Award

The provision of freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment medical equipment

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

04 Jan 2021 at 14:55

Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process detailed herein relates to the Department of Health and Social Care, which sought freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical equipment in response to COVID-19. The tender, titled "The provision of freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment medical equipment," fell under the services category, specifically classified as freight transport agency services. The procurement method employed was a limited procedure, involving an award without prior publication of a call for competition, under extreme urgency to address an unforeseeable demand. The contract was awarded to Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, with an active status since it was signed on 3rd June 2020, and has a total value of £2,340,000. The delivery location specified is within the UK.

This tender represents a significant opportunity for businesses engaged in logistics and transport, particularly those specialising in air freight services, to contribute to critical supply chains during public health emergencies. Given the urgent and high-demand nature of the contract, businesses that have operational capability for rapid response logistics and established networks in aviation freight would be particularly well-suited to compete in similar future tenders. As the demand for efficient freight solutions continues, companies prepared to offer innovative and expedited service will likely find ample avenues for growth in public procurement initiatives within the health sector.

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Notice Title

The provision of freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment medical equipment

Notice Description

The provision of freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment and medical equipment

Lot Information

Lot 1

Direct Award under Reg 32 of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 for COVID-19 response

Procurement Information

1. The consequences of not responding rapidly to the pandemic to meet the exceptional increases in demand for PPE to protect care providers and key workers, and medical products to treat patients, would be a significant excess illness and deaths in the UK.2. Huge increases in global demand, export restrictions from various nation states all contributed to a shortage of product availability. Where product could be sourced it was imperative that this product was moved at the earliest opportunity to prevent it being sold to higher bidders.3. The urgent need for PPE and medical products in the UK created a requirement for the fastest mode of transport. Air freight transit times were in the region of 4-5 days whereas sea freight was between 56-84 days.4. The disruption to freight and exports from China following their lockdown and export restrictions led to the severely restricted availability of freight capacity.5. The market for air freight was particularly disrupted by the cancellation of many scheduled passenger airline flights (removing significant air freight capacity from the market). This created a situation where there was severe lack of physical air freight capacity and dramatic cost inflation in this market.6. No pre existing government commercial agreements were identified which covered the nature and scale of the services required.7. This contract was awarded to Virgin Atlantic to meet a specific urgent need to transport PPE to the UK, utilising flights from China to UK during June 2020.The Department is content the tests permitting use of the Negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met:1) Air freight charters was identified as strictly necessary to meet anticipated demand.2) It is responding to COVID-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency.3) The events that led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: The Commission itself confirmed: "The current coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency - precisely for such a situation our European rules enable public buyers to buy within a matter of days, even hours, if necessary.""4) There was no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive procedures with negotiation that would secure services within the required timescales.5) The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority: It has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-02876d
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000039-2021
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

63 - Supporting and auxiliary transport services; travel agencies services


CPV Codes

63521000 - Freight transport agency services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£2,340,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
4 Jan 20215 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
2 Jun 20205 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Cancelled
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
freightcontractnotices@dhsc.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 0EU
Post Town
South West London
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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