Transparency data

COVID-19 testing procurement

Published 21 December 2022

The government has published further information about the procurement of critical testing equipment and services during the early months of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Details of all government contracts, including for COVID-19 testing, are published in line with our transparency obligations. This further information, beyond those obligations, provides a clear overview of the testing procurement process during the pandemic.

COVID-19 testing

The pandemic was unprecedented and at the beginning in early 2020 there was very limited testing capacity and infrastructure for COVID-19 within the UK.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) moved swiftly to increase COVID-19 testing capacity across the UK. Working in partnership with businesses, universities and public sector bodies, it created the UK’s largest testing network from scratch, capable of providing millions of tests a day. This network played a crucial role in breaking the chains of transmission, protecting the NHS, and saving lives.

Procurement during a pandemic

The exceptional circumstances in the early months of the pandemic meant there was significant global demand for testing goods and services, so the government had to procure these quickly to ensure the UK had the resources it needed.

To do this, testing goods and services were procured under Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This allows public bodies to award contracts in exceptional circumstances such as an extreme emergency or because a product is only available from a particular supplier.

Most contracts awarded in the early months of the pandemic were awarded through this necessary route but as DHSC systems developed and market capacity grew, a new national framework and purchasing system was established to ensure competition when awarding contracts.

By 2022, the majority of testing contracts were awarded using the new framework and system, with very few contracts awarded using these emergency regulations. Where it is still applied, it is almost always because the product needed can only be provided by a particular supplier.

Working with industry

Partnerships with industry were essential to this effort. The government asked existing suppliers for support and a call was put out for wider industry to support the nation. Many suppliers provided services and goods to the wider COVID-19 response as well as to the testing network.

Making offers

Offers of assistance were received through a variety of channels. The main routes were a purpose built GOV.UK portal and 4 dedicated DHSC mailboxes. Some offers of help were also routed through ministers’ offices, parliamentarians or senior officials.

The 4 shared mailboxes used were for ‘COVID testing priority contacts’, ‘COVID19 innovation’, ‘COVID testing triage’ and ‘COVID19 offer triage’. These inboxes were used at different points between March 2020 and October 2021 to capture suppliers offering support for testing. Some suppliers emailed their offer directly to a mailbox (self-referring); offers from others were forwarded into a mailbox, or to relevant officials working on the response by ministers, parliamentarians and other parts of government.

Triaging offers

All offers of support were assessed and triaged by civil servants working on testing procurement. A large volume of emails and offers were received every day and officials looked for offers that would support the scaling up of the UK’s testing network as quickly as possible.

Where emails related to specific, urgent offers or to services or products that were high priority (for example in an area of shortage or an innovative technology) or were from a supplier with an established reputation in diagnostics, or wider health services, the email could be tagged as “VIP”, “Fast Track” or “Priority”. These tags helped the DHSC team to identify which offers and emails should be prioritised to ensure viable offers progressed quickly to meet the nation’s need for testing. The tags also helped officials to provide progress reports to ministers and senior colleagues. The tags did not relate to the status of the referrer and suppliers were not aware of the tagging system.

There was no separate VIP route or channel for testing suppliers and ministers were not involved in the evaluation or procurement process for contracts.

Evaluating offers

All offers were evaluated by commercial professionals against the same criteria, assessing value for money and their ability to meet the government’s rigorous standards and deliver the service required. The COVID-19 testing services provided by suppliers were often for complex or innovative scientific products or services so where necessary, an expert technical evaluation process was also carried out.

Identifying suppliers and referrers

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is publishing the first evidenced point of contact identified from the records it now holds on behalf of DHSC, but that information may not be complete.

The list below shows the range of initial routes used by suppliers that went on to be successfully awarded government contracts for testing services or goods.

The ‘identified by’ column (second column in the list) shows who initially identified the supplier and which part of, or person in government they flagged them to.

The ‘referrer’ column (third column in the list) shows which individual or team passed their information to the COVID-19 response and how they did this; either to a designated mailbox or to an official working on the response.

In line with standard government practice, UKHSA has named only senior officials at director level or above.

Where a supplier is marked as an existing DHSC supplier, this includes DHSC and other organisations the department oversees, including the NHS and Public Health England (PHE).

The roles listed were held by individuals at the time the supplier was identified and referred.

Table of suppliers and referrers

(horizontal scroll bar is at foot of table)

Supplier Identified by Referrer Goods/service provided
Abbot Rapid Diagnostics Ltd Third party contacted NHS England (NHSE) employee and Lord Bethell, Minister for Innovation, DHSC NHSE employee to [email protected] PCR tests, antibody tests, reagents, and laboratory equipment
Accora Ltd Supplier contacted Lord Lansley Lord Lansley to Lord Bethell, Minister for Innovation, DHSC PCR testing
Aptamer Group Ltd Supplier self-referred to mailbox [email protected] Forwarded from [email protected] to [email protected] LFD tests
Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services Existing DHSC partner Existing DHSC partner PCR testing
Bigneat Ltd Information not held centrally Information not held centrally Laboratory equipment
Bio-Rad Laboratories Ltd Gareth Rhys Williams, Government Chief Commercial Officer, Cabinet Office identified supplier Gareth Rhys Williams notified Emma Stanton, Director of Supplies and Innovation, NHS Test and Trace. Forwarded to [email protected] PCR consumables
CAS (Contained Air Solutions ltd) Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Laboratory equipment
Charnwood Campus Management Ltd Supplier contacted Environment Agency official Environment Agency official to NHS employee and DHSC officials Building lease
Dante Labs (Immensa) Supplier self-referred to online portal Supplier self-referred to online portal PCR testing and genomic sequencing
Detact Diagnostics Ltd Supplier contacted BEIS official No10 official to Emma Stanton, Director of Supplies and Innovation, NHS Test and Trace New testing technology
Diasorin Ltd Supplier self-referred to mailbox [email protected] [email protected] Antibody tests
DnaNudge Ltd Imperial College London contacted Shirley Trundle, Programme Director, National Diagnostic Effort COVID-19 Shirley Trundle, Programme Director, National Diagnostic Effort COVID-19 to [email protected] PCR tests
Ecolog International (UK) Ltd Genix Healthcare (third party) contacted Office of Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care DHSC official to [email protected] PCR testing
Eurofins Biomnis UK Ltd Supplier contacted PHE official PHE <official to [email protected]> PCR testing
Hologic Ltd Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Reagents, assays and testing consumables
Hotel Logistics Ltd Supplier contacted Ministry of Defence (MoD) official MoD official to [email protected] Lateral flow tests
Health Services Laboratories LLP Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier PCR testing
Humasis Co Ltd Department of International Trade (DIT) official identified list of South Korean test manufacturers List provided by DIT official to Emma Stanton, Director of Supplies and Innovation, NHS Test and Trace Lateral flow tests
Innova Medical Group Inc Tried & Tested (third party) contacted Dominic Cummings, Special Adviser, No 10 William Warr, Special Adviser at No 10 to Emma Stanton, Director of Supplies and Innovation, NHS Test and Trace Lateral flow tests
IQVIA Technology Services Ltd Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry contacted NHSE employee and officials at DHSC and the Office of Life Sciences Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry contacted NHSE employee and officials at DHSC and the Office of Life Sciences Evaluation and clinical trial support
LGC Ltd Supplier contacted Prof John Newton, Director of Health Improvement, PHE Prof John Newton, Director of Health Improvement, PHE, to [email protected] Laboratory equipment and reagents
LumiraDx UK Ltd Lord (David) Prior, Chair of NHS England (third party) contacted the Ministerial Office of Lord Bethell, Minister for Innovation, DHSC Ministerial Office of Lord Bethell to Shirley Trundle, Programme Director, National Diagnostic Effort COVID-19 Lateral flow tests
Omega Diagnostics Ltd Supplier self-referred to mailbox [email protected] [email protected] Lateral flow tests
Optigene Ltd Cabinet Office official contacted the Ministerial Office of Lord Bethell, Minister for Innovation, DHSC, and NHS employee Cabinet Office official contacted the Ministerial Office of Lord Bethell and NHS employee LAMP machines and tests
Origin Ltd Supplier contacted DHSC official Office of Life Sciences official to [email protected] PCR tests
Pal International Ltd Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Laboratory consumables
Primer Design Ltd Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Reagents
Pro-Lab Diagnostics Ltd Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Laboratory equipment and PCR tests
Qnostics Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Reagents tests
Roche Diagnostics Ltd Supplier contacted the Ministerial Office of Lord Bethell, Minister for Innovation, DHSC Existing DHSC supplier Ministerial Office of Lord Bethell to Prof John Newton, Director of Health Improvement, PHE, officials from PHE and Office of Life Sciences, and [email protected] Laboratory equipment and consumables, and antibody tests
Sterilab Services Supplier contacted official at PHE PHE official to [email protected] Laboratory equipment and consumables
SureScreen Diagnostics Ltd Liam Fox MP contacted Office of Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Office of Matt Hancock to DHSC officials Lateral flow tests
Tecan Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Laboratory equipment
The Native Antigen Company Third party contacted Sir Mark Sedwill, the then Cabinet Secretary, who forwarded directly to his office requesting that they pass on to the appropriate officials Office of Sir Patrick Vallance, UK Government Chief Scientific Advisor [email protected] Reagents
Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings Ltd Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Laboratory equipment
Thriva Supplier self-referred to mailbox [email protected] [email protected] Antibody tests
UNA Health Existing DHSC supplier Existing DHSC supplier Antibody tests and lateral flow tests
11 Universities: University College London, University of Birmingham, University of Liverpool, University of Oxford, University of Southampton, University of Warwick, University of York, University of Manchester, King’s College London, Newcastle University, Queen Mary University of London Existing DHSC partnerships Existing DHSC partnerships  
Waters Ltd Ministerial Office of Lord Bethell, Minister for Innovation, DHSC contacted supplier NHS Test and Trace official to [email protected] Laboratory equipment
Wolf Laboratories Ltd Supplier self-referred to online portal Supplier self-referred to online portal Laboratory equipment