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Repatriation Services

Ministry of Defence

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

27 Oct 2026 at 08:54

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

02 Oct 2026 at 13:51

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

23 Jun 2026 at 12:18

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

21 May 2026 at 13:50

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

22 May 2025 at 15:36

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Defence procured worldwide repatriation and funeral services for deceased Armed Forces members and other entitled personnel. The core work covers arranging the preparation and movement of remains, including coffins or shrouds, and meeting medical and legal requirements. Services may be needed for individual cases or multiple repatriations, including deployment to locations without local funeral infrastructure. For major incidents involving mass fatalities, the scope can extend to incident planning and management, recovery and identification of remains, mortuary or body-holding facilities, handling personal effects, specialist forensic support, and managing contaminated or infectious remains. The service is delivered worldwide, including operational and conflict zones, overseas locations and, exceptionally, the UK. Civil flights are used only when RAF flights are unavailable.

The procurement is complete: the Ministry of Defence selected Albin International Repatriation Limited, and the contract has been signed. The award was made on 1 October 2026 and signed on 15 October 2026. The contract is valued at £4.9 million excluding VAT (£5.88 million including VAT). Its stated period runs from 1 January 2027 to 30 November 2028, with options to extend by 12 or 24 months, up to 48 months in total. There was one lot, awarded through an open procedure as a single-supplier framework without reopening competition. Two bids were received. Evaluation used a value-for-money index: the technical score, including social value, was divided by the evaluated price, based on six pricing scenarios. Suppliers had to be registered with the National Association of Funeral Directors or an equivalent body.

This award demonstrates demand for a specialist, worldwide service that combines funeral and repatriation expertise with the ability to respond around the clock to unpredictable call-offs. A credible competitor would need the required funeral-director association membership or equivalent, and the operational reach to move remains internationally while meeting relevant medical and legal requirements. Capability may also need to cover work in military theatres and conflict zones, secure deployment of staff, and surge response to a mass-fatality incident. Relevant resources include mortuary personnel and facilities, body storage, recovery and identification capability, and access to specialist forensic professionals. The buyer assessed technical quality and social value against price, so suppliers would need to demonstrate those capabilities while pricing a range of scenarios competitively. The contract was awarded to one supplier under a framework.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Repatriation Services

Notice Description

The Ministry of Defence has a requirement for worldwide repatriation services for deceased Armed Forces and other entitled personnel, including the provision of specialist services in the event of a major incident resulting in mass fatalities.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Options: At the Authority's discretion options to extend the contract by up to 24 months taking the total contract duration to 48 months, in monthly increments

Renewal: At the Authority's discretion options to extend the contract by up to 24 months taking the total contract duration to 48 months, in monthly increments

Planning Information

This Notice is to highlight a virtual preliminary market engagement event taking place via a Microsoft Teams call on Wed 3 Jun 2026 to share details of and gain industry views of the MOD’s Repatriation Services requirement. If you are interested in joining the call please send an email to DefComrcl-HOBP4Team@mod.gov.uk by 17:00 on Fri 29 May. Background - The Ministry of Defence has an enduring requirement for worldwide repatriation services, on an individual or multiple basis, for deceased Armed Forces and other entitled personnel. These services may include the provision of specialist services in the event of a major incident resulting in mass fatalities where the Authority is either required to lead the response to the incident or provide assistance. Due to the nature of the requirement, it is not possible to predict how frequently the contractor will be called upon to provide the services. The Contractor must provide a 365 day/24 hour worldwide repatriation service. The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring the services carried out conform to medical and legal requirements; the preparation of the body which may include embalming, facial reconstruction and dressing; provision of coffins and shrouds; and preparation and marking of the coffin for movement and arrangement of transport (note: Civil flights will only be used where RAF flights are not available). The Contractor will be required to send staff into theatres of military operations in order to effect repatriations where there is no local funeral infrastructure and, in the event of a major incident, be able to provide suitable personnel and be responsible for their security in any operational/conflict zone worldwide, overseas location or, exceptionally, in the UK. The Contractor may be required to provide a Mortuary Assistant for an in-Theatre Mortuary. In the event of a major incident, the Contractor may be required to provide any or all of the following emergency services: deploy a Major Incident Specialist to the MODs Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) to assist in planning; provide Incident Management at the scene; recovery of remains; establish, operate and maintain an incident mortuary (which may include identification and processing of remains) or a body holding provision; assist the Services / local authorities with handling personal effects at the scene under Service supervision; liaise with all agencies; crisis intervention services and critical incident stress management; recovery of deceased bodies or remains; supply, transportation and support maintenance of suitable body storage units in theatre with appropriate mortuary assistants; deal with contaminated/infectious and Bio Hazard issues which need careful handling in order to comply with current and future health and safety regulations; body/body part identification which could include (though not be limited to) providing a Forensic Pathologist, Forensic Odontologist, Forensic Print Specialist, Forensic Photographer, Mortuary Assistant and Embalmer. The Contractor may also be requested to assist the appointed Pathologist in identification. This list is not exhaustive and other situations can arise, which may require special handling. The Contractor must be a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors or equivalent. There have been on average 9 repatriations to the UK or country of origin per year over the last three years; however, due to the nature of the requirement, exact numbers are unknown and could be higher or lower in the future. The figure for the past three years is provided for guidance purposes only and there have been occasions where 150 repatriations have occurred in a 12 month period. To date, specialist services due to a major incident have not been required, although this is no indication of potential future requirements. The contractor will be requested to undertake tasks as required on a call off basis. No business whatsoever is guaranteed under any resulting framework agreement or contract, indeed there is no guarantee that any framework agreement or contract will be put in place.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-051eae
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/101300-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

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

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

98 - Other community, social and personal services

CPV Codes

98370000 - Funeral and related services

98371200 - Undertaking services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£4,900,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£4,900,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£4,900,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£4,900,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
27 Oct 2026Today
Submission Deadline
22 Jul 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
11 Jun 2026Expired
Award Date
1 Oct 20263 weeks ago
Contract Period
1 Jan 2027 - 30 Nov 2028 1-2 years
Recurrence
2028-06-01

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Ministry of Defence
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
GLOUCESTER
Postcode
GL3 1HW
Postcode Area
Gloucester
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK73 Gloucestershire CC
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Tewkesbury
Electoral Ward
Innsworth
Westminster Constituency
Tewkesbury

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Albin International Repatriation 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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