Official UK procurement notice
Services-Framework-Provision of Sample Courier Services for Laboratory Services
Authority: United Utilities Water Limited (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUnited Utilities Laboratory Services require a courier service for the transportation of samples from sites across the Company to the central Laboratory at Lingley Mere (Warrington) on a daily basis.
It is a requirement of OFWAT (The Water Services Regulation Authority) that the Company constantly undertakes analysis of water/waste water samples from various sample points throughout the North-West Region.
Water Quality Officers, Network Owners, Wastewater Operatives, Trade Effluent Officers, Agricultural Advisors and Project Staff obtain the samples requiring analysis. Samples are left at drop off points for collection by the dedicated courier in a refrigerated van.
Samples need to be transported under refrigerated conditions to ensure that they are maintained at a temperature of between 2 and 7 degrees centigrade. It is a requirement to maintain evidence that this has been achieved to enable United Utilities to adhere to regulatory requirements with respect to the transportation of accredited samples under the Environment Agency's Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTs), Drinking Water Test Specifications (DWTS) and ISO 17025.
On collection, the courier takes the samples to a Sample Registration Centre (SRC) or directly to Lingley Mere Laboratories Sample Reception. An additional dedicated courier service is then required to operate between the SRC's and the Laboratories at Lingley Mere, where required.
Consignment Notes or Delivery Notes detailing the sample load carried and all other required information to the Laboratory at Lingley Mere are part of the hand-over procedure at the SRCs and the Laboratory. These are currently in paper form, the Company would like to move this to an electronic format, where reports should consist of (minimum requirement):
- Sample bottle barcode number
- crate barcode number
- vehicle registration
- collection date and time
- collection location
- time samples dropped off
- location of sample drop off
Route optimisation will also be a requirement of the tender, with bidders expected to demonstrate how routes will be optimised to ensure efficiency, reliability, and timely delivery of samples while maintaining required temperature controls.
Detailed dates and milestones will be share in the tender documentation.
- How the procedure runs: United Utilities Laboratory Services requires a courier service for the transportation of samples from sites across the Company to the central Laboratory at Lingley Mere (Warrington) on a daily basis. The new contract will transition from the current arrangements of United Utilities owned fleet to a fully managed service model, including supplier-provided refrigerated vehicles, drivers, route management, and reporting. Samples need to be transported under refrigerated conditions to ensure that they are maintained at a temperature of between 2 and 7 degrees centigrade. It is a requirement to maintain evidence that this has been achieved to enable United Utilities to adhere to regulatory requirements with respect to the transportation of accredited samples under the Environment Agency's Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTs), Drinking Water Test Specifications (DWTS) and ISO 17025. The tender will look to award to a sole supplier to provide the service.
CPV: Courier services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Published value£9,600,000
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 (2)
- Technical: 60%
- Commercial: 40%
Published award criteria (2)
- Commercial
- Technical
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Services-Framework-Provision of Sample Courier Services for Laboratory…” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 30 Jan 2026, 17:44 GMT
- Last source update
- 13 Feb 2026, 17:26 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 30 Jun 2026
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-008675- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06138aFind a Tender
- How it runs
United Utilities Laboratory Services requires a courier service for the transportation of samples from sites across the Company to the central Laboratory at Lingley Mere (Warrington) on a daily basis. The new contract will transition from the current arrangements of United Utilities owned fleet to a fully managed service model, including supplier-provided refrigerated vehicles, drivers, route management, and reporting.
Samples need to be transported under refrigerated conditions to ensure that they are maintained at a temperature of between 2 and 7 degrees centigrade. It is a requirement to maintain evidence that this has been achieved to enable United Utilities to adhere to regulatory requirements with respect to the transportation of accredited samples under the Environment Agency's Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTs), Drinking Water Test Specifications (DWTS) and ISO 17025. The tender will look to award to a sole supplier to provide the service.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 20 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Appointment period ends
- 20 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
uk.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_… ↗
Notice identifier: 2026/S 000-013630
Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-06545f
Timeline
30 Jan 2026 → 6 Jul 2026 · 5 dates- Tender notice published269 days ago30 Jan 2026, 17:44 GMT
- Latest notice published255 days ago13 Feb 2026, 17:26 GMT
- Admission / appointment period ends248 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown20 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Award decision expected by118 days ago30 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts113 days ago6 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 30 Jan 2026- Tender notice published30 Jan 2026, 17:44 GMTUK4
- Tender notice published2 Feb 2026, 17:15 GMTUK4
- Tender notice published13 Feb 2026, 17:26 GMTUK4
Published amendments (2)
Primary point of Contact - Sofia.Gomes@uuplc.co.uk
A new Notice has been published https://uk.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_s.asp?PID=102321&TID100107540&B= Notice identifier: 2026/S 000-013630 Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-06545f
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender