DSIT awards £36.82m NMS Phase 2 contract to LGC LIMITED

Tender information last checkedLast checked 9 Oct 2026, 12:46.

Opportunity overview

DSIT conducted National Measurement System (NMS) Programme market engagement activities from 20th August 2025 to 3rd September 2025 during which no alternative suppliers expressed an interest in delivering one of the proposed 9 separate NMS programmes in their entirety. DSIT therefore took the decision to retain the existing, aggregated contract structure of NMS for the multi-year Phase 2 contracts, in order to drive operational efficiencies, reduce administrative overheads, and create additional capacity with which to address wider business needs. Future NMS Programme iterations will conduct similar market engagement opportunities to explore the market’s appetite to deliver all, or some, of the NMS programmes.

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

LGC Limited

Matched by exact name

Contract value: £36.8m
Awarded: Not supplied
Contract signed: 9 Aug 2026
Including VAT: £44.2m
Award ID: 1
Status: active
Identifier: GB-PPON PTXV-8453-DQMV
Location: Guildford, UKJ25, GU2 7XY, United Kingdom

Classification

No classification was supplied.

Lots

Lot 1Value not stated

Documents and notices

Contract details notice on Find a TenderOpen source ↗
DSIT - LGC NMS ContractOpen source ↗

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id: ocds-h6vhtk-051f99
Status: complete
Procurement Method: direct
Procurement Method Details: Direct award
Why this procedure was chosen: This notice is to inform the market that a number of contract awards will be made in relation to the National Measurement System (NMS). The NMS is the system of laboratories and capabilities that underpin the UK's measurement standards and capabilities. The NMS provides the UK with an infrastructure of laboratories that deliver world-class measurement science and technology and provide traceable and increasingly accurate standards of measurement. LGC Limited delivers two programmes for BIST as part of the NMS: the Government Chemist (GC) programme and the Chemical and Biological Metrology (CBM) programme. The GC programme involves fulfilling the statutory role of the Government Chemist, a role appointed by BIST. The Government Chemist acts as an independent referee analyst to provide authoritative advice to businesses and enforcement bodies in cases of disputes over, e.g., the composition of foods and feeds. It also provides independent expert advice to regulators and government departments. The CBM programme involves developing, maintaining and disseminating the UK’s primary standards of measurement for chemical and biological analysis. These programmes support, e.g., the development and verification of new medical technologies, food safety, and innovation and growth. The extensive scientific and technical infrastructure, expertise, and resources necessary to provide these services mean that there is an absence of competition from other providers. These contracts are therefore awarded directly.

Legal basis

Id: 2023/54
Scheme: UKPGA
Uri: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ↗

Procedure reasons

Entry 1

Id: singleSuppliersUniqueWorkArtPerformance

Entry 2

Id: singleSuppliersTechnicalReasons

Lots and requirements

Entry 1

Id: 1
Status: complete

Published documents

Entry 1

Id: conflictOfInterest
Document Type: conflictOfInterest
Description: Not published

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1

Name: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
Id: GB-PPON-PVWZ-3216-PVQL

Identifier

Scheme: GB-PPON
Id: PVWZ-3216-PVQL

Address

Street Address: 22 Whitehall
Locality: London
Postal Code: SW1A 2EG
Country: GB
Country Name: United Kingdom
Region: UKI32

Contact

Email: sigcommercialapprovals@dsit.gov.uk

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1

Scheme: UK_CA_TYPE
Id: publicAuthorityCentralGovernment
Description: Public authority - central government

Organisation 2

Name: LGC Limited
Id: GB-PPON-PTXV-8453-DQMV

Identifier

Scheme: GB-PPON
Id: PTXV-8453-DQMV

Address

Street Address: The Priestley Centre, 10 Priestley Road, Surrey Research Park
Locality: Guildford
Postal Code: GU2 7XY
Country: GB
Country Name: United Kingdom
Region: UKJ25

Contact

Email: Julian.Braybrook@lgcgroup.com

Roles

supplier

Details

Url: https://www.lgcgroup.com ↗
Scale: large
Vcse: No
Public Service Mission Organization: Yes
Sheltered Workshop: No

Award information

Award 1

Id: 1
Status: active
Main Procurement Category: services

Items

Item 1

Id: 1
Related Lot: 1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1

Scheme: CPV
Id: 71900000
Description: Laboratory services

Suppliers

Supplier 1

Id: GB-PPON-PTXV-8453-DQMV
Name: LGC Limited

Related lots

Contracts and changes

Entry 1

Id: 1
Award ID: 1
Status: active
Above Threshold: Yes
Date Signed: 10 Aug 2026, 00:00

