---
title: "Soil Sample Metabarcoding for Natural England's Long Term Monitoring Network (LTMN)"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-6fb8951f-9f8c-4b04-8e06-8d0fc1ba5d3a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-6fb8951f-9f8c-4b04-8e06-8d0fc1ba5d3a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-6fb8951f-9f8c-4b04-8e06-8d0fc1ba5d3a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-6fb8951f-9f8c-4b04-8e06-8d0fc1ba5d3a.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NATURAL ENGLAND"
published: "2023-05-11"
---

# Soil Sample Metabarcoding for Natural England's Long Term Monitoring Network (LTMN)

Buyer: NATURAL ENGLAND  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-6fb8951f-9f8c-4b04-8e06-8d0fc1ba5d3a

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## Summary

Natural England has awarded a contract for the project titled "Soil Sample Metabarcoding for Natural England's Long Term Monitoring Network (LTMN)" in the services category. The project involves analysing soil samples from their monitoring network using metabarcoding techniques. The contract, with a value of £20,825, was awarded to the School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield. The tender process began on 2nd December 2022, with a deadline for submission by 19th December 2022. The contract period is from 4th January 2023 to 31st March 2023, providing opportunities for SMEs in the research sector to participate.

This tender presents an opportunity for businesses in the research laboratory and consultancy services sector to engage with Natural England's monitoring network project. The procurement method used is limited and utilises a competitive quotation process below the threshold value. The buying organisation, Natural England, located in Exeter, England, aims to expand their data capabilities by incorporating modern metabarcoding approaches. The project requires suppliers to deliver metabarcoding services for soil samples and provide raw and taxonomically assigned data. Businesses interested in environmental research and genetic analysis would be well-suited to bid for this tender.

## Notice

This project aims to analyse soil samples from Natural England's Long Term Monitoring Network using metabarcoding, to generate data which can be used to explore how past tRFLP analysis of microbial communities can be made compatible with modern metabarcoding approaches. This project will specifically deliver metabarcoding of a limited number of samples using two primer sets: those used for tRFLP, and those used in modern metabarcoding, and deliver both raw and taxonomically assigned data, with advice on use of sequence data for in-silico tRFLP for comparison. Additional information: To apply please respond to the attached Request for Quotation. Responses should be emailed to matthew.j.shepherd@naturalengland.org.uk and victoria.sloan@naturalengland.org.uk quoting reference "LTMNSOIL - METABARCODING" and "Final Submission", no later than 17:00 on 19th December 2022. Clarification questions can be submitted by emailing the above addressed prior to 15th December 2022; noting that unless commercially sensitive, the question and response will be circulated to all tenderers that request this.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/47bc34b8-74e7-46e7-9d5d-1d643b0e24b6 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Competitive quotation (below threshold) |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 11 May 2023 |
| Submission deadline | 19 Dec 2022 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 3 Jan 2023 |
| Contract period | 4 Jan 2023 - 31 Mar 2023 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £24,999 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £20,825 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NATURAL ENGLAND |
| Locality | EXETER |
| Post town | Exeter |
| Postcode | EX1 1QA |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK4 Devon |
| ITL 3 | TLK43 Devon CC |
| Local authority | Exeter |
| Electoral ward | St David's |
| Westminster constituency | Exeter |
| Delivery location | TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | SCHOOL OF BIOSCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73111000 - Research laboratory services
- 73210000 - Research consultancy services

## Release History

- 11 May 2023 at 15:25 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/47bc34b8-74e7-46e7-9d5d-1d643b0e24b6
- 5 Dec 2022 at 11:12 - TenderAmendment - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/3a019557-1d7a-46e7-b0bf-8dd7427ab629
- 2 Dec 2022 at 17:29 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/3a019557-1d7a-46e7-b0bf-8dd7427ab629

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/47bc34b8-74e7-46e7-9d5d-1d643b0e24b6
  11th May 2023 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/3a019557-1d7a-46e7-b0bf-8dd7427ab629
  5th December 2022 - Opportunity notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/e2d671c5-d6c0-414f-832f-e842026cfac8
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/2d1790df-3c32-44db-96b0-d2661d7ccecb
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/SupplierAttachment/37fbe074-4c3d-482f-884d-7b3db843b341

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-6fb8951f-9f8c-4b04-8e06-8d0fc1ba5d3a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-6fb8951f-9f8c-4b04-8e06-8d0fc1ba5d3a.json.