AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has published a transparency notice stating its intention to directly award PlanetEQ Limited a managed on-site healthcare waste processing solution. The award remains pending, with a future signature date scheduled for 2 November 2026; it is not evidence of a signed or active contract.
Published outcomePending direct award to PlanetEQ Limited for a planned 10-year managed waste-processing service, valued at £5.3m excluding VAT (£6.36m including VAT).
Market significanceThe proposed service would bring processing of most applicable infectious, offensive and domestic-type healthcare waste on site, reducing reliance on external treatment and transport. The buyer says its site-specific assessment found no alternative supplier able to meet the combined technical, environmental, estate and managed-service requirements.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
PLANETEQ LIMITED
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · £5,300,000 excluding VAT; £6,360,000 including VAT GBP · Pending intended award
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Award 1 names PLANETEQ LIMITED as supplier and records amount £5,300,000 and amountGross £6,360,000; supplier identity is verified against Companies House number 13560318.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice type
99% confidenceTransparency notice on Find a Tender
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The published document is described as a "Transparency notice on Find a Tender".
Award status
99% confidencePending
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Award 1 is recorded with status "pending".
Contract conclusion
99% confidenceNot evidenced as signed or concluded
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The award is pending and includes a scheduled future signature date rather than a signed-contract record.
Future signature date
99% confidence2 November 2026 (scheduled)
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Award milestone type "futureSignatureDate" is scheduled for 2026-11-02.
Planned contract period
99% confidence1 April 2027 to 31 March 2037
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Award contractPeriod specifies startDate 2027-04-01 and endDate 2037-03-31.
VALUES
Published values explained
Award value excluding VAT
99% confidence£5,300,000
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Award 1 value.amount is 5300000 GBP.
Award value including VAT
99% confidence£6,360,000
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Award 1 value.amountGross is 6360000 GBP.
Value allocation
95% confidenceSingle pending award; no separate lot value published
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The notice contains one award related to lot 1, while the lot has no published value.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Notice published
99% confidence12 October 2026
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The award-notice document datePublished is 2026-10-12.
Scheduled signature
99% confidence2 November 2026
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The futureSignatureDate milestone is scheduled for 2026-11-02.
Planned service start
99% confidence1 April 2027
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Award contractPeriod startDate is 2027-04-01.
Planned service end
99% confidence31 March 2037
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Award contractPeriod endDate is 2037-03-31.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Service
99% confidenceManaged on-site healthcare waste processing solution
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The notice describes provision, installation, commissioning, operation, maintenance and support of an on-site waste treatment facility.
Included waste streams
99% confidenceOrange Bag infectious waste, Tiger Bag offensive waste and Black Bag domestic-type waste
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These streams are expressly identified in the requirement description.
Excluded specialist streams
99% confidenceAnatomical, cytotoxic/cytostatic and certain pharmaceutical wastes remain subject to separate compliant disposal arrangements
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The description expressly excludes these specialist streams from the proposed solution.
Operational model
98% confidenceFully managed turnkey service including equipment, maintenance, servicing, regulatory support, environmental reporting and business continuity
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The notice lists these managed-service requirements.
Classification
99% confidenceCPV 90500000 — Refuse and waste related services
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Award item 1 lists CPV 90500000.
Lot
99% confidenceLot 1; title and description not published
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Award 1 is related to lot 1, whose title and description are null in the supplied data.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
99% confidenceDirect award
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The tender procurementMethod and procurementMethodDetails are recorded as direct / Direct award.
Legal basis
99% confidenceProcurement Act 2023
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The tender legal basis is UKPGA 2023/54.
Direct-award rationale
98% confidenceSingle-supplier technical reasons following market engagement, site-specific feasibility work and business-case development
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The rationale classification is "singleSuppliersTechnicalReasons" and the notice describes work undertaken between 2022 and 2026.
Buyer rationale
97% confidenceThe buyer says no alternative supplier had been identified that could deliver the required combined technical, environmental, operational, estate and managed-service outcomes within the existing site footprint.
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This is stated in the procurementMethodRationale.
Competition data
99% confidenceBid count, bidder identities and evaluation scores are unknown
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Information not supplied in the published notice.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Planned duration
99% confidence10 years
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The stated planned period runs from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2037.
VAT treatment
99% confidence£5.3m excluding VAT and £6.36m including VAT
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The award records both amount and amountGross.
Extensions or renewal options
99% confidenceUnknown
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Information not supplied in the published notice.
Contract execution
99% confidenceNot evidenced
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The record is pending and signature is scheduled for a future date.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Value structure
99% confidenceThe published value is for the single pending award and should not be treated as a concluded contract value.
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One award is listed with pending status and both net and gross values.
Buyer priorities
96% confidenceThe stated priorities include estate fit, reduced external treatment and transport reliance, operational resilience, environmental performance and NHS Net Zero alignment.
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These priorities are set out in the requirement and direct-award rationale.
Technology constraints
96% confidenceThe buyer sought a solution avoiding toxic ash, local dioxin/furan stack emissions, industrial effluent discharge, high-volume water connections and dedicated high-pressure steam utilities.
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These requirements are stated in the direct-award rationale.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Pending status versus awarded display
99% confidenceThe process is displayed as awarded, but the underlying award status is pending. This analysis treats the notice as an intended award, not a signed or active contract.
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Process display_status is "awarded" while award 1 status is "pending" and a future signature milestone is scheduled.
Published contract dates
99% confidenceStart and end dates are planned award-period dates, not evidence that service has commenced.
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The notice records a pending award and a future signature date.
Lot detail
99% confidenceLot 1 has no published title, description or individual value.
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Supplied lot fields are null for title, description and value.
Competition detail
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice on bids, scores, pricing breakdown, evaluation or supplier comparisons.
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No such fields are provided.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The award is pending; the notice does not evidence a signed, concluded or active contract.
- No tender submission deadline, bid count, bidder list, evaluation scores, pricing breakdown or award decision date is published.
- Lot 1 has no published title, description or separate value.
- No published extension, renewal-option or replacement-procurement terms are available.
- Delivery-address regions in the award span multiple English regions, while the requirement narrative is site-specific to the Countess of Chester Hospital estate; the notice does not explain this apparent breadth.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
PlanetEQ LimitedCountess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trusthealthcare waste processingdirect awardon-site waste treatmentProcurement Act 2023
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who is the intended supplier?
PlanetEQ Limited, verified against Companies House number 13560318.
Has the contract been signed?
No signed or concluded contract is evidenced. The award is pending, with signature scheduled for 2 November 2026.
What is the published value?
£5.3m excluding VAT and £6.36m including VAT for the single pending award.
What will the service cover?
A managed on-site facility for applicable infectious, offensive and domestic-type healthcare waste, including equipment, operation, maintenance and support.
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.