AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Suffolk County Council Passenger Transport published an award notice for a passenger transport route from Dennington to Thomas Wolsey, Ipswich, requiring a 4-seater vehicle and passenger assistant (PA). The published award is to UNIVERSAL CABS LTD.
Published outcomeOne active award, valued at £166,215.99, is recorded for UNIVERSAL CABS LTD. The award record gives a contract period from 12 October 2026 to 31 July 2031.
Market significanceThis is a route-specific passenger transport services award made through a mini-competition under the stated Dynamic Purchasing System.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
UNIVERSAL CABS LTD
99% confidenceAward ocds-b5fd17-435ba495-c4dd-4f26-a30b-94c2caf87ea1-1 · 166215.99 GBP · verified supplier; active award
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The award names Universal Cabs Ltd as supplier and has value £166,215.99. Supplier verification identifies the legal company name as UNIVERSAL CABS LTD (company number 13485605), matched by exact name.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice status
99% confidenceAwarded / complete
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Process display status is "awarded"; source status and tender status are "complete"; the notice is titled "Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder".
Award status
99% confidenceActive
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Award ocds-b5fd17-435ba495-c4dd-4f26-a30b-94c2caf87ea1-1 has status "active".
Award date
99% confidence9 October 2026
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The award record date is 2026-10-09.
Contract signature
99% confidenceUnknown
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The supplied award notice provides an active award and contract-period dates but no explicit signature or execution field.
VALUES
Published values explained
Published award value
99% confidence£166,215.99
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Award value is 166215.99 GBP for the single published award.
Value allocation
98% confidenceAllocated to the sole published award and supplier
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One award is supplied, with one named supplier, UNIVERSAL CABS LTD.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Clarification-question deadline
95% confidence6 October 2026, 09:00
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Tender description states the deadline for clarification questions was 0900 2026-10-06.
Submission deadline
99% confidence8 October 2026, 09:00
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Tender period end date is 2026-10-08T09:00:00+01:00.
Award date
99% confidence9 October 2026
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Award record date is 2026-10-09.
Notice publication
99% confidence9 October 2026, 15:34 BST
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Award notice datePublished is 2026-10-09T15:34:03+01:00.
Published contract start
92% confidence12 October 2026
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Award contract period start date is 2026-10-12T00:00:00+01:00; process-level field records 2026-10-12T01:00:00+01:00.
Published contract end
99% confidence31 July 2031
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Award contract period end date is 2031-07-31T23:59:59+01:00.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Service requirement
98% confidencePassenger transport route from Dennington to Thomas Wolsey, Ipswich, with a 4-seater vehicle and PA required
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Tender title and description state: "Dennington to Thomas Wolsey, Ipswich (4-seater and PA required)".
Main category
99% confidenceServices
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Main procurement category is recorded as services.
CPV classification
99% confidence60000000 — Transport services (excl. Waste transport)
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Primary classification is CPV 60000000.
Lot structure
99% confidenceNo lots published
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The supplied lots array is empty and the award has no lot IDs.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Route to market
98% confidenceMini-competition under a Dynamic Purchasing System
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Tender description states that Suffolk County Council was seeking a mini competition against "The supply of Passenger Transport Services" DPS, OJEU Notice Id 2018/S 031-067685.
Procurement method
99% confidenceNot specified
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procurementMethodDetails is "Not specified".
Competition metrics
99% confidenceUnknown
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Information on number of submissions, bidders, evaluation scores and ranking is not supplied in the published notice.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Published term
99% confidence12 October 2026 to 31 July 2031
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The award contractPeriod gives these start and end dates.
Published term length
95% confidenceApproximately 4 years 9 months
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Calculated from the published dates of 12 October 2026 and 31 July 2031.
Extension or renewal options
99% confidenceUnknown
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No option, extension or renewal terms are supplied.
Pricing and payment terms
99% confidenceUnknown
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The notice supplies a total award value but no rate card, pricing structure or payment terms.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Award structure
98% confidenceA single supplier received the sole published award for the route requirement.
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One award, one named supplier and no published lot allocation are present.
Addressable requirement
98% confidenceSpecialist passenger transport provision includes a 4-seater vehicle and PA.
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The route title explicitly states "4-seater and PA required".
Value interpretation
99% confidenceThe published £166,215.99 is the award value; the notice does not provide a yearly value or unit-rate breakdown.
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The award contains one total GBP value and no pricing schedule.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Published delivery geography is broad and inconsistent
99% confidenceDelivery locations include IP1 2BX alongside United Kingdom and several broad or implausibly wide territories, including Europe, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Rest of the World and British Oversea Territories.
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The tender item deliveryAddresses lists these locations; the route description itself specifies Dennington to Thomas Wolsey, Ipswich.
Start-time discrepancy
99% confidenceThe process-level start is 12 October 2026 at 01:00+01:00, while the award-level start is 12 October 2026 at 00:00+01:00.
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Both timestamps are supplied in the source data.
Contract conclusion evidence
99% confidenceThe record supports an active award and published contract period, but does not explicitly evidence contract signature.
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No signature, execution or contract-document field is supplied.
Information not supplied in the published notice
99% confidenceNo bid count, evaluation detail, lot titles, individual pricing, extension terms or explicit signature information is published.
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These fields are absent from the supplied notice data.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The notice does not explicitly state that a contract was signed or executed.
- No bidder count, tender evaluation, award rationale, scoring or pricing breakdown is published.
- No extension or renewal options are published; the re-procurement horizon is only an estimate from the stated end date.
- No lot structure or lot-level allocation is published.
- Delivery-location fields are unusually broad and conflict with the route-specific description; they should not be interpreted as confirmed service coverage.
- The source contains a one-hour difference between process-level and award-level contract-start timestamps.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
UNIVERSAL CABS LTDSuffolk County Council Passenger TransportDenningtonThomas Wolsey Ipswichpassenger transport servicesContracts FinderDynamic Purchasing System
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who received the award?
The published award names UNIVERSAL CABS LTD, verified as company number 13485605.
What is the award value?
The published award value is £166,215.99.
What service is covered?
Passenger transport from Dennington to Thomas Wolsey, Ipswich, with a 4-seater vehicle and PA required.
When does the published contract period run?
The published period runs from 12 October 2026 to 31 July 2031. The notice does not explicitly confirm contract signature.
ProcuraAxis award analysis supplements, but does not replace, the official award notice, contract data or procurement documents. “Awarded” does not by itself prove that a contract has been signed.