Scope
Reference
708799450
Description
The Authority requirement is for a Supplier to provide under a one Lot Model:
• A Sourcing, Procurement and Inventory Management (SP&IM) capability for the range of materiel set out below (hereafter referred to as the FDSS Materiel Range)
• A worldwide Storage & Stock Management capability for the FDSS Materiel Range and the full Authority Managed Materiel range, with both combined defined Defence Materiel, noting:
o Will include the receipt, store, account, maintenance, issue and disposal of materiel.
o Some items will require additional services e.g. inspection, repair, maintenance, service and calibration as part of the receipt and issue process
• Load sortation, consolidation and cross-docking services
• A worldwide Movement & Distribution capability for the movement of Defence Materiel incorporating all modes of transportation including Road, Rail, Air & Sea.
• Worldwide removals service for re-location of Defence personnel Movement & Distribution supporting services including load sortation, consolidation and cross-docking services, provision and fleet management of movement media.
The Materiel Range shall include items in the following 3 high-level ranges:
1. Support the Human Being (and Defence Animals) - items related to the life-support of Defence personnel. Example scope of items include:
• Medical, Dental and Veterinary Equipment (MDVE) including Blood and Blood products, Pharmaceuticals, and medical consumables
• Recreational and Athletic Equipment as well as Toiletries, Cleaning Equipment and Supplies
• Clothing, Individual Equipment and Insignia (includes Personal Protective Equipment)
• Subsistence (Food both fresh and packaged, Beverages)
2. Platform Componentry - items which are used to support higher level assemblies which form Defence equipment's in the Land, Air and Maritime environments. Example scope of items include:
• Aviation Spares and Components
• Maritime Spares and Components
• Land Spares and Components
• Batteries, Power and Electrical Components
• Construction, Fluid and Water Handling Equipment
• Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Lighting components
• Bearings, Oils, Lubricants and Associated Products
• Agriculture and Materials Handling Equipment components
3. Off Platform - items which support Defence Outputs, but which are not intrinsic to vehicle/equipment assemblies. Example of scope of items include:
• Tools and Workshop Equipment
• Construction and Materials
• Alarms, Signals, Stationery and Training Aids
• Furniture, Fittings and Lighting
• Hardware, Abrasives, Brushes, Paints and Adhesives
• Musical and Photographic Equipment
• Industrial Gases and Chemicals
• Packaging and Handling Equipment
• Food Preparation Equipment and Agricultural Supplies
• Weapons, Weapon Spares and Ancillaries
• Services (such as Supply Fit of Ceremonial uniform and Carpet fitting).
Potential Future scope during the duration of the contract may include:
• Expansion of scope of sourcing, procurement and inventory management to increase the range of materiel under management in specified categories.
• Expansion and optimisation of storage and stock management network in terms of scale, type and purpose of Storage and geographic location (including potential for international locations) and Contractors on Deployed Operations
(CONDO) support.
• Expansion of distribution and movement services in terms of scale, type and purpose
• Expansion of role in repair maintenance, repair and calibration of Medical equipment in support of medical equipment
• Increased scope of responsibility for disposal services.
Further detail can be found in the Supporting documents SOR Summary and Data Spreadsheet.
The Authority's objective is to enhance resilience, agility, and scalability to better support the latest Defence Planning Assumptions in the Defence Support and Supply Chain strategies. This will include the need for MOD to reduce a proportion of MOD-owned warehousing estate.
Under the Contract , the Supplier will source and supply to the Authority products falling within the FDSS Scope as principal. The Authority is, however, finalising its procurement model in respect of some of the listed categories of goods and therefore reserves the
right to require the Supplier to act as the Authority's agent to source and supply certain categories of goods rather than supplying those goods as principal, with the consequent reduction in the overall FDSS contract value. The final position on this will be confirmed in the documentation
issued with the ITN.
MOD anticipates the potential for SME involvement in the sourcing of the commodities, managed holistically by the winning Bidder.
