Courier Services for Hampshire Scientific Services

Hampshire County Council (the Authority) is tendering a contract for courier services to support Hampshire Scientific Services ("HSS").
HSS provides scientific advisory and analytical services to UK public authorities and is accredited to high quality standards required by Government. Under the Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority (SCPHA) arrangements, HSS coordinates the transport of time‑critical food and feed enforcement samples from East Suffolk ports to designated laboratories in Kent and Hampshire. These samples are collected for enforcement testing and are highly time‑critical, with some requiring collection, delivery, and analysis within a strict 24 hour window. Maintaining chain of custody, sample integrity, and timely delivery is critical to statutory enforcement work.
The purpose of this procurement is to appoint a suitably capable same‑day courier to deliver a robust, reliable and responsive service. The supplier will be required to provide secure, direct transport that preserves chain of custody and sample integrity, avoiding hub consolidation or processes that add delay or risk, and to provide scalable capacity to meet weekday demand with occasional weekend requirements.
The contract will be for an initial period of 19 months, with the option to extend for up to 2 additional 12-month periods. The Authority reserves the option to reduce the 19 month term by 7 days (1 week), so that the initial term would end on 29th June 2028. Any additional periods would then also reflect that amended date. This is to ensure this contract is co-terminus with the Authority's underlying contracts with the ports set out in the Specification.