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Surge Laboratory Capacity in the event of a Health Emergency

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

This public procurement record has 7 releases in its history.

Award

14 Aug 2026 at 13:14

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
AwardUpdate

12 Jun 2026 at 16:45

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

12 Jun 2026 at 16:36

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

05 Mar 2026 at 17:02

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

09 Jan 2026 at 11:41

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

23 May 2025 at 14:11

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Planning

07 May 2025 at 08:26

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The UK Health Security Agency, acting for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, procured surge clinical laboratory diagnostic testing services for national responses to future public health emergencies. The requirement is for externally contracted PCR testing capacity to supplement UKHSA’s internal laboratory network, supporting diagnosis, surveillance, outbreak management and wider public health interventions. Suppliers must maintain a scalable readiness model, including a cold state in which operational readiness is maintained and a hot state in which testing capacity can be rapidly increased. The service is a public health critical service delivered across the United Kingdom. It falls within laboratory services and is classified as a service procurement. The requirement was organised as one lot and was identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The procurement is complete and was awarded to RANDOX CLINICAL LABORATORY SERVICES LTD on 12 June 2026. The award and signed active contract are valued at £331,205,000 excluding VAT and £397,446,000 including VAT. The award contract period runs from 25 June 2026 to 24 June 2029; the signed contract records performance from 14 July 2026 to 13 July 2029 and was signed on 14 July 2026. The original estimated value was £456,000,000 excluding VAT, or £547,200,000 including VAT. The open procedure was accelerated under the light-touch regime. Bids closed on 2 April 2026, enquiries on 19 March 2026, and the award period ended on 21 May 2026. Five valid bids were received. Evaluation weighted health incident response and cold-to-hot activation at 20%, with resilience, interoperability, scalability and hot-state delivery each weighted at 15%, and social value and supply-chain mapping at 10% each. The contract includes an option to activate hot-state services, potentially multiple times during a pandemic response.

This award shows demand for national-scale laboratory surge capacity from a public health buyer. A credible competitor for a comparable requirement would need clinical laboratory diagnostic testing capability, PCR capacity and the operational resilience to maintain readiness in a cold state before rapidly activating a hot state. Strong evidence would include scalable capacity, flexible deployment, reliable incident response and robust business continuity arrangements, particularly where key inputs may be difficult to secure during a pandemic. Suppliers should also be able to demonstrate quality-assured operational delivery, effective supply-chain mapping and dependable data sharing. Interoperability with laboratory information management systems and API capability are important, alongside the ability to support diagnosis, surveillance and outbreak management. Social value commitments and arrangements for working with small and medium-sized businesses also formed part of the assessment.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Surge Laboratory Capacity in the event of a Health Emergency

Notice 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

Lot Information

Lot 1

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. 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 PS456m. 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.

Planning Information

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 hamza.hussain2@ukhsa.gov.uk with company details.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-050d89
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/077679-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

CPV Codes

71900000 - Laboratory services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£456,000,000 £100M-£1B
Lots Value
£456,000,000 £100M-£1B
Awards Value
£331,205,000 £100M-£1B
Contracts Value
£331,205,000 £100M-£1B

Notice Dates

Publication Date
14 Aug 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
2 Apr 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
16 Mar 2026Expired
Award Date
12 Jun 20262 months ago
Contract Period
14 Jul 2026 - 13 Jul 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

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

UK Health Security Agency

Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
E14 4PU
Postcode Area
East London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI4 Inner London - East
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI42 Tower Hamlets
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Tower Hamlets
Electoral Ward
Canary Wharf
Westminster Constituency
Poplar and Limehouse

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

RANDOX CLINICAL LABORATORY SERVICES LTD

Further Information

Notice Documents

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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