AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
The Met Office has signed a research-services contract with The University of Edinburgh for NG-LFRic modelling-code performance optimisation and XIOS input/output API infrastructure development.
Published outcomeAward 1 covers lot 1 and is active. The contract was signed on 6 October 2026, starts on 16 October 2026 and has a stated end date of 31 March 2028.
Market significanceThis is a £1,268,467 net research-services award supporting computational performance and scalability work for the Met Office’s next-generation weather-modelling capability.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
The University of Edinburgh
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · 1268467 GBP · active
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Award 1 names The University of Edinburgh as its supplier, relates it to lot 1, and contract 1 links to award 1.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Award status
98% confidenceActive
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Award 1 is recorded with status “active”.
Contract status
98% confidenceActive
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Contract 1 is recorded with status “active”.
Contract signed
99% confidence6 October 2026
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Contract 1 gives dateSigned as 2026-10-06 and includes a document typed “contractSigned”.
Contract start
99% confidence16 October 2026
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Contract 1 period startDate is 2026-10-16.
Published contract details notice
99% confidence20 October 2026
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Document 098921-2026 is a Contract details notice with datePublished 2026-10-20.
VALUES
Published values explained
Contract value, excluding VAT
99% confidence£1,268,467
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Contract 1 value.amount is 1268467 GBP.
Contract value, including VAT
99% confidence£1,522,160.40
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Contract 1 value.amountGross is 1522160.4 GBP.
Value allocation
97% confidenceThe published contract value applies to contract 1 / award 1, which has one named supplier and relates to lot 1.
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Contract 1 links to award 1; award 1 names one supplier and related lot 1.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Award decision date
98% confidence7 September 2026
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The supplied award record gives award_date as 2026-09-07.
Contract signed date
99% confidence6 October 2026
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Contract 1 gives dateSigned as 2026-10-06.
Contract period
99% confidence16 October 2026 to 31 March 2028
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Contract 1 period gives startDate 2026-10-16 and endDate 2028-03-31.
Maximum extent date
98% confidence31 March 2029
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Contract 1 period.maxExtentDate is 2029-03-31.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Procurement category
99% confidenceServices — research services
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Award 1 mainProcurementCategory is services; its item is classified CPV 73110000, Research services.
Requirement
99% confidenceLFRic modelling-code computational performance optimisation and XIOS input/output API infrastructure functionality development.
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The notice title and description state the requirement.
Technical focus
97% confidenceOptimisation of time-step and initialisation costs using tools including CrayPAT and Vernier on HPE AMD systems, with focus on configurations including the global 10 km C896 model.
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The published description states these technical areas and tools.
Delivery regions
96% confidenceUKC, UKD, UKE, UKF, UKG, UKH, UKI, UKJ and UKK
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Award 1 item lists these delivery-address regions.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procurement method
99% confidenceSelective
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Tender procurementMethod is selective.
Award route
99% confidenceAward under framework
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Tender procurementMethodDetails is “Award under framework”.
Framework reference
97% confidenceocds-h6vhtk-050b9a, related lot 4
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The relatedProcesses entry identifies the framework process and related lot.
Competitive field
93% confidenceCompetitive procurement is indicated; the number of bids is unknown.
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Tender competitive is true; no bid count is supplied.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Base term
99% confidence16 October 2026 to 31 March 2028
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Contract 1 period startDate and endDate.
Renewal provision
98% confidenceYes — described as optional.
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Contract 1 hasRenewal is true and renewal.description is “Optional”.
Extension provision
98% confidenceYes — described as extension.
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Contract 1 hasOptions is true and options.description is “Extension”.
Maximum possible end date
98% confidence31 March 2029
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Contract 1 period.maxExtentDate is 2029-03-31.
Agreed performance metrics
98% confidenceNo agreed metrics reported; rationale given is research services awarded through a framework.
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Contract 1 noAgreedMetricsRationale states this rationale.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Market route
98% confidenceThe work was placed through a framework rather than an open standalone procedure.
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The notice records “Award under framework” and identifies a related framework process.
Commercial focus
96% confidenceThe award funds specialist research and engineering work on computational efficiency, scalability and I/O infrastructure for weather modelling.
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The title and description specify the optimisation and XIOS infrastructure activities.
Term flexibility
94% confidenceThe published base period is about 17.5 months, with optional renewal and extension provisions up to the stated maximum extent date.
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Contract dates run from 2026-10-16 to 2028-03-31, with maxExtentDate 2029-03-31 and optional provisions.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Supplier identity
98% confidenceThe supplier is an identified Scottish registered body using GB-SC-SC005336. Companies House matching is not applicable to this supplier record.
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Supplier verification status is not_applicable; the supplier identifier is GB-SC-SC005336.
Lot detail
99% confidenceLot 1 has no published title, description or separate lot value in the supplied data.
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Lot 1 title, description and value fields are null.
Competition detail
95% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice: number of bids, bidder identities, evaluation scores and award rationale.
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No such fields are present in the supplied data.
Option detail
96% confidenceThe notice confirms optional renewal and extension provisions but does not publish exercise conditions or pricing for them.
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Renewal and options descriptions are limited to “Optional” and “Extension”.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- Information not supplied in the published notice: bid count, tenderer identities, evaluation methodology, scores, pricing breakdown and detailed award rationale.
- Lot 1 has no published title, description or individual value.
- The optional renewal and extension provisions have no published exercise conditions, duration breakdown or values.
- The maximum extent date indicates a possible contractual horizon only; it does not confirm that renewal or extension will be exercised.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Met OfficeUniversity of EdinburghNG-LFRicLFRicweather modellingcomputational performance optimisationXIOSresearch servicesframework award
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who won the Met Office NG-LFRic contract?
The University of Edinburgh won award 1, which relates to lot 1.
What is the contract value?
The contract value is £1,268,467 excluding VAT (£1,522,160.40 including VAT).
When does the contract run?
The stated base period runs from 16 October 2026 to 31 March 2028, with a maximum extent date of 31 March 2029.
Was the contract signed?
Yes. The contract record gives a signing date of 6 October 2026 and includes a redacted contract document typed as contractSigned.
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.