Find a TenderAwarded without competitionContract award notice
Published 3 Oct 2025, 17:04 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Automated Slide Preparation System

Official notice

Authority: Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust (Central government)

Direct award
Awarded value£830,000published award · exc. VAT
Award in standstill 3 Oct 2025no call for competition
Award (standstill) to Axlab Ltd.

What is being bought

Published requirement description

As part of Nottingham University Hospitals' commitment to delivering world-class diagnostic services, we are introducing two Automated Slide Preparation Systems into the histopathology laboratory. This installation directly supports NUH's strategic aim to Standardise, Centralise and Digitise the diagnostic services. This procurement also aligns with the NHS England's 6-point plan for transforming pathology services.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Direct award
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Notice status
Awarded without competition
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Direct award (no call for competition)
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
3 Oct 2025, 17:04 BST
Last source update
3 Oct 2025, 17:08 BST
Authority reference
C384954
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-062320
Latest notice
Contract award notice (UK6)
Delivery area
East Midlands (UKF14)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a849 Find a Tender
Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
Published justification

The system being procured is the only fully automated tissue embedding system available which is essential to eliminate manual embedding and ensuring consistency at very high throughput levels for the histopathology department.

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

3 Oct 2025 → 14 Oct 2025 · 2 dates
  1. Notice published388 days ago
    3 Oct 2025, 17:08 BST
  2. Standstill ends377 days ago
    14 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST

Notice history

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 3 Oct 2025
  1. Transparency notice published
    3 Oct 2025, 17:04 BST
    UK5
  2. Contract award notice published
    3 Oct 2025, 17:08 BST
    UK6
  3. Contract signature expected
    31 Oct 2025, 23:59 GMT
    scheduled

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £830,0001 award exc. VAT
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Axlab Ltd.3 Nov 2025 – 31 Mar 2026£830,0003 Oct 2025standstill to 14 Oct 2025Standstill

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-NHS: RX1 · GB-PPON: PVQC-9261-WGRM Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Trust Headquarters, City Hospital Campus Hucknall Road, Nottingham, East Midlands, NG5 1PBContact email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • AXLAB LIMITEDAwarded supplierGB-COH: 14471643GB-PPON: PQNY-4448-MDCV 112c High Street, Ipswich, East of England, IP7 5ELContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender