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Published 7 May 2025, 08:26 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Surge Laboratory Capacity in the event of a Health Emergency

Official notice

Authority: Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency (Central government)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableAccelerated
Sectors: Architecture & Engineering (71) Delivery: UK
Published estimate£456,000,000≈ £152m / year · £547,200,000 inc. VAT · 3 value updates27.4% below published estimate
Submissions closed 2 Apr 2026awarded 12 Jun 2026
Awarded to RANDOX CLINICAL LABORATORY SERVICES LTD
Contract term 3 yrsends 21 May 2029 · extension options published · starts 22 May 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) invites suitably qualified suppliers to participate in a tender exercise for the provision of surge laboratory diagnostic testing capacity to support national responses to future public health emergencies.

UKHSA aims to maintain a scalable ‘surge model’ that supplements its internal laboratory network with externally contracted PCR testing capability. This model ensures that, in the event of a significant public health threat, the UK can rapidly increase testing volumes to support diagnosis, surveillance, outbreak management and wider public health interventions.

Under this procurement, the Supplier will be required to provide Clinical Laboratory Diagnostic Testing Services as part of a Public Health Critical service. The contract will operate under two defined readiness states:

Cold State – the Supplier maintains operational readiness and must be capable of ramping up to Hot State withi

CPV: Laboratory services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Awarded 3 yrsSMEPublished value£456,000,000
Contract period: 22 May 2026 – 21 May 2029 (3 yrs)Value: £456,000,000 exc. VAT · £547,200,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: The primary option under this contract is the activation of the service in the hot state. When activated, the contract value will increase significantly, however, how much it increases will partly be determined by decisions in the event of the Pandemic. This may lead to a centralised national procurement activity of reagents and consumables reducing the costs incurred from lab services providers at point of need. The anticipated value for a six-month (6) hot state activation is £456m. UKHSA notes that the option may be exercised multiple times in the event of a pandemic response and the associated need to operate in a hot state.
71900000 Laboratory services
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    Please refer to the PSQ and the tender documents.

  • Technical & professional ability

    Please refer to the PSQ and the tender documents.

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
How bids were scored
Quality: 90%Social value: 10%
Published sub-criteria (7)
  • Supply Chain Mapping: 10%
  • Resilient Performance and Business Continuity: 15%
  • Interoperability - Data Sharing, LIMS Integration and API Capability: 15%
  • Capacity, Flexibility and Scalability: 15%
  • Hot State Operational Delivery & Quality Assurance: 15%
  • Health Incident Response & Cold to Hot State Activation: 20%
  • Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (7)
  • Social Value
  • Supply Chain Mapping
  • Resilient Performance and Business Continuity
  • Interoperability - Data Sharing, LIMS Integration and API Capability
  • Capacity, Flexibility and Scalability
  • Hot State Operational Delivery & Quality Assurance
  • Health Incident Response & Cold to Hot State Activation
Conditions of participation2
  • Economic & financial standing

    Please refer to the PSQ and the tender documents.

  • Technical & professional ability

    Please refer to the PSQ and the tender documents.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Awarded
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
7 May 2025, 08:26 BST
Last source update
20 Oct 2026, 11:21 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 21 May 2026
Authority reference
C428907
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-020136
Accelerated
Light touch contract
Latest notice
Contract details notice (UK7)
Classification (CPV)
Laboratory services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050d89 Find a Tender
Contract terms summary

As per the conditions of contract (Document 3).

Review and risk notes
Risks

Availability of key inputs in a pandemic scenario.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: Atamis legacy domain (health-family.force.com) · Who buys & how to bid on Atamis
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Legacy Salesforce domain still used in notices — use the current Atamis portal · this portal address is a legacy domain; the operator has migrated
Submission deadline
2 Apr 2026, 12:30 BST
Clarification deadline
19 Mar 2026, 17:00 GMT
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

To express interest and participate in the tender, please register and apply via Atamis e-sourcing portal health-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗.

