Official UK procurement notice
Soft Market Testing – Pharmacy Aseptic Services Joint Venture
Authority: University Hospitals Plymouth (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUniversity Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) is exploring options for the development of a new Pharmacy Aseptic Services suite. The proposed facility is intended to provide a comprehensive range of aseptic services including:
Chemotherapy preparation
Centralised Intravenous Additive Services (CIVAS)
Outpatient Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT/OPIT) support
Clinical Trials aseptic support
Future-proofed capacity for expected demand growth
As part of this appraisal, the Trust is considering a range of potential delivery and funding models, including the possibility of forming a Joint Venture or other partnership with the private sector.
The purpose of this soft market testing exercise is to understand:
The level of interest from suppliers and investors in partnering with the Trust
The range of commercial, technical, and operational models available in the market
Key risks, dependencies, and proposed approaches
Potential timelines and delivery routes
Options that best support service continuity during construction
This exercise is not a call for competition, nor part of a formal procurement process. Responses received will help shape the Trust’s strategy and any potential future procurement.
CPV: Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products · Pharmacy services · Services provided by medical laboratories
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How University Hospitals Plymouth buys Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514), and who usually turns up
University Hospitals Plymouth’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: Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means registered in South West England (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South West England.
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 25 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 bid14%
2–336%
4–621%
7+29%
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%50%
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 8514Estimate not published
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 14 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid14%
2–336%
4–621%
7+29%
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, 15:10 GMT
- Last source update
- 19 Jan 2026, 15:10 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-004422- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0608ebFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
19 Jan 2026 → 1 Jul 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published274 days ago19 Jan 2026, 15:10 GMT
- Market engagement257 days ago4 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
Following this notice, the Trust intends to hold individual supplier discussions with interested parties. These will be held on the morning of Tuesday, 4 February 2026, between 08:00 and 11:00, with specific time allocations based on the level of interest received.
Prior to these sessions, the Trust will circulate a brief slide pack summarising the project scope and areas where market input is sought.
How to Respond:
Interested organisations are invited to express their interest via the Atamis messaging portal.
Please include:
A brief summary of your organisation
Relevant experience with aseptic services or healthcare partnership models
Your preferred time window for the 4 February discussion
The Trust may issue follow‑up questions or request additional information ahead of the individual sessions.
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 254 days1 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Jan 2026, 15:10 GMTUK2
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