Official UK procurement notice
Request for Information - Containment Level 3 (CL3) UK Capacity
Authority: Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionInstructions:
- The purpose of this document is to enhance the Authority’s understanding of the marketplace and its options for sourcing for a potential future requirement.
- The issuance of this request for information (RFI) does not constitute a sourcing exercise nor will the Authority pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a response
to this RFI.
- The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) key objectives for this RFI are:
a. understand the ability of the marketplace to fulfil its requirements;
b. refine the scope of the requirements to best align to the marketplace; and
c. inform the Authority’s chosen route to market to best enable competition.
- The key dates for this RFI are as follows:
- RFI Published: 19th January 2026
- RFI Response 16th February 2026
- Should you have any questions or queries relating to this RFI, please use the Atamis portal’s messaging centre to direct your questions to us for a response.
- If a response is not received by the RFI response deadline this will have no impact on your ability to tender for the opportunity in the future. UKHSA will not enter into contracts on the basis of replies to this RFI.
Description of Scope of Requirements:
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is exploring opportunities to supplement its existing Containment Level 3 (CL3) laboratory capacity through collaboration with operational CL3 facilities across the UK.
This Request for Information (RFI) seeks to understand the capabilities, readiness, and interest of organisations that currently operate CL3 laboratories and may be able to support UKHSA's public health mission during surge periods or emergencies.
Objectives - Identify operational CL3 laboratories with spare capacity or surge readiness. -Assess technical, digital, and governance capabilities for collaboration. - Explore commercial models for potential engagement with UKHSA.
This RFI is intended for organisations that currently operate CL3 laboratories in the UK. Responses should focus on existing facilities and capabilities that could be mobilised to support UKHSA's laboratory operations, particularly during public health emergencies or periods of high demand.
A copy of the RFI can be downloaded from: www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/b4… ↗
Should you wish to respond to this Request for Information, please complete and return the attached RFI via email to [email protected].
CPV: Laboratory services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency buys Laboratory services (CPV 7190), and who usually turns up
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Laboratory services (CPV 7190) →
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 small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside the delivery region.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 57 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.
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 bid46%
2–338%
4–68%
7+8%
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 estimate29%
Within ±2%71%
Above estimate0%
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 7190No real estimate
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 38 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid39%
2–337%
4–621%
7+3%
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
- Services
- 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
- 19 Jan 2026, 16:56 GMT
- Last source update
- 30 Jan 2026, 17:42 GMT
- Authority reference
C416074- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-008674- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06093bFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
19 Jan 2026 → 1 Jun 2026 · 5 dates- Planning notice published276 days ago19 Jan 2026, 16:56 GMT
- Latest notice published265 days ago30 Jan 2026, 17:42 GMT
- Market engagement247 days ago16 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
Request for information.
- Tender notice expected203 days ago1 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts143 days ago1 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 19 Jan 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Jan 2026, 16:56 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Jan 2026, 17:06 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published30 Jan 2026, 17:42 GMTUK2
Published amendments (2)
Inclusion of attachment.
Deadline extended
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 (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender