296,000

The Royal Navy, part of the Ministry of Defence, intends to award a 10 year contract with a value of £296,000 to GasTops Ltd for the purchase and support of 2 Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometers (Spectrometer), which are used to analyse component damage on aircraft.

In accordance with the provisions of The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 SI No. 2020/1319, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) as amended (in particular by SI 2020/1319). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the PCR 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons.

This is because this Spectrometer is considered to be the only equipment available in the market with the bespoke capability to automatically and autonomously identify the materials composition of debris particles generated within aircraft oil wetted systems, using the required analytical method of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy.