Fufilment Partner for Surge and Pandemic Response

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ACTING AS PART OF THE CROWN THROUGH UK HEALTH SECURITY AGENCY

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Planning

29 Jun 2026 at 13:29

Planning

17 Mar 2026 at 13:14

Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process is initiated by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care through the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), located in London. The tender is titled "Fulfilment Partner for Surge and Pandemic Response" and falls under the industry category of services, specifically including courier and transport services. The current stage is planning, and key activities include a virtual market engagement session scheduled for 23 July 2026. The contract to be established is aimed at creating a flexible fulfilment service capable of scaling rapidly during pandemic surges, with the main procurement route through the GCA RM6354 Framework. The indicative contract period is set from 16 November 2026 to 15 November 2029, with an anticipated extension possible until 2031.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses capable of providing high-volume fulfilment services, particularly in logistics and supply chain management. Businesses with experience in pandemic response logistics, regulatory compliance, and distribution services would be well-suited to compete. The tender invites suppliers to shape the future procurement strategy by participating in pre-market engagements and helping to inform the UKHSA’s final approach. This process allows businesses to showcase their capabilities and influence the contractual requirements, potentially resulting in a robust partnership during critical public health responses.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Title

Fufilment Partner for Surge and Pandemic Response

Notice Description

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is inviting suppliers to participate in this pre-market engagement exercise to explore options for a fulfilment partner for surge and pandemic response. This engagement aims to share UKHSA's current thinking, gather feedback from the market regarding the proposed specification, contract and tender evaluation methodology to inform the final approvals for the procurement strategy. UKHSA is exploring the feasibility of establishing a flexible fulfilment service, which can be rapidly surged when required to support surge or pandemic response activity to provide greater resilience and flexibility across use cases as part of UKHSA's Pandemic Preparedness strategy and support the UK's contribution to the 100 Days Mission, which targets deployment of diagnostics within 100 days of identifying a new pandemic threat. Outside of incidents it is envisaged the service would operate as a low-volume capability a "cold state", supporting routine activity during business-as-usual operations, this could include deliveries to care homes or other organisational and private settings. When activated by the Authority in defined circumstances, such as a pandemic declaration or surge response activation, the service would be required to scale rapidly and mobilise at pace into a "hot state". This is likely to require a high volume of dispatches in the hundreds of thousands per day, while maintaining full regulatory compliance, data integrity, security controls, and service quality. For certain test kits, the Supplier would be required to support outbound delivery to the end user or organisational endpoint (e.g. homes, care settings or other designated locations). Once end users have taken their samples, they would return the test kits directly to laboratories designated by UKHSA for testing, rather than sending them back to the Supplier's warehouse or fulfilment centres, the fulfilment partner will be responsible for making these arrangements in consultation with UKHSA. The intended route to market is via the GCA RM6354 Courier, Distribution, Storage and Specialist Solutions Framework Lot 2b Kitting, Fulfilment and Asset Management. Please note, the indicative contract value below is for a "cold state" running of the contract and a hot state contract value will be many multiples of this. This engagement is exploratory and does not represent a commitment to procure at this stage.

Planning Information

A virtual engagement session will be held on 23 July 2026 at 10-11am. 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 evie.bradbury@ukhsa.gov.uk with company details.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-066c33
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060806-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

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

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

64 - Postal and telecommunications services

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security


CPV Codes

60000000 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

64120000 - Courier services

79920000 - Packaging and related services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£900,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
29 Jun 20263 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
1 Sep 20262 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
16 Nov 2026 - 15 Nov 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ACTING AS PART OF THE CROWN THROUGH 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
Post Town
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

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.

