---
title: "CSP26828 - Summon content discovery service subscription"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06f87e"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f87e"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f87e.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f87e.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "UK RESEARCH & INNOVATION"
published: "2026-09-11"
---

# CSP26828 - Summon content discovery service subscription

Buyer: UK RESEARCH & INNOVATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06f87e

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## Summary

UK Research and Innovation required a Summon content discovery service subscription. This is a subscription service supporting content discovery, supplied for UKRI’s research and information needs. The buying organisation is UK Research and Innovation, with UK Shared Business Services Ltd acting as the procuring entity and shared service provider. Delivery is across the United Kingdom. The requirement was treated as a service rather than goods or works, and was arranged as a single completed lot. The selected service concerns access to the Summon content discovery platform and its associated subscription provision. It is therefore relevant to suppliers of research information services, library discovery platforms, academic content search tools and related subscription-based digital services serving public research organisations.

The procurement has been awarded and the contract is active. UKRI used a direct award below the applicable threshold, without competition, because the required services were considered available from only one supplier for technical reasons and no reasonable alternatives were identified. ProQuest LLC was selected as supplier. The contract was signed on 8 September 2026 and runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. Its value is £14,431.25 excluding VAT, or £17,317.50 including VAT. The award covers subscription services under one completed lot. The contracting process was evaluated on the basis of the stated technical-availability rationale rather than a competitive tender, and the contract is classified as below threshold.

This award demonstrates demand from UKRI for a specialist content discovery subscription supporting research information access across the UK. A credible future competitor would need to provide a mature digital discovery service, with the content coverage, search functionality, platform reliability and technical integration required by a public research organisation. The procurement also indicates that compatibility with an established service and the availability of a technically equivalent alternative are commercially important: the buyer justified a direct award on the basis that only one supplier could meet the technical requirement. Suppliers targeting this buyer would therefore need strong evidence of equivalent functionality, dependable subscription delivery, relevant research or library-sector experience and the organisational capacity to support a large public-sector customer.

## Notice

***** THIS IS A CONTRACT DETAILS NOTICE, NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION ***** This procurement is being concluded without competition due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the services required, and there are no reasonable alternatives to those services. UK Research Innovation (UKRI) had a requirement for Summon content discovery service subscription to be supplied.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086603-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - without competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 11 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Oct 2026 - 30 Sep 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £14,431 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | UK RESEARCH & INNOVATION |
| Locality | SWINDON |
| Postcode area | 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 | ProQuest LLC |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79980000 - Subscription services

## Release History

- 11 Sep 2026 at 16:20 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086603-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086603-2026
  11th September 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://about.proquest.com
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## 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-06f87e. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f87e.json.