Period

Starts: 10 Aug 2026, 00:00
Ends: 31 Mar 2029, 23:59

Value

Including VAT: 44,184,007
Amount: 36,820,006
Currency: GBP

Documents

Entry 1

Id: A-23840
Document Type: contractSigned
Description: DSIT - LGC NMS Contract
Url: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/A-23840 ↗
Format: application/pdf

Entry 2

Id: 095569-2026
Document Type: contractNotice
Notice Type: UK7
Description: Contract details notice on Find a Tender
Url: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095569-2026 ↗
Published: 9 Oct 2026, 11:31
Format: text/html

Agreed Metrics

Entry 1

Id: 1
Title: Overall delivery performance: Chemical and Biological Metrology Programme
Description: Overall Delivery Performance for a programme shall be measured as the proportion of Deliverables that have been, or which the Supplier reasonably expects to be, delivered by their originally agreed end date (as specified in Schedule 2).

Observations

Entry 1

Id: frequency

Period

Duration In Months: 3

Entry 2

Id: 2
Title: Overall delivery performance: Government Chemist Programme
Description: Overall Delivery Performance for a programme shall be measured as the proportion of Deliverables that have been, or which the Supplier reasonably expects to be, delivered by their originally agreed end date (as specified in Schedule 2).

Observations

Entry 1

Id: frequency

Period

Duration In Months: 3

Entry 3

Id: 3
Title: Gender pay gap
Description: Overall Delivery Performance for a programme shall be measured as the proportion of Deliverables that have been, or which the Supplier reasonably expects to be, delivered by their originally agreed end date (as specified in Schedule 2).

Observations

Entry 1

Id: frequency

Period

Duration In Months: 3

Amendments

Entry 1

Description: Notice amended to include copy of agreement (09/10/2026). To note - this contract has information redacted under Section 94(2) of PA23.
Id: 095569-2026

Recorded locations

Buyer location · London · UKI32 · SW1A 2EG · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

4 published notice versions reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

4 VERSIONS

066806-2026Transparency notice on Find a Tender · 15 Jul 2026, 14:09
069227-2026Contract award notice on Find a Tender · 22 Jul 2026, 14:28
078385-2026Contract details notice on Find a Tender · 18 Aug 2026, 09:41
095569-2026Contract details notice on Find a Tender · 9 Oct 2026, 11:31

PROCURAAXIS AWARD ANALYSIS

Award outcome intelligence

Evidence-bound analysis of the published award appears below the official tender and award information.

ANALYSIS PREVIEW

Award intelligence at a glance

Department for Science, Innovation & Technology awarded a direct, signed contract to LGC LIMITED for National Measurement System Phase 2 work covering the Government Chemist and Chemical and Biological Metrology programmes.

Published outcome signals

Procurement statusComplete; award and contract recorded as activeEvidence: Tender status is "complete"; award 1 and contract 1 are each marked "active".
Contract conclusionSigned on 10 August 2026Evidence: Contract 1 records dateSigned as 2026-08-10 and includes a document with type "contractSigned".
Latest notice update9 October 2026Evidence: The contract amendment says the notice was amended to include a copy of the agreement on 09/10/2026; release history records an award/contract update on that date.

97% approved-analysis confidence1 supplier record analysed4 source limitations

SOURCE AND FRESHNESS

Traceable procurement data

Source: Find a Tender
Notice reference: 095569-2026
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-051f99
First published: 18 Aug 2026
Last checked: 9 Oct 2026, 12:46
Notice versions reviewed: 4

View Find a Tender notice ↗

HOW THIS WAS PREPARED

Approved, evidence-bound analysis

ProcuraAxis structures information found in published procurement records, checks the result for consistency and publishes only approved analysis. Confidence describes the completeness and consistency of the available source information; it is not a guarantee of eligibility or contract award.

Analysis status: Approved for publication
Analysed: 9 Oct 2026

Read the analysis methodology →

AWARD OUTCOME

What happened

Published outcome

One active award and contract are recorded for LGC LIMITED. The contract runs from 10 August 2026 to 31 March 2029.

Market significance

The £36.82m net contract supports UK measurement infrastructure, laboratory services, statutory Government Chemist functions and chemical and biological metrology. DSIT cited the specialist infrastructure and absence of alternative providers for the direct award.

AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS

1 supplier record analysed

LGC LIMITED

99% confidence

Award 1 · Lots 1 · £36,820,006 net (£44,184,007 gross) GBP · Verified supplier; active award and contract

View supporting evidence

Award 1 identifies LGC Limited as supplier. Supplier verification provides legal name LGC LIMITED (company number 02991879). Contract 1, linked to award 1, gives the total value.

LIFECYCLE

Award or contract stage

Procurement status

98% confidence

Complete; award and contract recorded as active

View supporting evidence

Tender status is "complete"; award 1 and contract 1 are each marked "active".

Contract conclusion

99% confidence

Signed on 10 August 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 records dateSigned as 2026-08-10 and includes a document with type "contractSigned".

Latest notice update

98% confidence

9 October 2026

View supporting evidence

The contract amendment says the notice was amended to include a copy of the agreement on 09/10/2026; release history records an award/contract update on that date.

VALUES

Published values explained

Contract value excluding VAT

99% confidence

£36,820,006

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 value.amount is 36820006 GBP.

Contract value including VAT

99% confidence

£44,184,007

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 value.amountGross is 44184007 GBP.

Value allocation

97% confidence

Contract-level value; no separate lot value published

View supporting evidence

One contract is linked to award 1 and lot 1, while the lot record has no value.

TIMELINE

Procurement timeline

Market engagement

98% confidence

20 August 2025 to 3 September 2025

View supporting evidence

Tender description states that DSIT conducted NMS market engagement during this period.

Contract signed and starts

99% confidence

10 August 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 lists both dateSigned and period.startDate as 2026-08-10.

Contract end

99% confidence

31 March 2029

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 period.endDate is 2029-03-31T23:59:59+01:00.

Initial contract-details notice

97% confidence

18 August 2026

View supporting evidence

Process published_at and release history record 18 August 2026.

Agreement publication update

99% confidence

9 October 2026

View supporting evidence

Release history and the amendment description identify 9 October 2026.

SCOPE

What was awarded

Programme coverage

99% confidence

Government Chemist (GC) and Chemical and Biological Metrology (CBM) programmes

View supporting evidence

The procurement rationale states that LGC delivers these two NMS programmes for DSIT.

Service classification

99% confidence

Laboratory services (CPV 71900000)

View supporting evidence

Award item 1 gives CPV 71900000, described as Laboratory services.

Government Chemist activity

97% confidence

Statutory independent referee analysis and expert advice in disputes and for regulators and government departments

View supporting evidence

Procurement rationale describes the Government Chemist programme's stated functions.

CBM activity

98% confidence

Development, maintenance and dissemination of UK primary standards for chemical and biological analysis

View supporting evidence

Procurement rationale describes the CBM programme.

PROCEDURE

Procedure and competition

Procedure

99% confidence

Direct award

View supporting evidence

The process records procurementMethod as "direct" and procurementMethodDetails as "Direct award".

Published rationale

99% confidence

DSIT cited specialist scientific and technical infrastructure, expertise and resources, and an absence of competition from other providers

View supporting evidence

ProcurementMethodRationale states these reasons and says the contracts are awarded directly.

Market-engagement result

97% confidence

No alternative suppliers expressed interest in delivering any of the proposed nine NMS programmes in its entirety

View supporting evidence

Tender description states this result from the 2025 engagement exercise.

Competition metrics

99% confidence

Not published

View supporting evidence

Information not supplied in the published notice.

CONTRACT TERMS

Published contract terms

Term

99% confidence

10 August 2026 to 31 March 2029

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 period gives these start and end dates.

Above-threshold status

99% confidence

Yes

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 records aboveThreshold as true.

Performance monitoring

96% confidence

Quarterly observations are specified for overall delivery performance for CBM and Government Chemist programmes

View supporting evidence

Contract agreedMetrics 1 and 2 each specify an observation frequency of three months.

Extensions or renewal options

99% confidence

Not published

View supporting evidence

Information not supplied in the published notice.

Redactions

99% confidence

The agreement contains information redacted under section 94(2) of the Procurement Act 2023

View supporting evidence

Contract amendment description states this explicitly.

COMMERCIAL VIEW

Commercial observations

Aggregation approach

98% confidence

DSIT retained the aggregated NMS contract structure for multi-year Phase 2 contracts

View supporting evidence

Tender description says DSIT made this decision following market engagement.