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-066c33-2026-06-29T14:29:34+01:00",
    "date": "2026-06-29T14:29:34+01:00",
    "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-066c33",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-PPON-PBMQ-7576-DVGW",
            "name": "Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency",
            "identifier": {
                "scheme": "GB-PPON",
                "id": "PBMQ-7576-DVGW"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "10 South Colonnade",
                "locality": "London",
                "postalCode": "E14 4PU",
                "country": "GB",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom",
                "region": "UKI42"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "name": "Evie Bradbury",
                "email": "evie.bradbury@ukhsa.gov.uk"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ],
            "details": {
                "url": "https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency",
                "classifications": [
                    {
                        "id": "publicAuthorityCentralGovernment",
                        "scheme": "UK_CA_TYPE",
                        "description": "Public authority - central government"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-PPON-PBMQ-7576-DVGW",
        "name": "Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security Agency"
    },
    "planning": {
        "milestones": [
            {
                "id": "engagement",
                "type": "engagement",
                "description": "A virtual engagement session will be held on 23 July 2026 at 10-11am. 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 evie.bradbury@ukhsa.gov.uk with company details.",
                "dueDate": "2026-07-31T23:59:59+01:00",
                "status": "scheduled"
            }
        ],
        "documents": [
            {
                "id": "024044-2026",
                "documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
                "noticeType": "UK2",
                "description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
                "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024044-2026",
                "datePublished": "2026-03-17T13:14:48Z",
                "format": "text/html"
            },
            {
                "id": "060806-2026",
                "documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
                "noticeType": "UK2",
                "description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
                "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060806-2026",
                "datePublished": "2026-06-29T14:29:34+01:00",
                "format": "text/html"
            }
        ]
    },
    "tender": {
        "id": "C432109",
        "legalBasis": {
            "id": "2023/54",
            "scheme": "UKPGA",
            "uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents"
        },
        "title": "Fufilment Partner for Surge and Pandemic Response",
        "description": "The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is inviting suppliers to participate in this pre-market engagement exercise to explore options for a fulfilment partner for surge and pandemic response. This engagement aims to share UKHSA's current thinking, gather feedback from the market regarding the proposed specification, contract and tender evaluation methodology to inform the final approvals for the procurement strategy. UKHSA is exploring the feasibility of establishing a flexible fulfilment service, which can be rapidly surged when required to support surge or pandemic response activity to provide greater resilience and flexibility across use cases as part of UKHSA's Pandemic Preparedness strategy and support the UK's contribution to the 100 Days Mission, which targets deployment of diagnostics within 100 days of identifying a new pandemic threat. Outside of incidents it is envisaged the service would operate as a low-volume capability a \"cold state\", supporting routine activity during business-as-usual operations, this could include deliveries to care homes or other organisational and private settings. When activated by the Authority in defined circumstances, such as a pandemic declaration or surge response activation, the service would be required to scale rapidly and mobilise at pace into a \"hot state\". This is likely to require a high volume of dispatches in the hundreds of thousands per day, while maintaining full regulatory compliance, data integrity, security controls, and service quality. For certain test kits, the Supplier would be required to support outbound delivery to the end user or organisational endpoint (e.g. homes, care settings or other designated locations). Once end users have taken their samples, they would return the test kits directly to laboratories designated by UKHSA for testing, rather than sending them back to the Supplier's warehouse or fulfilment centres, the fulfilment partner will be responsible for making these arrangements in consultation with UKHSA. The intended route to market is via the GCA RM6354 Courier, Distribution, Storage and Specialist Solutions Framework Lot 2b Kitting, Fulfilment and Asset Management. Please note, the indicative contract value below is for a \"cold state\" running of the contract and a hot state contract value will be many multiples of this. This engagement is exploratory and does not represent a commitment to procure at this stage.",
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "additionalClassifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "64120000",
                        "description": "Courier services"
                    },
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "60000000",
                        "description": "Transport services (excl. Waste transport)"
                    },
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "79920000",
                        "description": "Packaging and related services"
                    }
                ],
                "deliveryAddresses": [
                    {
                        "region": "UK",
                        "country": "GB",
                        "countryName": "United Kingdom"
                    },
                    {
                        "region": "UK",
                        "country": "GB",
                        "countryName": "United Kingdom"
                    }
                ],
                "relatedLot": "1"
            }
        ],
        "value": {
            "amountGross": 1080000,
            "amount": 900000,
            "currency": "GBP"
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "services",
        "aboveThreshold": true,
        "lots": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "contractPeriod": {
                    "startDate": "2026-11-16T00:00:00Z",
                    "endDate": "2029-11-15T23:59:59Z",
                    "maxExtentDate": "2031-11-15T23:59:59Z"
                },
                "status": "planning",
                "hasRenewal": true
            }
        ],
        "status": "planning",
        "communication": {
            "futureNoticeDate": "2026-09-01T23:59:59+01:00"
        }
    },
    "language": "en"
}