Official UK procurement notice
Histopathology Archive Storage Services
Procurement agent: Aneurin Bevan University Health Board·On behalf of: NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership-Procurement Services (hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) is giving advance notice of a potential future procurement for the provision of off-site Histopathology Archive Storage and Retrieval Services.
The requirement is currently being assessed on behalf of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, with discussions ongoing to determine whether additional NHS Wales organisations may participate in the future requirement.
The anticipated scope may include:
Secure off-site storage of histopathology archive materials;
Storage and management of paraffin wax blocks and histopathology slides;
Retrieval and transportation services;
Archive tracking and chain-of-custody management;
Archive migration and mobilisation services; and
Associated reporting and contract management arrangements.
NWSSP intends to undertake Preliminary Market Engagement to inform the procurement strategy, specification development and assessment of market capability and capacity.
The estimated value is indicative and based on the currently anticipated scope. The final contract value and participating organisations may be refined following stakeholder engagement and Preliminary Market Engagement activities.
This notice is for information purposes only and does not constitute a call for competition.
CPV: Pathology services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Aneurin Bevan University Health Board buys Hospital and related services (CPV 8511), and who usually turns up
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Hospital and related services (CPV 8511) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Wales (Cymru).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 75 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid85% / 75%
2–36% / 15%
4–60% / 5%
7+9% / 5%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate67% / 18%
Within ±2%33% / 50%
Above estimate0% / 32%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 8511Published estimate£300k
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 20 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid75%
2–315%
4–65%
7+5%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 7 Oct 2026, 15:40 BST
- Last source update
- 7 Oct 2026, 15:40 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 20 Jan 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-094882- Accelerated
- Qualifying planned procurement notice
- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07830cFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 9 Dec 2026
- Clarification deadline
- 7 Nov 2026
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Bravo e-tender portal
Timeline
7 Oct 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 6 dates- Planning notice published20 days ago7 Oct 2026, 15:40 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Clarification questions byin 10 days7 Nov 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 21 days17 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 42 days9 Dec 2026
- Award decision expected byin 85 days20 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 155 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Planned procurement notice published7 Oct 2026, 15:40 BSTUK3
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeClients of the procurement agent
- NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership-Procurement Services (hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust)Beneficiary authority
- NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) on behalf of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB)Procuring entityNWSSP provide procurement services on behalf of health boards in Wales
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender