Published date: 16 April 2019

Awarded contract - This means that the contract has been awarded to a supplier.


Closing: 8 March 2019

Contract summary

Industry

  • Financial consultancy services - 66171000

  • Business and management consultancy and related services - 79400000

Location of contract

North East

Value of contract

£25,000

Procurement reference

NCL001-DN395267-18835263

Published date

16 April 2019

Closing date

8 March 2019

Contract start date

16 April 2019

Contract end date

30 September 2019

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

No

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No


Description

Rail Infrastructure Investigation Limited (RIIL) is a proposed spinout from Durham's Department of Earth Sciences,The University of Sheffield's Department of Physics and St Mary's University, Twickenham, Department of Physics. It intends to conduct surveys of Victorian rail infrastructure and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is required to take full responsibility for all commercial aspects from "pre-spin-out" to fully-fledged company with revenues in the region £10m -£30m.

RIIL will utilise novel IP and know-how from three universities; (Durham, Sheffield and Saint Mary's London), and a well-established Rail contractor. It will help Network Rail Ltd to more efficiently maintain their portfolio of 332 Victorian railway tunnels and 171 Victorian brick built viaducts. Current inspection methods require physically drilling into the structure to discover unseen "voids". RIIL will offer a non-destructive alternative to this inspection method. The equipment and methods are new to the rail environment.
The first market for RIIL services is intended to be the UK Rail network. Additional markets such as mining, mine remediation and utilities (sewage and water) also exist. Additionally, if resolution can be improved, complicated structures, such as older buildings, could be surveyed for damage or faults. This potential market is currently not completely understood and addressing this will be a key task of the CEO.

Sheffield, Durham and St Mary's University are currently collaborating in a joint research to develop a next generation, high TRL level instrument in Sheffield. This work will continue in parallel to the Northern Accelerator work and the CEO will be expected to collaborate with it in order to maximise the benefits to the future spinout company.


Award information

Awarded date

16 April 2019

Contract start date

17 April 2019

Contract end date

30 September 2019

Total value of contract

£19,800

This contract was awarded to 1 supplier.

Dr Chris Steer

Address

54 Southern Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 3EA

Reference

None

Supplier is SME?

Yes

Supplier is VCSE?

No


About the buyer

Contact name

Natalie Morton

Address

Newcastle University
Procurement Services, Kingsgate
Newcastle
NE1 7RU
United Kingdom

Telephone

+44 1912086396

Email

natalie.morton@ncl.ac.uk

Website

http://www.ncl.ac.uk