DfI TRAM awards £9m ground rock salt contract

Tender information last checkedLast checked 9 Oct 2026, 16:18.

Opportunity overview

Supply and delivery of rock salt for spreading on highways for de-icing carriageways and footways.

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.

IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE

Matched by exact name

Published award value: £9m
Awarded: 21 Sept 2026
Award ID: 1
Status: active
Identifier: GB-PPON PLWG-3519-CLRY
Location: Carrickfergus, UKN0F, BT38 9BT, United Kingdom

Classification

No classification was supplied.

Lots

Lot 1Value not stated

Documents and notices

Contract details notice on Find a TenderOpen 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: DAC - 0194
Status: complete
Procurement Method: direct
Procurement Method Details: Direct award
Why this procedure was chosen: A competitive tendering procedure is the default for most public procurements. The Department may only directly award a public contract when Section 41 (and one or more of the justifications in Schedule 5), Section 42 or Section 43 apply. There are derogations to award a contract to a single supplier where the supplies or services can only be supplied by a particular supplier. Schedule 5, Para 6; the following conditions are met in relation to the public contract: • due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and • there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works)

Legal basis

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

Covered By

GPA

Procedure reasons

Entry 1

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: DfI Transport and Road Asset Management (TRAM)
Id: GB-PPON-PYQH-8789-DZPG

Identifier

Scheme: GB-PPON
Id: PYQH-8789-DZPG

Address

Street Address: James House, 2-4 Cromac Avenue, The Gasworks Business Park
Locality: Belfast
Postal Code: BT7 2JA
Country: GB
Country Name: United Kingdom
Region: UKN06

Contact

Email: TRAMprocurement@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1

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

Entry 2

Scheme: UK_CA_DEVOLVED_REGULATIONS
Id: GB-NIR
Description: Northern Irish devolved regulations apply

Organisation 2

Name: IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE
Id: GB-PPON-PLWG-3519-CLRY

Identifier

Scheme: GB-PPON
Id: PLWG-3519-CLRY

Address

Street Address: Fort Road
Locality: Carrickfergus
Postal Code: BT38 9BT
Country: GB
Country Name: United Kingdom
Region: UKN0F

Contact

Email: sales@irishsaltmining.com

Roles

supplier

Details

Scale: sme
Vcse: No
Public Service Mission Organization: No
Sheltered Workshop: No

Award information

Award 1

Id: 1
Status: active
Main Procurement Category: goods

Items

Item 1

Id: 1
Related Lot: 1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1

Scheme: CPV
Id: 14410000
Description: Rock salt

Delivery locations

Entry 1

Region: UKN
Country: GB
Country Name: United Kingdom

Suppliers

Supplier 1

Id: GB-PPON-PLWG-3519-CLRY
Name: IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE

Related lots

Contracts and changes

Entry 1

Id: 1
Award ID: 1
Status: active
Above Threshold: Yes
Date Signed: 6 Oct 2026, 00:00

Period

Starts: 6 Oct 2026, 00:00
Ends: 5 Oct 2029, 23:59

Value

Including VAT: 10,800,000
Amount: 9,000,000
Currency: GBP

Agreed Metrics

Entry 1

Id: 1
Title: Order Fulfilment
Description: Percentage of monthly ordered tonnage supplied in full during the annual reporting period. Target: 100%

Observations

Entry 1

Id: frequency

Period

Duration In Months: 12

Entry 2

Id: 2
Title: Specification Compliance
Description: Independent test samples obtained during the start, middle and end of winter season shall comply with the contract specification. Target: 100%

Observations

Entry 1

Id: frequency

Period

Duration In Months: 12

Entry 3

Id: 3
Title: Issue Resolution
Description: Percentage of delivery, quality or specification issues resolved within the agreed timescale. Target: ≥ 90% resolved within 10 working days.

Observations

Entry 1

Id: frequency

Period

Duration In Months: 12

Documents

Entry 1

Id: 095729-2026
Document Type: contractNotice
Notice Type: UK7
Description: Contract details notice on Find a Tender
Url: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095729-2026 ↗
Published: 9 Oct 2026, 14:39
Format: text/html

Recorded locations

Buyer location · Belfast · UKN06 · BT7 2JA · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

3 published notice versions reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

3 VERSIONS

089666-2026Transparency notice on Find a Tender · 22 Sept 2026, 14:05
089766-2026Contract award notice on Find a Tender · 22 Sept 2026, 15:38
095729-2026Contract details notice on Find a Tender · 9 Oct 2026, 14:39

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

DfI Transport and Road Asset Management (TRAM) directly awarded a contract for the supply and delivery of ground rock salt used to de-ice highways, carriageways and footways. The contract is recorded as signed and active from 6 October 2026 to 5 October 2029 with IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE.

