Official UK procurement notice
UKRI-5543 Cryoplant for the National Cryogenic Facility
Authority: UK Research and Innovation (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUKRI wishes to establish a Contract for the provision of a Cyroplant which has the capacity rated at 2kW at 4K (equivalent to 350W at 2K.), for the National Cryogenic Facility at Daresbury Laboratory.
The cryoplant is to have the capability to provide cooling at 2K, 4K and 20K to multiple users. This capability has been specified to enable UKRI-STFC to meet requirements identified by all initial users and is scalable to meet varying demand.
This is to expand UKRI-STFCs existing expertise in cryogenics and experience in running a cryoplant as a facility user.
CPV: Industrial machinery · Machinery for liquefying air or other gases
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£15,000,000
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).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical/Quality: 70%
- Price: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Price
- Technical/Quality
- 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
- Goods
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 13 Jan 2026, 13:32 GMT
- Last source update
- 18 Aug 2026, 11:19 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 15 Jun 2026
- Authority reference
UKRI-5543- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-036607- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0604aaFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 5 Jun 2026, 14:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 25 May 2026, 14:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Copy this link into a browser to access the tender documents:
ukri2--prospend.vf.force.com/apex/CS_ContractPage ↗
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- 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.
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Timeline
13 Jan 2026 → 18 Aug 2026 · 10 dates- Planning notice published282 days ago13 Jan 2026, 13:32 GMT
- Market engagement266 days ago28 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is to inform the market that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is exploring the future procurement of a new cryoplant for the National Cryogenic Facility.
UKRI has already undertaken initial, non-binding discussions with a small number of suppliers with relevant specialist expertise to inform early project thinking. This Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is intended to broaden engagement across the market, validate assumptions, and ensure that any future procurement is informed by a wide range of potential delivery approaches, commercial models, and technical capabilities. Participation in this early engagement does not confer any advantage or preference in any future procurement process.
UKRI will be undertaking a Supplier Engagement Session via Teams at 14:00hours on Wednesday 28th January 2026. If you would like to express your organisations interest in this event, please send the following information to [email protected] no later than Monday 26th January 2026:
- Name of organisation
- Names and email address of those attending the session
Please not, we would limit the number of attendees to 3 per organisation.
Please note that this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice does not constitute a commitment by UKRI to commence a procurement or to award any contract. Any future procurement activity will be subject to internal approvals, including business case approval by the relevant UK Government departments. All future tender documentation, should a procurement proceed, will be made available via UKRI’s e-sourcing portal, and potential bidders will be required to register on that portal to access further information.
- Next notice expected185 days ago20 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published183 days ago22 Apr 2026, 13:43 BST
- Clarification questions by150 days ago25 May 2026, 14:00 BST
- Submission deadline139 days ago5 Jun 2026, 14:00 BST
- Award decision expected by129 days ago15 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts115 days ago30 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent66 days ago18 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published65 days ago18 Aug 2026, 11:19 BST
Notice history
13 events · 6 releases on Find a Tender · since 13 Jan 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published13 Jan 2026, 13:32 GMTUK2
- Tender notice published22 Apr 2026, 13:43 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £15,000,00022 Apr 2026, 13:43 BSTwas £20,000,000
- Status changed to active22 Apr 2026, 13:43 BST
- Procurement method changed22 Apr 2026, 13:43 BST
- Deadline published: 18 May 2026, 14:00 BST22 Apr 2026, 13:43 BST
- Tender notice published22 Apr 2026, 14:09 BSTUK4
- Tender notice published22 Apr 2026, 14:21 BSTUK4
- Tender notice published8 May 2026, 11:53 BSTUK4
- Deadline moved to 5 Jun 2026, 14:00 BST8 May 2026, 11:53 BST+18 days · was 18 May 2026, 14:00 BST
- Contract award notice published18 Aug 2026, 11:19 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete18 Aug 2026, 11:19 BST
- Contract signature expected1 Sept 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Published amendments (3)
Adding link to tender documents
Contact email address
Deadline extension
Routine re-releases (6)
- 2026-04: 2 releases · 22 Apr 2026, 22 Apr 2026
- 2026-01: 1 release · 13 Jan 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Liquide Advanced Technologies2 Sept 2026 – 31 Mar 2028Options: Option for ongoing Controls Engineer support after delivery, to call off as required to support customisation to control scheme to support user requirements, Capital Spare Parts, Installation supervision and Option for PVPS. | £15,138,407 | 17 Aug 2026 | Awarded |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders | 0 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonAir Liquide Advanced Technologies
- did not winVorbuchner GmbH & Co. KG
- did not winLinde Kryotechnik
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
Bidders & participating suppliers
3 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- Air Liquide Advanced TechnologiesAwarded supplier
- Linde KryotechnikBidder / tenderer
- Vorbuchner GmbH & Co. KGBidder / tenderer
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender