AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Defence Equipment and Support has published a transparency notice for a proposed direct award to BERTHON BOAT COMPANY LIMITED for continued in-service support of the UK Patrol Craft fleet. The award is pending, not a confirmed signed or active contract.
Published outcomeOne pending award covers lot 1, with an estimated gross value of £41 million including VAT and a stated five-year period from 22 October 2027 to 21 October 2032.
Market significanceThis is a high-value defence and security support requirement. The buyer states that the supplier is the only UK provider approved by the US Department of Defense to receive the required ITAR-controlled technical information.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
BERTHON BOAT COMPANY LIMITED
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · £41,000,000 gross estimated award value, including VAT; £34,166,667 net GBP · Pending award
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Award 1 names Berthon Boat Company Limited as supplier and reports £41,000,000 amountGross and £34,166,667 amount. The supplied company-number verification identifies the legal name as BERTHON BOAT COMPANY LIMITED (company number 00011785).
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice type
99% confidenceTransparency notice on Find a Tender
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The published document is described as “Transparency notice on Find a Tender”.
Published
99% confidence13 October 2026
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Notice publication timestamp: 2026-10-13T09:56:40+01:00.
Award status
99% confidencePending
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Award 1 has status “pending”.
Signature milestone
99% confidenceScheduled for 22 October 2027
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Award milestone type is futureSignatureDate, due 2027-10-22T23:59:59+01:00, with status scheduled.
Contract status
99% confidenceNot evidenced as signed or active
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The source labels the award pending and supplies only a future signature milestone.
VALUES
Published values explained
Estimated total gross value
99% confidence£41,000,000 including VAT
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The direct-award rationale states an estimated total value of £41 million inclusive of VAT; award 1 amountGross is 41000000 GBP.
Net award value
99% confidence£34,166,667 excluding VAT
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Award 1 amount is 34166667 GBP, alongside amountGross of 41000000 GBP.
Value allocation
98% confidenceAward-level value; no separate lot value published
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Award 1 relates to lot 1, while the lot record has no value amount.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Notice publication
99% confidence13 October 2026
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Published_at is 2026-10-13T09:56:40+01:00.
Planned contract start
99% confidence22 October 2027
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Award 1 contractPeriod startDate is 2027-10-22T00:00:00+01:00.
Planned contract end
99% confidence21 October 2032
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Award 1 contractPeriod endDate is 2032-10-21T23:59:59+01:00.
Scheduled signature date
99% confidence22 October 2027
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The futureSignatureDate milestone is scheduled for 2027-10-22.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Requirement
99% confidenceIn-service support for the UK Patrol Craft fleet
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Process description: “Provision of In-Service Support for the UK Patrol Craft fleet”.
Procurement category
99% confidenceServices
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Award 1 mainProcurementCategory is services.
Lot coverage
99% confidenceLot 1
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Award 1 is related to lot 1.
Published CPV
99% confidence50244000 — Reconditioning services of ships or boats
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Award item additional classification lists CPV 50244000.
Regime
99% confidenceDefence and security
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Tender specialRegime is defenceSecurity.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
99% confidenceDirect award
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Tender procurementMethod is direct and procurementMethodDetails is “Direct award”.
Direct-award justification
98% confidenceTechnical reasons / single capable supplier
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The rationale classification is singleSuppliersTechnicalReasons. The buyer states that technical-data access is essential and that Berthon is the only UK provider approved by the US DoD to receive the relevant ITAR information.
Legal basis cited by buyer
99% confidenceSection 41 of the Procurement Act 2023; paragraph 6 of Schedule 5
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The published procurement-method rationale explicitly cites these provisions.
Competition information
99% confidenceNo competitive bid count or evaluation information supplied
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The published notice describes a direct award and provides no bid count, scores or comparative evaluation results.
Framework indication
94% confidenceClosed framework agreement indicated
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Tender techniques state hasFrameworkAgreement true and frameworkAgreement type closed.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Stated term
99% confidenceFive years
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The direct-award rationale states the contract will be for a term of five years; the published dates run from 22 October 2027 to 21 October 2032.
Planned period
99% confidence22 October 2027 to 21 October 2032
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Award 1 contractPeriod provides these start and end dates.
VAT treatment
99% confidenceGross estimated value includes VAT
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The rationale says the £41 million estimate is inclusive of VAT; award data separately provides gross and net amounts.
Extensions or options
99% confidenceUnknown
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No extension, option or renewal terms are supplied in the published notice data.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Access constraint
97% confidenceThe buyer identifies access to US DoD technical data and ITAR approval as essential to delivery.
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The published rationale says access to the Boats’ technical data is essential and identifies the supplier’s US DoD approval to receive ITAR information.
Market-access implication
95% confidenceThe stated rationale presents a high barrier to alternative UK suppliers for this requirement.
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The buyer says there is no reasonable alternative and that the named supplier is the only capable UK provider. This reflects the buyer’s rationale, not an independently verified market assessment.
Commercial maturity
99% confidenceThe notice signals an intended award rather than a concluded agreement.
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The award is pending and its signature date is scheduled in the future.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Award maturity
99% confidencePending proposed award; not evidenced as signed or active
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Award 1 is pending and has a scheduled futureSignatureDate.
Supplier identity quality
99% confidenceVerified legal supplier identity
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Company-number matching verified BERTHON BOAT COMPANY LIMITED, company number 00011785.
Value clarity
99% confidenceGross and net award values are supplied, but no separate lot value is published
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Award 1 reports both amountGross and amount; lot 1 has no value amount.
Information not supplied in the published notice
99% confidenceNo bid count, tender submissions, evaluation scores, pricing breakdown, award decision date, detailed lot description, or extension terms
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These fields are absent from the supplied notice data.
Conflict-of-interest publication
99% confidenceConflict-of-interest document not published
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The documents list includes conflictOfInterest with description “Not published”.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The record is a pending award with a future signature milestone; it does not evidence a signed, concluded or active contract.
- No award decision date is supplied.
- No competitive bid count, supplier evaluation, scores or pricing breakdown is published.
- Lot 1 has no published title, description or separately allocated value.
- No extension, option or renewal terms are supplied.
- The buyer’s assertions about sole capability, technical-data access and lack of reasonable alternatives are reported as the published direct-award rationale and are not independently verified.
- The conflict-of-interest document is marked not published.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
UK Patrol Craft In-Service SupportBERTHON BOAT COMPANY LIMITEDDefence Equipment and Supportdirect awarddefence procurementFind a Tenderboat support servicesITAR
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who is the proposed supplier for UK Patrol Craft in-service support?
The pending award names BERTHON BOAT COMPANY LIMITED, verified by company number 00011785.
What is the value of the proposed award?
The published estimated gross value is £41 million including VAT, with a reported net value of £34,166,667.
Has the contract been signed?
No signed contract is evidenced in the supplied data. The award is pending, with a signature milestone scheduled for 22 October 2027.
Why is this a direct award?
The buyer cites technical reasons, stating that access to US DoD technical data and ITAR approval are essential and that there is no reasonable alternative supplier.
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.