Official UK procurement notice
ETM Incursion Warning Radar System - Prototype Development
Authority: National Highways Limited (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNational Highways Traffic Officers when responding and dealing with incidents on the SRN often have to deploy temporary emergency traffic management (ETM) to create a ‘safety buffer zone’. This safety zone is crucial to the safety and well-being of operatives and road-users. Where ETM has been deployed, there has been reported incidents of breaches (i.e. incursions) by motorists that has resulted in near misses, injuries and in some cases the successful prosecution of motorists.
A prototype system owned by Race Technology Limited is to be trialled in a live environment to enable the development of both an algorithm to enhance software that predicts vehicle movements and for the further development of a radar and a handheld device so that the system operates as intended.
A direct award under the Procurement Act 2023 is permissible under Direct award for prototypes (Procurement Act 2023 Schedule 5, para 2)
Direct award for prototypes (PA 23 Sched 5, para 2)
o for the production of a prototype, or supply of other novel goods or services, for the purpose of—
(a) testing the suitability of the goods or services,
(b) researching the viability of producing or supplying the goods or services at scale and developing them for that purpose, or
(c) other research, experiment, study or development
o Doesn’t have to be for the benefit of the public.
Further development is required of the prototype system to finesse the system based upon findings and feedback from on-road trials, specifically on parts of the Strategic Road Network (SRN), targeting tunnels and hard to access areas that could impede signal accuracy or require other algorithm refinements. These trials and the data acquired will be used to provide firmware, software and hardware updates to an existing prototype system.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 1 Oct 2025, 15:37 BST
- Last source update
- 2 Apr 2026, 15:11 BST
- Authority reference
SONA692 (pro_21896)- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-031021- Latest notice
- Contract termination notice (UK11)
- Delivery area in notice
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a621Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Prototypes Development
- Published justification
A prototype system owned by Race Technology Limited is to be
trialled in a live environment to enable the development of both an
algorithm to enhance software that predicts vehicle movements and
for the further development of a radar and a handheld device so that
the system operates as intended.
A direct award under the Procurement Act 2023 is permissible under
Direct award for prototypes (Procurement Act 2023 Schedule 5, para
2)
Direct award for prototypes (PA 23 Sched 5, para 2)
o for the production of a prototype, or supply of other novel goods
or services, for the purpose of—
(a) testing the suitability of the goods or services,
(b) researching the viability of producing or supplying the goods or
services at scale and developing them for that purpose, or
(c) other research, experiment, study or development
o Doesn’t have to be for the benefit of the public.
Further development is required of the prototype system to finesse
the system based upon findings and feedback from on-road trials,
specifically on parts of the Strategic Road Network (SRN), targeting
tunnels and hard to access areas that could impede signal accuracy
or require other algorithm refinements. These trials and the data
acquired will be used to provide firmware, software and hardware
updates to an existing prototype system
- Risks
Not Applicable
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
13 Oct 2025 → 2 Apr 2026 · 2 dates- Standstill ends378 days ago13 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Notice published207 days ago2 Apr 2026, 15:11 BST
Notice history
5 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 Oct 2025- Transparency notice published1 Oct 2025, 15:37 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published2 Oct 2025, 13:48 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected15 Oct 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published28 Oct 2025, 12:25 GMTUK7
- Contract termination notice published2 Apr 2026, 15:11 BSTUK11
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-10: 1 release · 1 Oct 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Race Technology Limited16 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2026 | £381,000 | 30 Sept 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
ETM Incursion Warning Radar System – Prototype Development. · Race Technology Limited
- Signed
- 22 Oct 2025
- Value
- £381,000
- Period
- 22 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2026
- Status
- terminated, A contract originally awarded to the supplier Race Technology Limited to trial a prototype emergency traffic management (ETM) incursion warning alarm system has been completed. Full details of contract requirements has been provided within previous published transparency notices.
- Final value
- £381,000
- Termination
- contractCompleted
4 agreed KPIs: 1. System Performance (Success Criteria) · 2. Wearable Performance (Success Criteria) · 3. Operational Availability (Success Criteria) …
- 1. System Performance (Success Criteria), 1(a) False Negative Rate · Definition: Situations where there is a significant danger of an incident, but no alarm was generated • Threshold: ≤ 10% missed • Evidence: Manual review of videos from the trial, and subsequent report 1(b) Nuisance Alarm Rate · Definition: Situations where the alarm triggered without an identified and reasonable cause • Threshold: ≤ 20% of total alarms • Evidence: Manual review of videos from the trial, and subsequent report
- 2. Wearable Performance (Success Criteria), 2(a) Alarm Delivery Success Rate • Threshold: ≥ 95% of alarms received at wearable within 1.0s, triggering both an audible and visual warning • Limitations: Within a 500m range of the TOV, and for typical working scenarios of the TOS. Excludes laying face down on the ground, where wearable is completely shielded. • Evidence: Off-highway test, and subsequent report 2(b) Wearable Operation · Operation: Fully aligned with the supplied and agreed wearable v2 specification · Evidence: Off-highway test, and subsequent report
- 3. Operational Availability (Success Criteria), • Threshold: ≥ 95% uptime (excluding planned maintenance) • Limitations: Any factors outside of the supplier’s control including accidental damage • Evidence: ≥ 90-day field trial
- 4. Integration & Interoperability (Success Criteria), • Chapter 8 ETM Compliance: Verified during trials • Vehicle Compatibility: Standard TOS vehicle types. BMW X5, Volvo XC90 and Tesla model X
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Race Technology LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (10)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Signed contract Incursion Alarm Warning System Commercial Workbook v1.0 (Redacted)
- Signed contract ANNEX C - CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE WITH NATIONAL HIGHWAYS POLICIES_Redacted
- Signed contract Table 2 – Quality Questions (For Publication)
- Signed contract Incursion Alarm Warning System - Final Specification v1.0 (For Publication)
- Signed contract ETM Incursion Warning Radar System – Prototype Development RfQ FINAL_Redacted
- Signed contract Warning Radar System Prototype Development Services Agreement_Redacted
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract termination notice Contract termination notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender