Official UK procurement notice
UKRI-6281 Transport of APA Shipping Frame Assemblies from Europe to USA
Authority: UK Research and Innovation (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is undertaking Preliminary Market Engagement to inform the development of a forthcoming procurement for the international transportation of specialist scientific equipment.
Interested suppliers are invited to review the accompanying information and complete the market engagement questionnaire
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international experiment for neutrino science and proton decay studies. The Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is the facility required for DUNE and once it is completed, it will comprise the world's highest-intensity neutrino beam (at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (‘FNAL’), Batavia, Illinois) and the infrastructure necessary to support massive, cryogenic far detectors installed deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (‘SURF’), 1300m underground, in Lead, South Dakota.
The DUNE Anode Plane Assemblies (also named ‘APAs’) are the main detectors of the DUNE Horizontal Drift Experiment. They are built as large stainless-steel frames onto which prestressed copper-beryllium wires are winded in 4 layers. The APAs represent the detector part of the DUNE TPC. Most of the APAs are produced and assembled in the UK at STFC Daresbury Laboratory (DL), some are tested at CERN, therefore, they must be transported long distances from either the UK or CERN to Fermilab in the US where they are stored waiting for final transport and installation at SURF laboratory.
The APAs are very complex and fragile detectors. If they would be damaged during their transport, the impacts on the cost and schedule could have serious consequences on the DUNE project. To mitigate this risk, two APAs are transported inside a transport frame (also named APA Shipping Frame ‘ASF’). The ASF is installed on wire rope absorbers (WRAs’) intended to dampen the shocks and vibrations from the transport and handling, and finally mounted on a base frame (BF). The ASF, WRAs and BF form the ASF Assembly.
The Contracting Authority, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are looking to engage with suppliers before the full requirement is published for the marketplace to submit bid submissions. The contract is expected to be on a call off basis and there is no guarantee of the level of spend through this contract. However, it is anticipated approximately 68 shipments are required during the 4 year duration.
We would like you to complete the following questionnaire to help us understand the marketplace interest - forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx ↗
CPV: Freight transport agency services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 4 Jan 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat 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).
- “UKRI-6281 Transport of APA Shipping Frame Assemblies from Europe to USA” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Research and Innovation buys Transport agency services (CPV 6352), and who usually turns up
UK Research and Innovation’s UK market comparison describes the UK delivery area in the notice. The notice also lists non-UK areas, so the comparison may not describe the whole procedure. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Transport agency services (CPV 6352) →
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.
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How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South West England.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced 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.
Both shares are minimums: 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 bid13% / 7%
2–339% / 17%
4–617% / 24%
7+30% / 52%
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.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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.
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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 #1Published estimate£1.5m
The notice lists UK and non-UK delivery areas for this lot. The figures below use UK market history and may not describe competition across every area.
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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. Published delivery includes UK and non-UK areas, so the UK model may not describe every area.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
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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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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.
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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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 21 Oct 2026, 12:09 BST
- Last source update
- 21 Oct 2026, 12:09 BST
- Authority reference
UKRI-6281- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-099410- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area in notice
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078cb4Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
21 Oct 2026 → 4 Jan 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice publishedearlier today21 Oct 2026, 12:09 BST
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 12 days2 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Please can interested parties complete the following questionnaire. This will be reviewed to understand the marketplace appetite and help shape the specification - forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx ↗
The questionnaire will close at 1400hrs UK time on 02 Nov 2026.
- Contract startsin 74 days4 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published21 Oct 2026, 12:09 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
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender