United Utilities Laboratory Services has gone out to tender with an AMP8 framework contract for lab sample couriers services with an estimated value of £11.52 million (inc VAT).
The water company requires a courier service for the transportation of samples from sites across the company to its central Laboratory at Lingley Mere (Warrington) on a daily basis.
It is an Ofwat requirement that the company constantly undertakes analysis of water/waste water samples from various sample points throughout the North-West Region.
Water Quality Officers, Network Owners, Wastewater Operatives, Trade Effluent Officers, Agricultural Advisors and Project Staff obtain the samples requiring analysis. Samples, which are left at drop off points for collection by the dedicated courier in a refrigerated van, need to be transported under refrigerated conditions to ensure that they are maintained at a temperature of between 2 and 7 degrees centigrade.
It is also a requirement to maintain evidence that this has been achieved to enable United Utilities to adhere to regulatory requirements with respect to the transportation of accredited samples under the Environment Agency's Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTs), Drinking Water Test Specifications (DWTS) and ISO 17025.
On collection, the courier takes the samples to a Sample Registration Centre (SRC) or directly to Lingley Mere Laboratories Sample Reception. An additional dedicated courier service is then required to operate between the SRCs and the Laboratories at Lingley Mere, where required.
Consignment Notes or Delivery Notes ( which are currently in paper form) detailing the sample load carried and all other required information to the Laboratory at Lingley Mere are part of the hand-over procedure at the SRCs and the Laboratory.
United Utilities would like to move this to an electronic format, where reports should consist of the following minimum requirement:
- sample bottle barcode number
- crate barcode number
- vehicle registration
- collection date and time
- collection location
- time samples dropped off
- location of sample drop off
Route optimisation will also be a requirement of the tender, with bidders expected to demonstrate how routes will be optimised to ensure efficiency, reliability, and timely delivery of samples while maintaining required temperature controls.
Current estimated start and end ontract dates are 6 July 2026 to 6 July 2034 with an estimated award decision date of 30 June 2026.
Deadline for submission of enquiries about the tender is 12:00am on 20 February 2026 with a tender submission deadline of 11:59pm on 12 June 2026.
Click here to access the submission address and any special instructions
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