Awarded without open competition
Awarded without open competition. The buyer went directly to one or a few suppliers instead of advertising the contract. Procurement rules allow this only in specific cases, such as extreme urgency, when only one supplier can do the work, or for call-offs from an existing framework.
Key facts
- Buyer
- University Of Edinburgh · Body governed by public law
- Supplier
- Xplore Instruments BV
- Value
- Not published
- Procedure
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Sector
- Laboratory & precision equipment · Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring (CPV 38540000)
- Region
- Scotland
- Official notice
- 035492-2026 on Find a Tender
- Timeline
-
- Contract date31 Mar 2026
- Published20 Apr 2026Published 20 days after the contract date
Description
Xplore Instruments were the only identified supplier capable of meeting the full technical specification required for the research programme. A key requirement is the availability of a specialised tow-to-tape impregnation die that can operate in-line with the polymer micro-compounder, enabling true fibre tow impregnation where molten polymer penetrates individual fibre filaments. Alternative suppliers contacted during market research, such as ThermoFisher and Nativa Sciences were contacted directly and were unable to provide this functionality, offering only coating dies that apply polymer to the surface of fibres rather than achieving full impregnation or systems of multiple pieces of equipment that had to be used rather than a single equipment and process Xplore’s solution provided. A voluntary ex ante transparency (VEAT) notice was published on Public Contracts Scotland to notify the market of the University’s intent to award a contract to Xplore Instruments BV. No challenge was re…
About the supplier
Xplore Instruments BV: every public contract they have won.