Published outcome signals

Procurement statusCompleteEvidence: Tender status is "complete" in the published contract data.
Award statusActiveEvidence: Award 1 status is "active".
Contract statusActiveEvidence: Contract 1 status is "active".

97% approved-analysis confidence1 supplier record analysed5 source limitations

SOURCE AND FRESHNESS

Traceable procurement data

Source: Find a Tender
Notice reference: 095729-2026
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-077795
First published: 22 Sept 2026
Last checked: 9 Oct 2026, 16:18
Notice versions reviewed: 3

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: 10 Oct 2026

Read the analysis methodology →

AWARD OUTCOME

What happened

Published outcome

One active award, covering lot 1, was made to IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE.

Market significance

The published net contract value is £9.0 million (£10.8 million gross) over three years. The buyer cites technical reasons and absence of competition under Schedule 5, paragraph 6 as the direct-award justification.

AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS

1 supplier record analysed

IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE

99% confidence

Award 1 · Lots 1 · £9,000,000 net; £10,800,000 gross GBP · Active contract

View supporting evidence

Award 1 names the supplier and relates to lot 1. Contract 1, linked to award 1, records £9,000,000 amount and £10,800,000 amountGross.

LIFECYCLE

Award or contract stage

Procurement status

99% confidence

Complete

View supporting evidence

Tender status is "complete" in the published contract data.

Award status

99% confidence

Active

View supporting evidence

Award 1 status is "active".

Contract status

99% confidence

Active

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 status is "active".

Contract signed

99% confidence

6 October 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 gives dateSigned as 2026-10-06.

VALUES

Published values explained

Contract value (net)

99% confidence

£9,000,000

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 value.amount is 9000000 GBP.

Contract value (gross)

99% confidence

£10,800,000

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 value.amountGross is 10800000 GBP.

Value allocation

98% confidence

Single contract linked to award 1 and lot 1

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 references awardID 1; award 1 references related lot 1.

TIMELINE

Procurement timeline

Transparency notice published

98% confidence

22 September 2026

View supporting evidence

Release history records transparency notice 089666-2026 on 2026-09-22.

Contract award notice published

98% confidence

22 September 2026

View supporting evidence

Release history records contract award notice 089766-2026 on 2026-09-22.

Award date

98% confidence

22 September 2026

View supporting evidence

Award record 1 gives award_date as 2026-09-22.

Contract start

99% confidence

6 October 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 period.startDate is 2026-10-06.

Contract end

99% confidence

5 October 2029

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 period.endDate is 2029-10-05.

Contract details notice published

99% confidence

9 October 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract document 095729-2026 gives datePublished as 2026-10-09.

SCOPE

What was awarded

Requirement

99% confidence

Supply and delivery of ground rock salt for de-icing highways, carriageways and footways

View supporting evidence

Published tender title and description.

Procurement category

99% confidence

Goods

View supporting evidence

Award 1 mainProcurementCategory is "goods".

Classification

99% confidence

CPV 14410000 — Rock salt

View supporting evidence

Award item additional classification.

Delivery area

98% confidence

Northern Ireland (UKN)

View supporting evidence

Award item delivery address region is UKN.

Lot structure

98% confidence

One published lot (lot 1)

View supporting evidence

Tender data lists lot 1; award 1 and contract 1 are linked to it.

PROCEDURE

Procedure and competition

Procurement method

99% confidence

Direct award

View supporting evidence

Tender procurementMethod is "direct" and procurementMethodDetails is "Direct award".

Published direct-award justification

97% confidence

Absence of competition for technical reasons; the notice states that only a particular supplier could supply the requirement and that there were no reasonable alternatives.

View supporting evidence

Procurement rationale cites Schedule 5, paragraph 6 and the "singleSuppliersTechnicalReasons" classification.

Competition information

99% confidence

Bid count and evaluation information not supplied in the published notice.

View supporting evidence

No bid count, tender responses, scoring or evaluation results are included in the supplied data.

Legal framework

98% confidence

Procurement Act 2023; Northern Irish devolved regulations apply

View supporting evidence

Tender legal basis is UKPGA 2023/54; buyer classifications state GB-NIR regulations apply.

International coverage

95% confidence

Covered by GPA

View supporting evidence

Tender coveredBy includes "GPA".

CONTRACT TERMS

Published contract terms

Term

99% confidence

3 years

View supporting evidence

The published period runs from 6 October 2026 to 5 October 2029.

Order fulfilment metric

98% confidence

100% of monthly ordered tonnage supplied in full, assessed annually

View supporting evidence

Contract agreed metric "Order Fulfilment" states this target and annual observation frequency.