Should Tenderers have any queries, or having problems using the portal, they should contact Helpdesk at:

Phone: +448000988201

E-mail: [email protected]

The opportunity, along with the associated documents, can be accessed from: atamis-1928.my.salesforce-sites.com/ProSpend__CS_Contrac… ↗

Timeline

7 May 2025 → 20 Oct 2026 · 11 dates
  1. Planning notice published
    7 May 2025, 08:26 BST
  2. Market engagement260 days ago
    6 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    A virtual engagement session will be held on 30th January 2026 at 10am. The purpose of this session is to present UKHSA’s objectives, gather feedback from suppliers and outline the procurement approach.

    Suppliers should register their interest by emailing [email protected] with company details.

  3. Tender notice published234 days ago
    5 Mar 2026, 17:02 GMT
  4. Next notice expected222 days ago
    16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
  5. Clarification questions by220 days ago
    19 Mar 2026, 17:00 GMT
  6. Submission deadline206 days ago
    2 Apr 2026, 12:30 BST
  7. Award decision expected by156 days ago
    21 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  8. Contract starts156 days ago
    22 May 2026, 00:00 BST
  9. Assessment summaries sent135 days ago
    12 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
  10. Standstill ends122 days ago
    24 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
  11. Latest notice published5 days ago
    20 Oct 2026, 11:21 BST

Notice history

17 events · 8 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 May 2025
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    7 May 2025, 08:26 BST
    UK2
  2. Pipeline notice published
    23 May 2025, 14:11 BST
    UK1
  3. Published value published: £4,500,000
    23 May 2025, 14:11 BST
  4. Status changed to planned
    23 May 2025, 14:11 BST
  5. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    9 Jan 2026, 11:41 GMT
    UK2
  6. Published value updated to £10,000,000
    9 Jan 2026, 11:41 GMT
    was £4,500,000
  7. Tender notice published
    5 Mar 2026, 17:02 GMT
    UK4
  8. Published value updated to £456,000,000
    5 Mar 2026, 17:02 GMT
    was £10,000,000
  9. Status changed to active
    5 Mar 2026, 17:02 GMT
  10. Procurement method changed
    5 Mar 2026, 17:02 GMT
  11. Deadline published: 2 Apr 2026, 12:30 BST
    5 Mar 2026, 17:02 GMT
  12. Contract award notice published
    12 Jun 2026, 16:36 BST
    UK6
  13. Status changed to complete
    12 Jun 2026, 16:36 BST
  14. Contract award notice published
    12 Jun 2026, 16:45 BST
    UK6
  15. Contract signature expected
    25 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
    scheduled
  16. Contract details notice published
    14 Aug 2026, 13:14 BST
    UK7
  17. Contract details notice published
    20 Oct 2026, 11:21 BST
    UK7
Routine re-releases (8)
  • 2026-06: 1 release · 12 Jun 2026
  • 2026-03: 1 release · 5 Mar 2026
  • 2026-01: 1 release · 9 Jan 2026
  • 2025-05: 2 releases · 7 May 2025, 23 May 2025

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £331,205,0001 award exc. VAT
Bids received 51 from SMEs
Named bidders 5published on the award notice
Contracts signed 1latest 14 Jul 2026
Awarded toValueDateStatus
RANDOX CLINICAL LABORATORY SERVICES LTD25 Jun 2026 – 24 Jun 2029Options: The primary option under this contract is the activation of the service in the hot state. When activated, the contract value will increase significantly, however, how much it increases will partly be determined by decisions in the event of the Pandemic. · Amended: Description updated£331,205,00012 Jun 2026Awarded

Contracts

  • Surge Laboratory Capacity in the event of a Health Emergency · RANDOX CLINICAL LABORATORY SERVICES LTD

    Signed
    14 Jul 2026
    Value
    £331,205,000
    Period
    14 Jul 2026 – 13 Jul 2029
    Status
    active
    Options
    The primary option under this contract is the activation of the service in the hot state. When activated, the contract value will increase significantly, however, how much it increases will partly be determined by decisions in the event of the Pandemic.
    • Change Updated to provide further detail on the payment mechanisms within the contract.
    1 agreed KPI: Contract procured through LTR
    • Contract procured through LTR

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
5final-stage tenders10—

Who bid

Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PBMQ-7576-DVGW 10 South Colonnade, London, London, E14 4PUContact name, email

Bidders & participating suppliers

5 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded

Official documents & specifications (10)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

Notices published for this procedure