Award

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

Surge Laboratory Capacity in the event of a Health Emergency

UK Health Security Agency

This public procurement record has 8 releases in its history.

AwardUpdate

20 Oct 2026 at 11:21

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
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 (UKHSA) buys nationwide clinical laboratory diagnostic testing services to provide additional PCR testing capacity during future public health emergencies. The service is intended to supplement UKHSA’s own laboratory network and support diagnosis, disease surveillance, outbreak management and wider public health action. The supplier maintains a ready-to-activate service in a “cold” state and can scale up to “hot” state when required. Hot-state activation may involve national procurement of reagents and consumables. This is a public health critical service, rather than routine laboratory testing alone. Delivery is across the United Kingdom. The requirement is relevant to clinical diagnostic laboratory operators able to provide PCR testing at national scale and to support rapid increases in testing volumes during an emergency.

The procurement is complete: UKHSA awarded the contract to Randox Clinical Laboratory Services Ltd on 12 June 2026, and the contract was signed on 14 July 2026. The contract runs from 14 July 2026 to 13 July 2029. Its value is £331,205,000 excluding VAT (£397,446,000 including VAT); activating the hot-state option can increase the value, depending partly on decisions made during a pandemic. The original tender estimate for a six-month hot-state activation was £456 million. The open procedure used an accelerated timetable. There was one lot, and five suppliers submitted valid bids. Evaluation weighted health incident response and cold-to-hot activation at 20%; resilience and continuity, interoperability and data integration, scalability, and hot-state delivery and quality assurance at 15% each; and supply-chain mapping and social value at 10% each. Economic and technical selection criteria applied.

This contract shows demand for large-scale, UK-wide PCR laboratory capacity that can be kept ready and rapidly expanded in a public health emergency. Credible competitors will need the laboratory infrastructure, staffing and operational controls to move from a maintained cold state to high-volume hot-state testing, with dependable quality assurance. The evaluation placed particular emphasis on emergency activation, scalable capacity, resilient performance and business continuity, as well as interoperability through data sharing, laboratory information management system integration and API capability. Suppliers should also be able to map and manage their supply chains, including exposure to reagent and consumable availability, and demonstrate social value. The award to a laboratory services company, following competition against four other valid bidders, indicates that both operational scale and evidence across these service and resilience requirements matter to this buyer.

How relevant is this notice?

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/098887-2026
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
20 Oct 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
2 Apr 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
16 Mar 2026Expired
Award Date
12 Jun 20264 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
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)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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.

Loading OCDS record...