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Official procurement procedure
Supply of Plant and associated Services
Medical equipments
UK
Published value
Not published
Submission deadline Not published
Lots published1
Procurement Executive Summary
AI & Search Synopsis
Generated from official OCDS record
Tenderline Synopsis: The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through the Cabinet Office: "Supply of Plant and associated Services". Published status: complete. Published value: Value not published. 1 published lot. Submission deadline not published. See the official notice for participation instructions.
| Contracting Authority | The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through the Cabinet Office | Scope & Categories | Not published | Submission Window | complete No deadline published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submission Gateway | Direct notice route | Legal Basis & Regime | Standard procurement | Estimated Value (exc. VAT) | Not published |
Bidder Intelligence · Authority Profile: The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through the Cabinet Office
Market Analytics
Derived from OCDS awards & bid statistics
Published history for The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through the Cabinet Office. These figures describe retained records, not a forecast of bids or a measure of buyer bias.
Published-to-award variance
Not availableInsufficient comparable data
Competition Density
1Bids / Report
Supplier ConcentrationNo estimate
Insufficient attributable awardsNo concentration estimate availablePayment Terms
Check noticePublished terms
Coverage: 12 active published awards; 12 bid reports (which may be per lot). Supplier values exclude multi-supplier awards, frameworks and DPS, and use GBP only. They are published award values, not payments. Published-to-award variance compares single-lot, single-award, single-supplier GBP procedures with explicitly non-framework/non-DPS status; increases remain in the average. Unpublished data stays unknown. Awarded suppliers are winners, not all bidders.
Procedure terms
Contracting AuthorityThe Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through the Cabinet Office | Procedure methodNot published | Procurement categoryNot published |
Statuscomplete | Framework / DPSNot published | CompetitionNot published |
Above thresholdNot published | Legal basisNot published | Tender period startsNot published |
Clarification deadlineNot published | Electronic submissionNot published | Submission languagesNot published |
Published12 Mar 2021, 22:56 GMT | Last source update12 Mar 2021, 22:56 GMT | Recurring procurementNot published |
ClassificationMedical equipments | ||
Delivery area UK | ||
OCIDocds-h6vhtk-029b76 | ||
What is being bought
The Cabinet Office will entrust a supplier to procure fully automated plant machinery which can be utilised for the production of UK-compliant non-medical face coverings (and Type IIR medical-grade masks in extremis), which are required urgently to support the national effort to combat Covid-19.
What changed
From the official release history
- Status changed to complete
12 Mar 2021, 22:56 GMT - Official notice release published
12 Mar 2021, 22:56 GMT - Buyer information updated
12 Mar 2021, 22:56 GMT
Lots and requirements (1)
Published by the contracting authority
- Lot 1 · #1Individual lot title not publishedcancelledPublished valueNot publishedThe Cabinet Office will entrust a supplier to procure fully automated plant machinery which can be utilised for the production of UK-compliant non-medical face coverings (and Type IIR medical-grade masks in extremis), which are required urgently to support the national effort to combat Covid-19.Contract periodNot publishedEligibilityNot publishedOptions / renewalNot published
Timeline
- Procedure published
12 Mar 2021, 22:56 GMT - Award active
Not published · Not published - Contract active
Signed 23 Jul 2020, 00:00 BST · £3,797,325
Commercial outcome and competition
Awards Expert Tooling & Automation Ltd Not published · Not published · active |
Contracts Supply of Plant and associated Services £3,797,325 · signed 23 Jul 2020, 00:00 BST · active |
Bid statistics bids: 1 (lot 1) |
Buyer and organisations in this procedure
The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through the Cabinet Office
Contracting authority GB-FTS-2663Documents (0)
Official links; attachments are not copied
No linked documents are published
Related procedures (0)
No related procedures published
Planning and rationale
Planning budgetNot published |
No-engagement rationaleNot published |
Procedure rationale1. The COVID-19 outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30/01/20. The WHO Director-General characterised COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11/03/2020. As of 6/04/2020, scientific knowledge regarding the disease and its transmission was still emerging, however the WHO advised that COVID-19 transmission can occur via ‘infective respiratory droplets’ and wearing a mask represented one prevention measure that can limit the spread of COVID-19.
2. In April 2020 the UK did not possess any face covering manufacturing capability and was reliant on securing supplies from overseas producers. Problems were experienced in obtaining reliable supplies of medical PPE-grade masks in a global market due to increased global demand and the disruption to the supply chain caused by the pandemic. There was concern that insufficient volumes of non-medical masks would become available or, if available, they would be of inferior quality or charged at exorbitant prices. Analysis by Cabinet Office (CO) at the time highlighted that the average price of respirator masks was £3.14 (medical-grade) and Type IIR (medical-grade) was £0.67, whilst non-medical was £0.51 per unit. During a normal trading period the cost of a Type IIR mask would be approximately £0.05 per unit, sourced from China.
3. In May 2020 Cabinet Office (CO) considered it crucial in the public interest to source the supply of face covering production machinery as part of a wider Face Coverings Programme in order to secure the UK’s domestic manufacturing capacity to:
a. produce medical grade masks immediately (if necessary);
b. create an immediate and reliable supply of high-quality non-medical face coverings at affordable prices for the domestic market; and
c. create national resilience to supply chain shocks within a global market.
This was because in April 2020 there was a considerable shortage of medical and non-medical PPE globally, there was real fear that items available would be impounded at borders so domestic production was urgently required to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
4. In May 2020 CO purchased 10 non-automated production machinery lines (see CAN 141-348171). However, these lines were not considered sufficient to deal with anticipated demand and supply chain disruptions. CO worked with external consultants (WS Atkins) to identify a further supplier that could make non-medical or medical-grade masks. In the light of WS Atkins input, CO purchased ten lines of fully automated production machines from Expert Tooling & Automation Limited (‘Expert machines’).
5. An accelerated PCR procurement was impossible if the supplies of face coverings were to be available in sufficient quantities in time. Any delay caused by having to run an open competition or restricted procedure ran the risk of failing to secure production machinery. That would have caused knock-on delays to other aspects of the wider Face Coverings Programme, such as the appointment of manufacturers and their ability to produce sufficient face coverings in the required timeframe.
6. CO is satisfied the tests permitting use of the urgent direct award procedure (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met: see section VI.3 |