---
title: "Bespoke soil sampling equipment for England Ecosystem Survey"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-049315"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-049315"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-049315.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-049315.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL)"
published: "2024-08-22"
---

# Bespoke soil sampling equipment for England Ecosystem Survey

Buyer: DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL)  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-049315

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## Summary

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has recently completed the procurement process for "Bespoke soil sampling equipment for England Ecosystem Survey." Categorised under research and development consultancy services, this procurement falls within the services sector. The equipment is intended for nationwide use within the UK. The procurement stage is currently at the Award stage, with the contract being signed on 22nd July 2024. The selection involved a Single Tender Action (STA) with Van Walt Ltd, a supplier based in Grayswood, UK, ensuring that the equipment sourced complies with the specific scientific protocols required for the England Ecosystem Survey.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses involved in the development, supply, or maintenance of specialised research equipment, particularly those that can offer bespoke technical solutions. Businesses in the environmental research sector, especially those with capabilities in custom equipment manufacturing and partnerships with large suppliers or agencies, would be well-suited to compete for similar contracts. The potential for further survey work in future years highlights ongoing opportunities for growth in supplying and supporting complex environmental research projects.

## Notice

Provision of bespoke soil sampling equipment that were jointly developed by Natural England, Van Walt (supplier in England) and AMS (manufacturer in the USA). The equipment is required for England Ecosystem Survey soil sampling and assessment surveys.

### Procurement Information

Single Tender Action with Van Walt UK under the Public Contract Regulations 2015: Regulation 32 (2) (b) (ii) - the negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for public words contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts in any of the following cases: - (b) where the works, suppliers or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for any of the following reasons: - (ii) competition is absent for technical reasons.

Van Walt are the sole supplier of bespoke equipment produced by AMS (a US company). There is no option to source alternative equipment that could maintain consistency with scientific protocols and methodologies undertaken to date. 

). The equipment was used in year 1 of the survey. 24 sets of equipment were purchased previously with the value exceeding PS200k. They will be used together with new sets as the number of survey teams will be double compared to 2023/24 survey season. 
This STA relates to the procurement of some additional pieces of this equipment, required to fulfil this year's survey scope and the three future years, should funding be available. Switching to different equipment would render data collected so far incomparable with new data.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026879-2024 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 22 Aug 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 21 Jul 2024 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (DEFRA NETWORK ETENDERING PORTAL) |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 4DF |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | VAN WALT |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73200000 - Research and development consultancy services

## Release History

- 22 Aug 2024 at 14:10 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026879-2024

## Notice URLs

- https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-procurement-review-service-scope-and-remit

## 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-h6vhtk-049315. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-049315.json.