanding:
- Types of automated dispensing / robotics solutions available
- Suitability for individual dose dispensing (MDS)
- Throughput, capacity and scalability
- Physical footprint and infrastructure requirements
- Implementation and transition approaches
- Ongoing support and lifecycle models
- Integration and Digital Requirements
Suppliers should demonstrate capability in:
- Integration with pharmacy stock control systems
- Integration with EPMA systems
- Interfacing with wider clinical systems
- Use of open standards and APIs
- Reporting and data extraction
- Compliance with NHS cyber security and IG requirements
Particular interest is in solutions that avoid bespoke integrations and remain adaptable.
- Supplier Capability
Suppliers are invited to provide high-level information on:
- Relevant NHS / healthcare experience
- Implementation models and timescales
- Support and resilience arrangements
- Training and change management
- Product roadmap
- Indicative commercial approach / pricing models
- Next Steps
Information gathered will inform a future procurement strategy. Participation does not guarantee inclusion in any subsequent procurement.
- Response Details
Suppliers are invited to submit a brief, high-level response addressing the above areas.
- Deadline: 5 June 2026
- Contact: [email protected]
CPV: Industrial robots
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How NTW Solutions Limited buys Miscellaneous special-purpose machinery (CPV 4299), and who usually turns up
NTW Solutions Limited has little published record in this market. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Miscellaneous special-purpose machinery (CPV 4299) →
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.
No supplier sizes published for this authority.
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. The market figure counts awards delivered in North East England.
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 20 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 bid29%
2–367%
4–65%
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 estimate50%
Within ±2%25%
Above estimate25%
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 4299Published estimate£300k
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. The bar shows 17 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid6%
2–324%
4–665%
7+6%
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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 20 May 2026, 13:55 BST
- Last source update
- 20 May 2026, 13:55 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-046395- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069d78Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
20 May 2026 → 1 Sept 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published156 days ago20 May 2026, 13:55 BST
- Market engagement139 days ago5 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
Early Market Engagement
- Today23 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 313 days1 Sept 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published20 May 2026, 13:55 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender