Official UK procurement notice
Provision of External Impact Evaluation Services
Authority: HIGH VALUE MANUFACTURING CATAPULT (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionInnovate UK, as the funder, requires an independent evaluation of HVM Catapult's core grant-funded activities, covering four strategic priority areas. An early findings report is due by 18 December 2026, with the final evaluation due in March 2027.
- Not divided into lots: The contract has not been divided into lots. The evaluation requires a single coherent methodology and a single line of accountability for the findings. The optional formative and learning evaluation services are a small, discretionary extension of the core evaluation, dependent upon it and drawing on the same evidence base; separate competition would be disproportionate. The pool of suppliers with the requisite impact evaluation expertise is limited.
CPV: Economic research services · Research and development services and related consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£310,000
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Methodology, analytical approach and evaluation judgment: 37.5%
- Delivery capability, resourcing and contingency arrangements: 37.5%
- Price- Fixed Price for the core evaluation services: 25%
Published award criteria (3)
- Methodology, analytical approach and evaluation judgment
- Delivery capability, resourcing and contingency arrangements
- Price- Fixed Price for the core evaluation services
- Price carries 25 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Awarded
- 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
- 27 Jul 2026, 11:27 BST
- Last source update
- 26 Oct 2026, 11:45 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 17 Sept 2026
- Authority reference
HVMC/EVAL/2026/01- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-070704- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d41bFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 21 Aug 2026, 16:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
All enquiries and tender submissions must be made electronically via the designated procurement portal.
Any interested party should express their interest by emailing HVMCatapult@muckle-llp.com, providing the name and email address of the individuals within their organisation that they would like access to the portal granted to.
All access requests will be granted, following which parties will have the ability to view the tender documents, ask questions, view question answers and upload tender submissions within the portal.
Timeline
27 Jul 2026 → 26 Oct 2026 · 7 dates- Tender notice published92 days ago27 Jul 2026, 11:27 BST
- Submission deadline67 days ago21 Aug 2026, 16:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent49 days ago8 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Award decision expected by39 days ago17 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Standstill ends39 days ago17 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts29 days ago28 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published28h ago26 Oct 2026, 11:45 GMT
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 27 Jul 2026- Tender notice published27 Jul 2026, 11:27 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published8 Sept 2026, 15:45 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete8 Sept 2026, 15:45 BST
- Contract signature expected18 Sept 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published26 Oct 2026, 11:45 GMTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SQW LimitedSME28 Sept 2026 – 27 Sept 2028 · up to 27 Sept 2029Extensions: Option for HVM Catapult to extend the contract by up to one year, on not less than three months' written notice given prior to expiry of the initial term. · Options: Option for HVM Catapult to extend the contract by up to one year, on not less than three months' written notice given prior to expiry of the initial term. | £310,000 | 8 Sept 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · SQW LimitedSME
- Signed
- 28 Sept 2026
- Value
- £310,000
- Period
- 28 Sept 2026 – 30 Apr 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Possible extension to 31 March 2028. Option for HVM Catapult to extend the contract by up to one year, on not less than three months' written notice given prior to expiry of the initial term.
- Options
- Possible extension to 31 March 2028. Option for HVM Catapult to extend the contract by up to one year, on not less than three months' written notice given prior to expiry of the initial term.
No agreed KPIs: Performance under this contract is managed through a milestone based payment structure. Delivery and quality are assessed against those milestones and the specification which HVM Catapult considers a more appropriate mechanism than KPIs for a contract of this nature and value.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9final-stage tenders · 10 at stage one | 7 | 1 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- SQW LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- SQW LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender