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Supply and Support of Automated Film Scanners

Historic Environment Scotland

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

09 Sep 2026 at 01:00

OJEU - F3 - Contract Award Notice
Award

21 Jul 2026 at 01:00

OJEU - F15 - Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Historic Environment Scotland procured five automated film scanners, described as automated digitisation workstations, for the National Collection of Aerial Photography. The equipment is intended to automate the digitisation of pre-1970s aerial film. This is a goods requirement covering both the supply of the workstations and support for the installed equipment. The requirement follows development of a bespoke prototype solution for this specialist preservation and imaging task. The workstations are for use by Historic Environment Scotland’s National Collection of Aerial Photography, with delivery associated with Edinburgh. The relevant product category is photographic, cinematographic and optical equipment (CPV 38000000). Historic Environment Scotland is the buying organisation and also acts as a central purchasing body. The procurement concerns specialist imaging hardware rather than general scanning or routine document digitisation services.

The procurement is complete and has been awarded. Historic Environment Scotland used a limited award procedure without prior publication of a competition, relying on the absence of alternative market solutions for automated digitisation of pre-1970s aerial film. Hartech Automation Limited was selected as the supplier. The contract was signed on 4 September 2026 and is active, with an awarded contract value of £303,000. One bid was recorded, from an SME, and it was submitted electronically. The requirement was arranged as one lot covering five automated digitisation workstations, with price as the award criterion. The buyer may request additional deliveries for partial replacement, extensions or additional installations at its discretion. The procurement was conducted under the relevant Scottish public contracts regulations provision for technical exclusivity.

This procurement indicates demand for highly specialised automation combining film handling, imaging, digitisation and bespoke workstation engineering. A credible future supplier would need experience developing and supporting automated scanning equipment for historic or archival film, particularly aerial photography produced before 1970. Relevant capability includes integrating hardware and software into a dependable production workflow, adapting equipment to unusual film formats and maintaining scanning workstations after installation. Evidence of successful prototype development, rigorous acceptance testing and delivery of operational systems would be important. Suppliers should also understand the needs of national photographic archives, including preservation-quality digitisation, repeatable image capture and support for specialist users. The successful supplier was an SME, showing that a focused engineering or imaging business with the necessary technical depth can serve this requirement, provided it can deliver and support a small fleet of bespoke systems.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Supply and Support of Automated Film Scanners

Notice Description

This Voluntary Ex-Ante Transparency (VEAT) Notice relates to the intended procurement of five automated film scanners.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) intends to award this contract under the conditions of regulation 33.4.b(ii) of the Public Contracts (Scotland) regulations. The contract will be for the supply of five automated digitisation workstations, to be used by the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP), following the successful development of a prototype for the automated digitisation of pre-1970s aerial film.

Options: The Contracting Authority reserves the right to request additional deliveries by the Successful Tenderer, either intended as partial replacement of supplies or installations or as extensions of existing supplies and installations. The Contracting Authority may at it's sole discretion exercise this option.

Procurement Information

HES intends to award to the Supplier on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons. On the basis no scanning workstations are available in the marketplace for the automated digitisation of pre-1970s aerial film, a procurement exercise was undertaken by Historic Environment Scotland in 2024 for the development of a prototype bespoke solution. This resulted in a contract being awarded to the Supplier. In January 2025 the prototype workstation successfully passed acceptance testing by the NCAP team. The supply of the workstations can therefore only be provided by the supplier.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-r6ebe6-0000837811
Publication Source
Public Contracts Scotland
Latest Notice
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=SEP564149
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
OJEU - F3 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

38 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

CPV Codes

38000000 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£303,000 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
9 Sep 20264 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Historic Environment Scotland
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
EDINBURGH
Postcode
EH9 1SH
Postcode Area
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM13 City of Edinburgh
Delivery Location
TLM75 City of Edinburgh
Local Authority
City of Edinburgh
Electoral Ward
Southside/Newington
Westminster Constituency
Edinburgh South

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Hartech Automation Limited

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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