Official UK procurement notice
Supply of Real-Time PCR Instruments to APHA
Authority: ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH AGENCY (Defra Network eTendering Portal)·On behalf of: DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is seeking to engage with the market in advance of a planned procurement for the supply, installation, training, warranty and lifecycle support of approximately 60 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) systems over a period of up to five years.
The systems will be used for the molecular detection and quantification of DNA and RNA targets within laboratory environments. The requirement is for current-production, CE-marked, 96-well qPCR platforms capable of quantitative and qualitative analysis, multiplex fluorescence detection with a minimum of five optical channels, high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis, and compatibility with non-proprietary reagents and consumables.
The scope will include associated software, installation, user training, calibration certification, warranty provision and ongoing maintenance and support services. Suppliers must be able to provide network-enabled data management functionality and support operation within accredited laboratory environments. Full technical requirements, service expectations and evaluation criteria will be detailed within the procurement documents.
CPV: Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH AGENCY (Defra Network eTendering Portal) buys Laboratory, optical and precision (CPV 38), and who usually turns up
ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH AGENCY (Defra Network eTendering Portal)’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Laboratory, optical and precision (CPV 38) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
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.
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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 36 days of the bid deadline.
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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?
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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 bid44% / 26%
2–344% / 47%
4–611% / 16%
7+0% / 11%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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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 estimate49%
Within ±2%26%
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 38Published estimate£3.8m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 38. The comparison uses that group.
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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 259 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid26%
2–347%
4–616%
7+11%
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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.
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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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lotek UK LimitedLive contract | Supply of Radio Collars to APHAruns to Dec 2027 | — | £251k | Matched as the earlier contract |
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- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- 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 Aug 2026, 13:56 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Aug 2026, 12:18 BST
- Authority reference
P39870- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-080294- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e8a2Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
20 Aug 2026 → 15 Mar 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published66 days ago20 Aug 2026, 13:56 BST
- Latest notice published62 days ago24 Aug 2026, 12:18 BST
- Market engagement39 days ago15 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
The Authority is conducting this market engagement to inform its procurement approach and gain a clearer understanding of the market.
Suppliers are invited to complete a short questionnaire, available from Melanie Swain – [email protected].
Suppliers are invited to respond with completed questionnaires by 15th September 2026.
This exercise is for information gathering only. No formal proposals are required, and no evaluation or selection of suppliers or equipment will be undertaken at this stage.
The Authority reserves the right to follow up with suppliers to further clarify responses, with any new material information shared appropriately.
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 34 days27 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 141 days15 Mar 2027
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 20 Aug 2026- Pipeline notice published20 Aug 2026, 13:56 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published24 Aug 2026, 12:18 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
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRSProcuring entityDefra Group Commercial - Commercial Lead
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender