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UKRI-5244 Next National Supercomputing Service

UK Research and Innovation

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

30 Jul 2026 at 17:03

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

07 Oct 2025 at 14:51

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

UK Research and Innovation had planned to procure the hardware for the Next National Supercomputing Service, a national supercomputer based at the University of Edinburgh. The system was intended to provide compute infrastructure for UK research and innovation communities, supporting advanced modelling, simulation and artificial intelligence workflows. The requirement covers a supercomputer system, including large-scale supercomputer hardware, high-performance storage, and supercomputer CPU and GPU technology. The asset would be owned by UKRI, with hosting service responsibilities intended to be undertaken by Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, wholly owned by the University of Edinburgh. Delivery was described as taking place in the United Kingdom. UKRI has since determined that the proposed contract is exempt on national security grounds and will not proceed under the Procurement Act 2023.

This process is at planning and is a preliminary market engagement rather than an invitation to tender. UKRI has stated that the contemplated procurement will not proceed because it considers the contract exempt under paragraph 25 of Schedule 2 to the Procurement Act 2023; the remaining proposed procurement details should therefore be disregarded. The superseded plan described one lot for an estimated £275 million excluding VAT, or £330 million including VAT. The proposed contract period was 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2031, with renewal potentially extending to 31 August 2033. UKRI had intended to hold vendor engagement meetings at SC25 in St Louis during 17–20 November 2025, but this engagement related to the abandoned plan.

The planned requirement would have suited major supercomputer manufacturers, high-performance storage providers, and CPU or GPU manufacturers able to supply infrastructure at national research scale. Relevant suppliers would need capability across high-performance computing hardware and the supporting storage and processor technologies required for modelling, simulation and artificial intelligence workloads. The intended system was a substantial, integrated national asset rather than a small or standalone equipment purchase, so suppliers would be expected to demonstrate the capacity to deliver and support complex large-scale infrastructure. UKRI also said vendors would be expected to comply with its Responsible Procurement Charter, covering wider social, economic and environmental benefits. There is no current bidding opportunity because UKRI has decided not to proceed.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

UKRI-5244 Next National Supercomputing Service

Notice Description

Following further consideration of UKRI's requirements and recent government guidance concerning national security considerations, UKRI has determined that the proposed contract constitutes an exempted contract under paragraph 25 of Schedule 2 to the Procurement Act 2023. Accordingly, UKRI will not be proceeding with the procurement process contemplated during the preliminary market engagement, and no further procurement activity under the Procurement Act 2023 will be undertaken in relation to this requirement. The information set out in the remainder of this notice should therefore be disregarded. The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is to inform the market that UKRI will soon be tendering the Supercomputing hardware for the Next National Supercomputing Service based at the University of Edinburgh and to also arrange pre-market engagement meetings with vendors attending SC25. The UK Compute Roadmap (July 2025) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-compute-roadmap/uk-compute-roadmap sets out the vision for "a world-class compute ecosystem that provides a platform for innovation, growth and opportunity across the economy." This includes the investment of "up to PS750 million for a new national supercomputer service in Edinburgh" as announced by government at the June 2025 spending review. The Next National Supercomputing Service (NNSS) will provide a compute infrastructure for the UK's research and innovation communities to utilise cutting-edge modelling, simulation and AI workflows: a key component of the UK government's ambition. The current estimated budget for the Supercomputing System is in the range of PS300m - PS330m(including VAT). The supercomputer will be an owned asset of UKRI with the hosting service provision responsibilities undertaken by Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (wholly owned by Edinburgh University). The applicability of the Social Value Act (SVA), tackling wider social, economic, and environmental benefits is considered for procurements, and as such, vendors will be expected to comply with UKRI's Responsible Procurement Charter (https://www.ukri.org/publications/responsible-procurement-charter/). UKRI intends to conduct pre-market engagement events during November 2025. UKRI's market engagement plan will comprise of the following steps, which are intending to run sequentially with vendors participating in each step as applicable: Step 1 - Respond to this Notice UKRI would like to hear from the following vendors: * Large scale supercomputer manufacturers * High performance storage providers * Supercomputer CPU and GPU manufacturers Please email supercomputer@ukri.org to express an interest in this requirement. Step 2 - Arranging meetings at SC25 and the Market Engagement Questionnaire UKRI will arrange meetings at SC25 with relevant suppliers and we will also issue a market engagement questionnaire to these suppliers w/c 20th October 2025. Step 3 - In-Person Engagement (SC25 Nov 16-21, 2025 - St Louis) UKRI wishes to arrange face to face pre-market engagement meetings with vendors that are in attendance at SC25 during Nov 17-20, 2025 at St. Louis. UKRI, DSIT and the Supercomputer Procurement Group members will be present at the meetings. Please email to supercomputer@ukri.org using the following title 'UKRI-5244 - SC25 In-person Engagement' to register your interest and provide available meeting options between the 17th -19th November. The duration of these meetings would be up to 2 hours at UKRI's discretion. Please note that the date relating to the publication of the contract notice is tentative and is subject to approval of the Business Case by the relevant UK Government departments (including Department for Science Innovation and Technology and HM Treasury) All future tender documentation will be made available via UKRI's e-sourcing portal and potential bidders should register on this portal to ensure they have access to all tender documentation when the tender is published.

Planning Information

Please see the section "Procurement description" for the full details on engagement. UKRI will be meeting with vendors at SC25 in St. Louis. In order to book a slot with UKRI, you will need to express an interest in reply to this notice. Expressions of interest must be sent to supercomputer@ukri.org

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a9ab
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/072405-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

30 - Office and computing machinery, equipment and supplies except furniture and software packages

CPV Codes

30211100 - Super computer

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£275,000,000 £100M-£1B
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
30 Jul 20263 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
4 Feb 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
UK Research and Innovation
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
SWINDON
Postcode
SN2 1FL
Postcode Area
Swindon
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK71 Swindon
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Swindon
Electoral Ward
Rodbourne Cheney
Westminster Constituency
Swindon North

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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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