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
- Aston University · Body governed by public law
- Supplier
- Waters Limited
- Value
- £270,718.61
- Procedure
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Sector
- Laboratory & precision equipment · Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses) (CPV 38000000)
- Region
- West Midlands
- Official notice
- 090744-2026 on Find a Tender
- Timeline
-
- Contract date18 Sep 2026
- Published24 Sep 2026Published 6 days after the contract date
Description
This procurement is for the purchase, delivery, installation, commissioning and initial user training of two items of capital research equipment for the Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME): a TA Instruments Discovery DSC 2500 differential scanning calorimeter and an integrated Waters SEC-MALS system comprising size-exclusion chromatography, multi-angle light-scattering and refractive-index detection. Both systems will be supplied with dedicated manufacturer PCs and the required control and analysis software. The DSC will support the thermal characterisation of polymers, biomaterials, pharmaceuticals and other advanced materials. The SEC-MALS system will enable the separation and absolute molecular-weight, size and distribution analysis of macromolecules, proteins, polymers and nanoparticles.
About the supplier
Waters Limited: every public contract they have won, plus their Companies House record (company 02912366).