Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2021-03-17
Buyer: The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through the Cabinet Office
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 33100000
Estimated value: 3797324.6 GBP
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: The Cabinet Office will entrust a supplier to procure fully automated plant machinery which can be utilised for the production of UK-compliant non-medical face coverings (and Type IIR medical-grade masks in extremis), which are required urgently to support the national effort to combat Covid-19.
1) The Covid-19 outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director-General characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As of 6 April 2020, scientific knowledge regarding the disease and its transmission was still emerging, however the WHO advised that Covid-19 transmission can occur via ‘infective respiratory droplets’ and wearing a mask represented one prevention measure that can limit the spread of Covid-19.
2) In April 2020 the UK did not possess any face covering manufacturing capability and was reliant on securing supplies from overseas producers. Problems were experienced in obtaining reliable supplies of medical PPE-grade masks in a global market due to increased global demand and the disruption to the supply chain caused by the pandemic. There was concern that insufficient volumes of non-medical masks would become available or, if available, they would be of inferior quality or charged at exorbitant prices. Analysis by Cabinet Office (CO) at the time highlighted that the average price of respirator masks was GBP 3.14 (medical-grade) and Type IIR (medical-grade) was GBP 0.67, whilst non-medical was GBP 0.51 per unit. During a normal trading period the cost of a Type IIR mask would be approximately GBP 0.05 per unit, sourced from China.
3) In May 2020 Cabinet Office (CO) considered it crucial in the public interest to source the supply of face covering production machinery as part of a wider Face Coverings Programme in order to secure the UK’s domestic manufacturing capacity to:
(b) create an immediate and reliable supply of high-quality non-medical face coverings at affordable prices for the domestic market; and
This was because in April 2020 there was a considerable shortage of medical and non-medical PPE globally, there was real fear that items available would be impounded at borders so domestic production was urgently required to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.
4) In May 2020 CO purchased 10 non-automated production machinery lines (see CAN 141-348171). However, these lines were not considered sufficient to deal with anticipated demand and supply chain disruptions. CO worked with external consultants (WS Atkins) to identify a further supplier that could make non-medical or medical-grade masks. In the light of WS Atkins input, CO purchased ten lines of fully automated production machines from Expert Tooling and Automation Ltd (‘Expert machines’).
5) An accelerated PCR procurement was impossible if the supplies of face coverings were to be available in sufficient quantities in time. Any delay caused by having to run an open competition or restricted procedure ran the risk of failing to secure production machinery. That would have caused knock-on delays to other aspects of the wider Face Coverings Programme, such as the appointment of manufacturers and their ability to produce sufficient face coverings in the required timeframe.
6) CO is satisfied the tests permitting use of the urgent direct award procedure (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met: see section VI.3.
(a) there are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: CO has responded to Covid-19 immediately due to public health risks presenting a genuine emergency. The DCR Machines possess the capability to produce type IIR face masks, which could be utilised by the NHS in extremis, therefore providing domestic resilience during the crisis.
(b) the events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: The European Commission (Commissioner Breton – April 2020) has confirmed that the coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency.
(c) it is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: there was no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive procedures with negotiation that would allow CO to secure production machinery in the immediate term. That is particularly so in light of the likely delays to any procurement timeline – for example, drafting the technical documents required for the ITT stage – and the operational and commercial risks that would arise due to the delays.
(d) the situation is not attributable to the contracting authority: it has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.
(e) as far as is strictly necessary: the UK only had limited suitable machinery available at the time the Expert Machines were purchased leaving the UK vulnerable should other countries have embargoed such machinery or medical and non-medical grade face coverings.


Winner: Expert Tooling and Automation Ltd
Award value: 3797324.6
Number of bids: 1