---
title: "UKRI-4491 ESRC-BBSRC Food Systems Commercialisation Catalyst"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04c9c8"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04c9c8"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04c9c8.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04c9c8.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "UK RESEARCH & INNOVATION"
published: "2025-05-01"
---

# UKRI-4491 ESRC-BBSRC Food Systems Commercialisation Catalyst

Buyer: UK RESEARCH & INNOVATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04c9c8

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## Summary

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) has completed the contracting process for the tender titled "UKRI-4491 ESRC-BBSRC Food Systems Commercialisation Catalyst" with an award date of 8th April 2025. This procurement falls under the services category, with a focus on business and management consultancy services. Situated in the United Kingdom, this contract required a supplier to assist in developing and delivering an early-stage commercialisation catalyst programme to foster collaborations between bioscience and social science researchers. The total contract value is set at £800,000, and the contract has been awarded to Zinc Ventures Limited. The procurement was conducted using an open procedure under the regulatory framework, and the initial contract duration is for 12 months, with a potential six-month extension.

This tender offers significant growth opportunities for businesses with expertise in consultancy services related to research commercialisation. Companies that specialise in integrating social and bioscience innovations and training multidisciplinary teams are ideally positioned to benefit from this contract. SMEs and firms that can provide comprehensive support, including skills development, networking, and alternative enterprise model exploration within the food systems sector, would be well-suited to compete in such procurement opportunities. Participation in contracts like these enables businesses to expand their portfolio and engage with UKRI’s broader strategic initiatives to drive social, economic, and environmental impact.

## Notice

UKRI requires a supplier to support the development and delivery of an early-stage mission-led commercialisation catalyst (The Programme). The key aims for the Programme are to: i.Enable collaboration between bioscience and social science researchers: recruiting researchers, building and supporting multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary teams to address an agreed team challenge. ii.Support skills and capacity development: training, supporting and enabling the cohort of grant holders to grow and sustain positive social and/or environmental impact from their research in the mission area of healthy, sustainable and resilient food systems. This may include formal training, mentoring and peer support, networking, and facilitating connections with relevant expertise and national/international markets. iii.Support grant holders to explore alternative (non-traditional commercial) enterprise models to create effective and self-sustaining impact. Grant administration will be managed by UKRI. This requirement will be for initial period of 12 months with an optional extension of up to a further 6 months. The value of the requirement will be up to PS500,000.00 for the initial period and PS300,000.00 for the extension which will be subject to approval.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

UKRI requires a supplier to support the development and delivery of an early-stage mission-led commercialisation catalyst (The Programme). The key aims for the Programme are to: i.Enable collaboration between bioscience and social science researchers: recruiting researchers, building and supporting multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary teams to address an agreed team challenge. ii.Support skills and capacity development: training, supporting and enabling the cohort of grant holders to grow and sustain positive social and/or environmental impact from their research in the mission area of healthy, sustainable and resilient food systems. This may include formal training, mentoring and peer support, networking, and facilitating connections with relevant expertise and national/international markets. iii.Support grant holders to explore alternative (non-traditional commercial) enterprise models to create effective and self-sustaining impact. Grant administration will be managed by UKRI. This Programme is in response to both ESRC and BBSRC's (two of UKRI's component research councils) strategic aims to support commercialisation for social, economic, and environmental good. ESRC and BBSRC are investing: *Up to PS1m in maximum 10 grants within a single competition in 2025. The grant award facilitates researchers to develop their idea with a view to its eventual launch (10 awards at PS100k each = PS1m). The supplier will manage the grant competition; UKRI will administer the grants. *Up to PS500k (exc. VAT) for this 'mission-led commercialisation catalyst support package' as described in this scope of work. The overall project costs cannot exceed this amount. To support delivery of this Programme, the supplier will be expected to recruit researchers, build and support multi/inter-disciplinary teams, where each award-holding team must have a mix of social science and bioscience expertise. The supplier will also be expected to train, support and enable these researchers to grow and sustain positive social / environmental impact from their research in the mission area of healthy, sustainable and resilient food systems. As such, the supplier must have expertise in social science commercialisation, commercialisation of bioscience innovations, as well as commercialisation of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research. Duration of Initial period will be 12 months commencing in March 2025. there will be an optional extension period of up to a further 6 months subject to approval.

Renewal: There is an optional extension of up to 6 months subject to approval.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/018280-2025 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 1 May 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 6 Feb 2025 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 7 Apr 2025 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £500,000 |
| Lots value | £500,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £800,000 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | UK RESEARCH & INNOVATION |
| Locality | SWINDON |
| Post town | Swindon |
| Postcode | SN2 1FL |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| ITL 3 | TLK71 Swindon |
| Local authority | Swindon |
| Electoral ward | Rodbourne Cheney |
| Westminster constituency | Swindon North |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | ZINC VENTURES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79410000 - Business and management consultancy services

## Release History

- 1 May 2025 at 09:06 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/018280-2025
- 19 Dec 2024 at 16:05 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/041050-2024

## Notice URLs

- http://www.ukri.org
- https://ukri.delta-esourcing.com/delta/buyers/select/viewListStatus.html?id=908683904
- https://ukri.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=946186734

## 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-04c9c8. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04c9c8.json.