Supply of raw materials for the production of non-medical face coverings

Contract summary

Industry

• Leather and textile fabrics, plastic and rubber materials - 19000000

Location of contract

United Kingdom

Value of contract

£26,584.94 to £1,350,000

Procurement reference

Supply of raw materials for the production of non-medical face coverings

Published date

11 March 2021

Closing date

1 June 2020

Closing time

3pm

Contract start date

2 June 2020

Contract end date

31 July 2021

Contract type

Supply contract

Procedure type

Other: Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below (please complete Annex D1)

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

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Description

The Cabinet Office will purchase raw materials for use in the production of UK-compliant non-medical face coverings (Type IIR medical-grade masks in extremis), which are required to support the national effort to combat Covid-19.

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More information

Links

• https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001208-2021
• Award notice
• Find a Tender

Additional text

The text below is a continuation of paragraph 6 of Annex D1
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 raw materials were critical for the production of
face coverings, it would not be possible to commence production without the raw materials.
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 all of the raw materials 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 for the other inter-related aspects of the
Face Coverings Programme that would arise as a result of any hold-up with sourcing the raw materials.
Each individual component would require a separate tender process and delays to one element could
delay production entirely.
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 CO needed to act promptly as there is a substantial lead in time for
the sourcing and delivery all of the raw materials, with some materials procured from China. A delay in
sourcing and delivery of any of the raw materials has the risk of delaying production entirely. There was
also price volatility to contend with due to international demand for face mask/covering associated raw
materials, therefore CO needed to secure orders as soon as possible.

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Award information

Awarded date

1 June 2020

Contract start date

2 June 2020

Contract end date

24 July 2020

Total value of contract

£2,982,629.55

This contract was awarded to 5 suppliers.

Tame Valley Padding Co. Limited t/a Holden Laminates

NPS Worldwide - UK Limited

Textile Enterprises Ltd

National Flexible Limited

Shenzhen Sinrui Technology Co., Ltd

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About the buyer

Address

1 Horse Guards Road
LONDON
SW1A 2HQ
England

Email

commercialteam@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Website

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office