AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Belfast Health & Social Care Trust has published a transparency notice for a proposed direct award to Tissue Typing Systems UK Limited for support, maintenance and development relating to the proprietary Manzen Tissue Typing System.
Published outcomeAward 1 is pending. A future signature date is scheduled for 30 October 2026; the supplied data does not confirm that a contract has been signed.
Market significanceThis is an above-threshold, single-supplier direct award valued at £288,730.50 excluding VAT (£346,476.60 including VAT), with the buyer citing proprietary-system access, technical expertise and exclusive rights.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
TISSUE TYPING SYSTEMS UK LIMITED
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · 288730.50 GBP · Pending award
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Award 1 names TISSUE TYPING SYSTEMS UK LIMITED as supplier and gives an amount of GBP 288,730.50.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice status
94% confidencePublished transparency notice; process marked complete
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Process notice type is "Transparency notice on Find a Tender"; tender status is "complete".
Award status
99% confidencePending
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Award 1 status is "pending".
Signature status
99% confidenceNot confirmed; future signature is scheduled for 30 October 2026
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Award milestone type "futureSignatureDate" has dueDate 2026-10-30T23:59:59Z and status "scheduled".
VALUES
Published values explained
Award value excluding VAT
99% confidence£288,730.50
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Award 1 value.amount is 288730.5 GBP; value.amountGross is separately stated.
Award value including VAT
99% confidence£346,476.60
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Award 1 value.amountGross is 346476.6 GBP.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Transparency notice published
99% confidence7 October 2026
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Award notice document datePublished is 2026-10-07T15:19:05+01:00.
Scheduled signature date
99% confidence30 October 2026
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Scheduled futureSignatureDate milestone due 2026-10-30T23:59:59Z.
Planned contract start
99% confidence1 November 2026
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Award contractPeriod startDate is 2026-11-01T00:00:00Z.
Planned contract end
99% confidence31 October 2033
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Award contractPeriod endDate is 2033-10-31T23:59:59Z.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Requirement
97% confidenceCustomer support and development for the Manzen LIMS System
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Process and award title: "Manzen LIMS System Customer Support & Development".
Service category
99% confidenceIT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support (CPV 72000000)
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Award item additional classification CPV 72000000.
Delivery region
98% confidenceNorthern Ireland (UKN)
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Award item delivery address region is UKN.
Lot structure
96% confidenceOne published lot (Lot 1); no lot title or separate lot value published
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Tender contains one lot, ID 1; award relates to Lot 1.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procurement method
99% confidenceDirect award
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Tender procurementMethod is "direct" and procurementMethodDetails is "Direct award".
Direct-award rationale
96% confidenceThe buyer states that the Manzen system is proprietary and that Tissue Typing Systems UK Limited is the sole supplier with the necessary expertise, authorised access rights and specialist knowledge for maintenance, support, updates and issue resolution.
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Published procurementMethodRationale.
Legal rationale stated by buyer
97% confidenceAbsence of competition for technical reasons and protection of exclusive rights, cited under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023.
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Published rationale and rationale classifications identify technical reasons and single-supplier intellectual-property/exclusive-rights grounds.
Competition information
95% confidenceNo competed tender or bid count is published; the buyer states competition is absent for the cited reasons.
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Direct-award rationale states competition is absent; no bid data is supplied.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Planned term
99% confidence1 November 2026 to 31 October 2033
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Award contractPeriod provides these start and end dates.
Planned duration
98% confidence7 years
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Calculated from the explicit planned contract dates.
Extension or renewal terms
99% confidenceUnknown
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No extension or renewal terms are supplied in the notice data.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Supplier-access dependency
92% confidenceThe buyer's stated rationale indicates a dependency on supplier-specific proprietary access and specialist system knowledge for continuity of support.
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The published rationale cites proprietary software, authorised access rights and specialist knowledge.
Value interpretation
97% confidenceThe published amount is award-level and applies to the single listed supplier and Lot 1; it is not evidence of a signed-contract value.
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Award 1 is pending, names one supplier, relates to Lot 1, and reports GBP 288,730.50.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Lifecycle clarity
96% confidenceThe process is marked complete while the sole award is pending and signature is only scheduled; this supports publication of a proposed award, not a concluded contract.
View supporting evidence
Tender status is complete; award status is pending; signature milestone is scheduled.
Information not supplied in the published notice
99% confidenceNo bid count, evaluation scoring, tender submissions, pricing breakdown, lot title, lot-specific value, extension terms or renewal terms are provided.
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These fields are absent from the supplied notice data.
Conflict-of-interest information
99% confidenceNot published
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Document record "conflictOfInterest" has description "Not published".
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The supplied data does not confirm that the contract has been signed or started.
- No bid count, evaluation information or pricing breakdown is published.
- Lot 1 has no published title, description or separate value.
- No extension or renewal terms are published.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Manzen LIMSBelfast Health and Social Care TrustTissue Typing Systems UK Limiteddirect awardlaboratory IT supportFind a Tender
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who is the proposed supplier?
Tissue Typing Systems UK Limited is named as the supplier for the pending award.
Has the contract been signed?
The supplied notice data does not confirm signature. It shows a future signature date scheduled for 30 October 2026.
Why was a direct award used?
The buyer cites proprietary software, exclusive rights and technical reasons, stating that the named supplier is the only provider with the required access and expertise.
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.