Value of goods, services or works is £8-18 Bn across the life of the contract this includes the purchase cost of materiel together with the costs of associated service delivery across the 10 year contract term and the permitted 2 year extension.
Registering on AWARD
The link below will take you to the DSP AWARD® registration page.
https://award.commercedecisions.com/dsp/web/project/8f0a153e-345d-4b18-a1d4-a544f778ba9b/register
If your organisation is already registered in DSP AWARD but you do not know your login details or your account has become inactive, please contact the AWARD helpdesk (support@commercedecisions.com).
The following documents will be available for all Suppliers that meet the conditions:
1. Statement of Work Summary
2. Data spreadsheet
3. Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) Guidance Document
These draft documents are being shared at the PSQ Stage for information purposes only and in order to provide Suppliers with an early understanding of FDSS.
Classification of Tender Documents is OFFICIAL - SENSITIVE
The Cyber Risk Profile is High - RAR-250417A05
The pricing model will be based on performance and will include incentivisation
The contract will be the Model Services Contract v.2.2 with narrative DEFCONs and bespoke project-specific drafting.
Suppliers should note that supplier response restrictions apply as detailed within the FDSS PSQ Guidance Document, including paragraphs [2], [3] and [4].
Total value (estimated)
- £8,000,000,000 excluding VAT
- £9,600,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 5 June 2028 to 4 June 2038
- Possible extension to 4 June 2040
- 12 years
Description of possible extension:
The Authority has the right to exercise an option to extend the contract duration by two years in the form of 2 x 12 months
The right to additional purchases of in scope goods and services while the contract is valid.
Options
The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid.
The right to contract for additional services
The Authority has the right to exercise an option to extend the contract duration by a further two years.
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 03410000 - Wood
- 09210000 - Lubricating preparations
- 14700000 - Basic metals
- 15000000 - Food, beverages, tobacco and related products
- 18000000 - Clothing, footwear, luggage articles and accessories
- 22400000 - Stamps, cheque forms, banknotes, stock certificates, trade advertising material, catalogues and manuals
- 24000000 - Chemical products
- 30190000 - Various office equipment and supplies
- 31000000 - Electrical machinery, apparatus, equipment and consumables; lighting
- 33000000 - Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products
- 34300000 - Parts and accessories for vehicles and their engines
- 34730000 - Parts for aircraft, spacecraft and helicopters
- 34900000 - Miscellaneous transport equipment and spare parts
- 35100000 - Emergency and security equipment
- 35800000 - Individual and support equipment
- 37000000 - Musical instruments, sport goods, games, toys, handicraft, art materials and accessories
- 38000000 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
- 39100000 - Furniture
- 39200000 - Furnishing
- 39500000 - Textile articles
- 39800000 - Cleaning and polishing products
- 42100000 - Machinery for the production and use of mechanical power
- 42500000 - Cooling and ventilation equipment
- 42600000 - Machine tools
- 42960000 - Command and control system, printing, graphics, office automation and information-processing equipment
- 44100000 - Construction materials and associated items
- 44400000 - Miscellaneous fabricated products and related items
- 44500000 - Tools, locks, keys, hinges, fasteners, chain and springs
- 44600000 - Tanks, reservoirs and containers; central-heating radiators and boilers
- 44800000 - Paints, varnishes and mastics
- 50000000 - Repair and maintenance services
- 60100000 - Road transport services
- 60200000 - Railway transport services
- 60400000 - Air transport services
- 60640000 - Shipping operations
- 63100000 - Cargo handling and storage services
- 63520000 - Transport agency services
- 79991000 - Stock-control services
Contract locations
- UK - United Kingdom
Justification for not using lots
FDSS will provide commodity procurement, inventory management, warehousing and transportation service for the UK Armed Forces. This scope of activity is already contracted out under many contracts. The Procurement Act 2023 requires contracting authorities to consider lotting as a potential delivery approach. The Authority conducted a comprehensive FDSS Delivery Model Assessment. That assessment included various lotting strategies including a single contract approach. The conclusion of the DMA was that that a single contract offers key benefits in terms of; operational agility and flexibility, consistency of service, reduced contract management overhead on the part of the MOD and better value for money for a one lot approach. On this basis, FDSS will be delivered as a single contract.
Participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation
As set out in the PSQ and PSQ Guidance Document.
Technical ability conditions of participation
As set out in the PSQ and PSQ Guidance Document.
Submission
Enquiry deadline
18 December 2025, 11:59am
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
18 December 2025, 11:59am
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
5 October 2027
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Cost | Non-Cost Criteria - 75% |
Quality | 75.00% |
| Cost | Weighting of cost will be 25% |
Cost | 25% |
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Special regime
Defence and security
Competitive flexible procedure description
The Contract will be procured under the competitive flexible procedure. It is anticipated that the procurement process for the FDSS project will be structured as a multi-stage procurement process consisting of the stages outlined below.
a. PSQ Stage
The Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) Stage commenced with the publication of this Tender Notice. The PSQ questions and assessment methodology are set out in the PSQ Guidance Document, and on AWARD®. All suppliers who submit a compliant PSQ
response (as described in the PSQ Guidance Document, and including checks on whether the supplier is excluded or excludable) and achieve a 'Pass' for all PSQ questions will be invited to the next stage of the procurement process and will be issued with the Invitation to
Negotiate (ITN). Any other suppliers who submitted a PSQ response will not be taken through to the Initial Tender Stage of the procurement process and will not participate any further in the FDSS procurement.
b.Initial Tender Stage.
The ITN will be issued to all suppliers shortlisted following the assessment of their PSQ responses (the "Tenderers"). Following a bidder conference Tenderers will be invited to submit Initial Tenders which will be assessed by the Authority in accordance with the assessment
criteria and methodology set out in the ITN. The Authority reserves the right to refine the award criteria during the procurement process to the extent permitted by the Procurement Act 2023. The Authority intends to down-select at Initial Tender stage up to a maximum of 3
Tenderers as described in the ITN.
Any other Tenderers who submitted an Initial Tender response will not participate any further in the FDSS procurement.
c.Negotiation Stage.
Following assessment of Initial Tenders, down selection and the provision of feedback to Tenderers, the Authority will hold a series of negotiation meetings with those down selected Tenderers to discuss any key issues. This Negotiation Stage will continue until the Authority is satisfied that all key issues have been thoroughly discussed and it has decided on its position in relation to those key issues. At that stage, the Authority will close the Negotiation Stage and issue the Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (ISFT).
d.ISFT Stage.
Once the Authority has closed the Negotiation Stage, Tenderers will be invited to submit Final Tenders through the issue of the ISFT. Final Tenders will be evaluated in accordance with the assessment criteria and methodology set out in the ISFT to identify the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT).
e. Approvals and award stage.
Subject to final Authority approvals, and a mandatory standstill period, the Tenderer offering the MAT in their Final Tender will be awarded the Contract.
Documents
Associated tender documents
https://award.commercedecisions.com/dsp/web/project/8f0a153e-345d-4b18-a1d4-a544f778ba9b/register
Registering on AWARD:
The link will take you to the DSP AWARD® registration page.
If your organisation is already registered in DSP AWARD but you do not know your login details or your account has become inactive, please contact the AWARD helpdesk (support@commercedecisions.com).
Once registered/logged in you will have visibility of the FDSS PSQ Security Gateway AWARD project where you will need to complete the registration process.
Only one user per company will be able to complete registration. Once registered, additional users can be requested by raising a Clarification in the PSQ containing the new users names and e-mail addresses.
Suppliers should note that access to the Data Room and the contract documents contained in it is subject to certain conditions as set out in the PSQ Guidance Document and provided in the PSQ Security Gateway.
Contracting authority
DE&S
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PVRL-5831-GLMM
Abbey Wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
United Kingdom
Contact name: Garry Coe
Region: UKK12 - Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Organisation type: Public authority - central government