AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Suffolk County Council Passenger Transport published an active award to UNIVERSAL CABS LTD for a four-seat school transport route from Gislingham to Thorndon Church of England Primary School.
Published outcomeOne active award, valued at £42,373.80, was published on 13 October 2026.
Market significanceThis is a small-value passenger transport award made through a mini-competition under the stated Passenger Transport Services Dynamic Purchasing System.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
UNIVERSAL CABS LTD
99% confidenceAward ocds-b5fd17-4381d026-a105-4c0c-8722-2036ed32d6c4-1 · 42373.80 GBP · active
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The active award names Universal Cabs Ltd as supplier and gives an award value of GBP 42,373.80. 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 contract notice; source status complete
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The record is labelled "Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder"; process status is "complete" and display status is "awarded".
Award status
99% confidenceActive
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Award ocds-b5fd17-4381d026-a105-4c0c-8722-2036ed32d6c4-1 has status "active".
Contract signature
99% confidenceNot stated
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No supplied field explicitly confirms that a contract was signed.
Contract period
98% confidence13 October 2026 to 31 July 2028
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The published tender and award contract periods specify these dates.
VALUES
Published values explained
Award value
99% confidence£42,373.80
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The sole published award value is 42373.8 GBP.
Value allocation
97% confidenceAllocated to the sole published award
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There is one award and one supplier in the supplied award data.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Clarification deadline
95% confidence8 October 2026, 09:00 BST
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The description states a clarification-question deadline of 0900 on 2026-10-08.
Tender submission deadline
99% confidence9 October 2026, 09:00 BST
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The tender period end date is 2026-10-09T09:00:00+01:00.
Award date
99% confidence13 October 2026
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The award date is 2026-10-13T00:00:00+01:00.
Award notice publication
99% confidence13 October 2026, 11:09 BST
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The award notice datePublished is 2026-10-13T11:09:10+01:00.
Published contract start
92% confidence13 October 2026
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The tender-level contract period starts 2026-10-13T01:00:00+01:00; the award-level period records 2026-10-13T00:00:00+01:00.
Published contract end
99% confidence31 July 2028
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Both tender and award contract-period end dates are 2028-07-31T23:59:59+01:00.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Service
98% confidenceSchool passenger transport: Gislingham to Thorndon Church of England Primary School
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The title and description identify this route.
Capacity
99% confidence4 seats
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The title and description state "(4 seats)".
Category
99% confidenceTransport services (excluding waste transport)
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Primary CPV classification is 60000000.
Lot information
99% confidenceNo lots published
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The supplied lots dataset 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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The description states that Suffolk County Council was seeking a mini competition against "The supply of Passenger Transport Services" DPS.
DPS reference
97% confidenceOJEU notice 2018/S 031-067685
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This reference appears in the published description.
Procurement method
99% confidenceNot specified
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The record's procurement method details state "Not specified".
Competition data
99% confidenceNot published
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No bid count, bidder names, evaluation scores or award rationale are supplied.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Published term
98% confidence13 October 2026 to 31 July 2028
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Published contract-period fields give these start and end dates.
Extensions or options
99% confidenceNot stated
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No extension, option or renewal term is supplied.
SME and VCSE suitability flags
98% confidenceSME: false; VCSE: false
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The tender suitability fields are SME false and VCSE false.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Award structure
98% confidenceSingle-supplier, single-award outcome
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One active award names one supplier; no lots are published.
Indicative value scale
95% confidence£42,373.80 across the published term
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The sole award value is £42,373.80 and the stated end date is 31 July 2028.
Demand profile
99% confidenceA defined four-seat school route
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The published scope specifies the Gislingham-to-Thorndon Church of England Primary School route and four seats.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Start-time inconsistency
99% confidenceTender- and award-level start timestamps differ by one hour on the same date
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Tender contract period starts at 01:00+01:00, while the award contract period starts at 00:00+01:00 on 13 October 2026. The date is consistent, but the time is not.
Delivery geography
98% confidencePublished delivery locations include broad and apparently non-route-specific territories
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Delivery addresses include United Kingdom, Europe, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Rest of the World and British Oversea Territories, alongside postcode IP1 2BX; the narrative scope identifies a Suffolk school route.
Supplier identity quality
99% confidenceVerified legal supplier identity available
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An exact-name verification matched the source supplier to UNIVERSAL CABS LTD, company number 13485605.
Unpublished commercial detail
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice
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No pricing breakdown, bid count, evaluation results, award rationale, lot allocation or extension terms are supplied.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The source does not explicitly confirm contract signature; the analysis therefore treats this as an active award notice rather than proof of a signed contract.
- The tender- and award-level contract start timestamps differ by one hour, although both specify 13 October 2026.
- No lot titles or allocations are published.
- No bid count, bidder identities, scoring, evaluation rationale or award rationale is published.
- No pricing breakdown, payment mechanism, extension option or renewal term is published.
- Published delivery-location fields include broad territories that are not readily consistent with the specific Suffolk school-route description.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
UNIVERSAL CABS LTDSuffolk County Council Passenger Transportschool transportpassenger transport servicesGislinghamThorndon Church of England Primary SchoolContracts FinderDynamic Purchasing System
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who won the Suffolk school transport award?
UNIVERSAL CABS LTD (company number 13485605) is the verified supplier named on the sole active award.
What is the value of the award?
The published value of the sole award is £42,373.80.
What service is covered?
The notice describes a four-seat passenger transport route from Gislingham to Thorndon Church of England Primary School.
When does the published contract period end?
The published end date is 31 July 2028. Extension or renewal terms were not stated.
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.