Laboratory IT Systems

UKB (www.ukbiobank.ac.uk) is a company limited by guarantee and a registered UK charity established by its two founding funders: the Medical Research Council and Wellcome. It is a large-scale biomedical database and research resource containing genetic, lifestyle and health information from half a million UK Participants. UKB is globally accessible to approved researchers undertaking health-related research that is in the public interest.

UKB is inviting requests to participate in its procurement for the design and implementation of the Systems, data migration from existing legacy systems, testing, commissioning, training, hypercare support and, if required by UKB, the provision of consultancy services in relation to the Systems on an ad hoc basis. UKB envisages that its requirements can be met and the Systems can be delivered through a combination of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software packages managed through configuration, and complemented by bespoke services. UKB requires a licence and standard support services for any COTS software. This will either be included as part of the contract with the successful tenderer or through an additional contract between UKB and the COTS vendor.

The Systems will be required to support UKB laboratory operations when they move to a new purpose-built facility in the City of Manchester in the North West of England in 2026, UKB expects to take ownership for ongoing delivery of the Systems on completion of the phased implementation and will require the Service Provider to collaborate closely with the UKB technical team to ensure a successful implementation and hand-over. The current Laboratory Information Management System data stored in the legacy systems is approximately 110GB across over 160 tables. The Systems must be capable of managing 30 million samples in the near term and have the capacity to expand to accommodate 60 million within the next 15 years.

NOTE: In order to request to participate in this contract opportunity, interested organisations must complete and submit a response to UKB's selection questionnaire by the deadline stated in Section IV.2.2. UKB will then undertake a shortlisting process and shortlist successful candidates, as set out in Section II.2.9, to be invited to the tender stage of the procurement process. UKB reserves the right to invite the fourth ranked candidate through to the tender stage of the procurement if its score at the selection questionnaire stage is within 5% of the third ranked candidate. It is not envisaged that there will be any down-selection of tenderers during the tender stage of the procurement although UKB reserves the right to do so. Details of the envisaged tender stage process is set out in a draft Invitation to Negotiate provided as part of the procurement documents.

To access the procurement documents, please visit the myTenders Web Site at https://www.mytenders.co.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=233323.

Additional information: UKB reserves the right to discontinue or delay the procurement process and may decide not to award a contract as a result of this call for competition. UKB shall not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by any organisation in considering and/or responding to the procurement process. Tenders and supporting documents must be priced in pounds sterling and all payments made under the contract(s) will be in pounds sterling, unless otherwise advised.

The estimated contract value for the purchase of the Systems and the provision of services as set out in this Contract Notice and for the duration described at Section II.2.7 may be in the range of [1 - 8 million GBP]. Initial work done by UKB indicated that its requirements might potentially be delivered by a wide range of solutions with differing levels of reliance on existing COTS software packages ("Buy") and the development of bespoke software ("Build") which explains the very broad range in the estimated contract value. However, UKB's expectation is that the System can be delivered through a combination of COTS software packages managed through configuration, and complemented by bespoke services (i.e. with greater emphasis on "Buy" relative to "Build") and therefore anticipates that the estimated value will be towards the lower end of this range.

The duration set out at Section II.2.7 is the estimated duration of the contract and is subject to a number of milestones being achieved.

UKB will incorporate a standstill period at the point the decision in relation to the award of the contract(s) is notified to bidders. The standstill period, which will be a minimum of ten (10) calendar days, provides time for unsuccessful bidders to lodge an appeal in regards to the award decisions, before the contract(s) are entered into.