Specification compliance metric

98% confidence

100% compliance in independent samples taken at the start, middle and end of winter season, assessed annually

View supporting evidence

Contract agreed metric "Specification Compliance" states this target and annual observation frequency.

Issue-resolution metric

98% confidence

At least 90% of delivery, quality or specification issues resolved within 10 working days, assessed annually

View supporting evidence

Contract agreed metric "Issue Resolution" states this target and annual observation frequency.

Extensions or options

99% confidence

Information not supplied in the published notice.

View supporting evidence

No extension, option or renewal terms are present in the supplied contract data.

COMMERCIAL VIEW

Commercial observations

Supply assurance focus

96% confidence

The published performance measures focus on complete fulfilment of ordered tonnage, salt specification compliance and timely resolution of delivery or quality issues.

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 contains three agreed metrics covering these areas.

Market route

98% confidence

The buyer used a direct award rather than a competitive procedure, citing technical reasons and no reasonable alternatives in the published rationale.

View supporting evidence

Tender procurement method and rationale.

Contract scale

97% confidence

The £9.0 million net value is published for a three-year Northern Ireland rock-salt supply and delivery contract.

View supporting evidence

Contract value, term and delivery region in published data.

ANALYSIS QUALITY

97%overall confidence

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

Reference: ocds-h6vhtk-077795
Analysed: 10 Oct 2026

APPROVED AWARD ANALYSIS

BUYER CONTEXT

Buyer context

Buyer

99% confidence

DfI Transport and Road Asset Management (TRAM)

View supporting evidence

Published buyer party record.

Buyer type

99% confidence

Central government public authority

View supporting evidence

Buyer classification is "Public authority - central government".

Buyer location

99% confidence

Belfast, United Kingdom

View supporting evidence

Buyer address lists Belfast, BT7 2JA.

SUPPLIER CONTEXT

Supplier context

Supplier identity

99% confidence

IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE (company number NI006389)

View supporting evidence

Supplier verification records an exact-name match to verified company number NI006389 and identifies the company as active.

Supplier location

99% confidence

Carrickfergus, United Kingdom

View supporting evidence

Published supplier address lists Carrickfergus, BT38 9BT.

Supplier classification

97% confidence

SME

View supporting evidence

Supplier party details mark scale as "sme".

RENEWAL OUTLOOK

Renewal outlook

Estimated re-procurement timing

82% confidence

Around October 2029, subject to any unpublished extension, replacement arrangement or procurement decision

View supporting evidence

The explicit contract end date is 5 October 2029. No extension terms are published.

DATA QUALITY

Gaps and source limitations

Notice sequence

99% confidence

The supplied release history includes a transparency notice and contract award notice dated 22 September 2026, followed by a contract details notice published on 9 October 2026.

View supporting evidence

Release history and contract document publication date.

Lot detail

99% confidence

Lot 1 has no published title, description or separate value.

View supporting evidence

Supplied lot record has null title, description and value fields.

Conflict-of-interest information

99% confidence

Not published.

View supporting evidence

Tender documents list the conflict-of-interest document as "Not published".

Pricing detail

99% confidence

Information not supplied in the published notice beyond total net and gross contract values.

View supporting evidence

No unit rates, volume commitments, pricing schedule or cost breakdown is included in the supplied data.

SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS

Information not supplied in the published notice

Lot 1 title, description and individual lot value are not published.
Bid count, tender submissions, evaluation methodology, scores and comparative pricing are not supplied.
No extension, option or renewal terms are published; the October 2029 re-procurement timing is only an estimate based on the stated end date.
The published data does not provide unit prices, ordered volumes, pricing schedules or other price breakdowns.
Conflict-of-interest information is recorded as not published.

MARKET THEMES

Relevant award themes

COMMON QUESTIONS

About this award

Who won the DfI TRAM ground rock salt contract?

IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE won award 1 for lot 1.

What is the value of the contract?

The published contract value is £9,000,000 net and £10,800,000 gross.

When does the contract run?

The published contract period runs from 6 October 2026 to 5 October 2029.

Why was this a direct award?

The published rationale cites absence of competition for technical reasons and states there were no reasonable alternatives.

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.

DfI TRAM - Supply and Delivery of Ground Rock Salt

Opportunity overview

Awarded to

IRISH SALT MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED-THE

Classification

Lots

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Scope, procedure and submissions

Legal basis

Covered By

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

Delivery locations

Suppliers

Related lots

Contracts and changes

Period

Value

Agreed Metrics

Observations

Period

Observations

Period

Observations

Period

Documents

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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