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
- Andor Technology Limited
- Value
- £345,825
- Procedure
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Sector
- Laboratory & precision equipment · Microscopes (CPV 38510000)
- Region
- Scotland
- Official notice
- 036046-2025 on Find a Tender
- Timeline
-
- Contract date27 Jun 2025
- Published30 Jun 2025Published 3 days after the contract date
Description
The Grant Laboratory has a requirement for a specialist microscope system for neuroscience research. This is of a spinning disc type with sophisticated imaging (including imagine processing and AI assistance). As a distinctive factor it is important that the system is of a ‘single box’ type, portable, and does not require a specialist laboratory environment (climate controlled, air table) so that more devices can be fitted in a single laboratory and they are more accessible and easy to use. Two such machines are required; they must be easy to operate and the total price including all features and servicing must not exceed a total budget cost of GBP 346k Competition is absent for technical reasons; it is reasonably believed that no alternative device with the particular properties and benefits of the Andor B43 is likely to be available and alternative devices would require significant compromises on key benefits to be acceptable
About the supplier
Andor Technology Limited: every public contract they have won, plus their Companies House record (company NI022466).