Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
803428
THE HERBARIUM
KEW GREEN
TW93AE
UK
E-mail: procurement@kew.org
NUTS: UKI75
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://www.kew.org
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5) Main activity
Environment
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
RBGKEW1500 - Seed viability X-ray cabinet
Reference number: RBGKEW1500
II.1.2) Main CPV code
33111000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
The Millennium Seed Bank laboratories (RBG Kew) are seeking to update their X-Ray Machine to continue supporting the assessment of quality seed collections during the cleaning and processing stage to assess the final number of "good" seeds prior to banking, which allows to keep the collections to be kept at top quality.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
150 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKC
UKD
UKE
UKF
UKG
UKH
UKI
UKJ
UKK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Millennium Seed Bank laboratories (RBG Kew) are seeking to update their X-Ray Machine to continue supporting the assessment of quality seed collections during the cleaning and processing stage to assess the final number of "good" seeds prior to banking, which allows to keep the collections to be kept at top quality.
Market route via Single Tender Action is justified because early market engagement demonstrated that competition is absent for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative or substitute available that can meet RBG Kew's combined scientific and IT compliance requirements.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition
Justification for selected award procedure:
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the Directive
Explanation
The STA is justified because early market engagement demonstrated that competition is absent for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative or substitute available that can meet RBG Kew's combined scientific and IT compliance requirements.
The supplier is offering a highly competitive price for a state-of-the-art unit, along with maintenance support that will ensure core operations can continue and enable new research activities, such as efficient measurement of X-ray seed density. The equipment's specifications, specialised agricultural/seed-focused design, and accompanying software are not available from other suppliers.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
09/12/2025
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Southern Scientific Limited
01800317
Scientific House, Henfield Business Pk, Shoreham Rd,Henfield
West Sussex,
BN5 9SL
UK
NUTS: UK
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 150 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Head of Procurement & Contract Management, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Herbarium, Kew Green
London
TW9 3AE
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
28/01/2026