Buyer-stated objectives

98% confidence

Operational efficiencies, lower administrative overheads and additional capacity for wider business needs

View supporting evidence

Tender description gives these reasons for retaining aggregation.

Market access implication

94% confidence

The published engagement result indicates no supplier interest in delivering a whole proposed NMS programme; DSIT nevertheless signals future engagement on full or partial programme delivery

View supporting evidence

Tender description states both points.

ANALYSIS QUALITY

97%overall confidence

Confidence reflects the completeness and consistency of the published award data.

Reference: ocds-h6vhtk-051f99
Analysed: 9 Oct 2026

APPROVED AWARD ANALYSIS

BUYER CONTEXT

Buyer context

Buyer

99% confidence

Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

View supporting evidence

Buyer party name in the notice.

Buyer type

99% confidence

Central government public authority

View supporting evidence

Buyer classification is "publicAuthorityCentralGovernment".

Buyer location

98% confidence

London, United Kingdom

View supporting evidence

Buyer address lists London, SW1A 2EG, United Kingdom.

SUPPLIER CONTEXT

Supplier context

Legal supplier

99% confidence

LGC LIMITED

View supporting evidence

Supplier verification records verified company name LGC LIMITED and company number 02991879.

Source trading/name presentation

99% confidence

LGC Limited

View supporting evidence

The supplier party and award source name are shown as LGC Limited.

Supplier location

98% confidence

Guildford, United Kingdom

View supporting evidence

Supplier party address lists Guildford, GU2 7XY, United Kingdom.

Supplier classification

97% confidence

Large organisation; public-service-mission organisation

View supporting evidence

Supplier party details list scale as large and publicServiceMissionOrganization as true.

RENEWAL OUTLOOK

Renewal outlook

Estimated re-procurement timing

72% confidence

Around the contract end date of 31 March 2029, subject to DSIT decisions and any unpublished options

View supporting evidence

This is an estimate based only on the explicit contract end date; no extension or renewal terms are published.

Future market engagement

96% confidence

DSIT states that future NMS iterations will conduct similar engagement to test appetite to deliver all or part of the programmes

View supporting evidence

Tender description contains this statement.

DATA QUALITY

Gaps and source limitations

Award-to-contract linkage

99% confidence

Clear

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 explicitly references awardID 1, and award 1 references lot 1.

Supplier identity

99% confidence

Verified

View supporting evidence

Supplier verification reports an exact-name match to LGC LIMITED, company number 02991879.

Lot detail

99% confidence

Lot 1 has no published title, description or individual value

View supporting evidence

Lot record contains only ID and status; its title, description and value fields are null.

Agreement completeness

99% confidence

Some contract information is redacted

View supporting evidence

The amendment notes redaction under section 94(2) of the Procurement Act 2023.

SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS

Information not supplied in the published notice

No lot title, lot description or individual lot value is published for lot 1.
No bid count, evaluation scoring, tender submissions, pricing breakdown or savings information is published.
No extension or renewal option is published; re-procurement timing is only an estimate based on the stated end date.
Some agreement information is redacted under section 94(2) of the Procurement Act 2023.

MARKET THEMES

Relevant award themes

COMMON QUESTIONS

About this award

Who received the DSIT NMS Phase 2 contract?

LGC LIMITED received the active award. The source notice presents the supplier name as LGC Limited; supplier verification identifies the legal name as LGC LIMITED.

What is the value of the contract?

The contract value is £36,820,006 excluding VAT and £44,184,007 including VAT.

Was the contract signed?

Yes. The contract record gives a signed date of 10 August 2026 and includes a contract-signed document.

Why was a direct award used?

DSIT cited the specialist infrastructure, expertise and resources required, an absence of competition from other providers, and market engagement in which no alternative supplier expressed interest in delivering a proposed programme in its entirety.

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.

DSIT NMS Phase 2– LGC GC + CBM

Opportunity overview

Awarded to

LGC Limited

Classification

Lots

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Scope, procedure and submissions

Legal basis

Procedure reasons

Lots and requirements

Published documents

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Identifier

Address

Contact

Roles

Details

Classifications

Identifier

Address

Contact

Roles

Details

Award information

Items

Additional Classifications

Suppliers

Related lots

Contracts and changes

Period

Value

Documents

Agreed Metrics

Observations

Period

Observations

Period

Observations

Period

Amendments

Recorded locations

Notice and amendment history

Award intelligence at a glance

Published outcome signals

Traceable procurement data

Approved, evidence-bound analysis

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