Official UK procurement notice
UKRI-5300 BAS - Provision of DriX USV Operation services
Authority: UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) (Central government)
Sectors: Transport & Passenger Services (60) Delivery listed: Greenland (GL)
Published estimate£210,000≈ £210k / year · £252,000 inc. VAT0.1% below published estimate
Submissions closed 13 Jan 2026awarded 22 Jan 2026
Awarded to Exail
Contract term 1 yrends 15 Feb 2027 · up to 15 Feb 2028 with extensions · starts 16 Feb 2026
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUKRI has appointed a supplier to provide DRiX USV Operation services for The British Antarctic Survey as part of project GIANT.
CPV: Pilot services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£210,000
What it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
How bids were scored
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Technical/quality: 60%
- Price: 30%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
- Price: 30%
- Technical/quality
- Social Value
What this means for your bid
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 4 Dec 2025, 16:25 GMT
- Last source update
- 19 Feb 2026, 13:57 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 27 Jan 2026
- Authority reference
UKRI-5300 BAS- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-079895- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area in notice
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05ef17Find a Tender
How it was run
Official noticeRun through: UKRI eSourcing
Access & registration note: Free
- Submission deadline
- 13 Jan 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 30 Dec 2025, 17:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
To access this opportunity please click here: ukri2.my.salesforce-sites.com/ProSpend__CS_Contrac… ↗
Please note the following steps for accessing this opportunity via the Atamis eSourcing platform:
- Log in or create an account here: ukri2.my.site.com ↗
- Navigate to the opportunity in the Find an Opportunity section of the site or via the direct access link above.
- Select Register Interest (you will not be able to view the tender documentation without registering an interest).
- Go back to the main menu and navigate to the My Proposals and Quotes section of the site.
- Select the opportunity from the list. Tender Documents for download are found in the Documents tab.
Timeline
4 Dec 2025 → 19 Feb 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published320 days ago4 Dec 2025, 16:25 GMT
- Clarification questions by293 days ago30 Dec 2025, 17:00 GMT
- Submission deadline279 days ago13 Jan 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent271 days ago22 Jan 2026
- Award decision expected by265 days ago27 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Standstill ends259 days ago2 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts246 days ago16 Feb 2026
- Latest notice published243 days ago19 Feb 2026, 13:57 GMT
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Dec 2025- Tender notice published4 Dec 2025, 16:25 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published22 Jan 2026, 10:18 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete22 Jan 2026, 10:18 GMT
- Contract signature expected9 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published19 Feb 2026, 13:57 GMTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastAwards 1
Awarded value £209,9001 award exc. VAT
Bids received 11 from SMEs
Contracts signed 1latest 18 Feb 2026
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exail16 Feb 2026 – 14 Feb 2027 | £209,900 | 22 Jan 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
UKRI-5300 BAS - Provision of DriX USV Operation services · Exail
- Signed
- 18 Feb 2026
- Value
- £209,900
- Period
- 23 Feb 2026 – 14 Feb 2027
- Status
- active
No agreed KPIs: One-off contract for defined deliverables with agreed pricing.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1final-stage tenders | 1 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Exail SASAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender