Robotics Tenders and Contracts

Robotics tenders cover industrial robot arms and robotic cells built for manufacturing and assembly lines, collaborative robots that share a workspace with staff, autonomous mobile robots and guided vehicles, laboratory and life-science robotic platforms such as automated liquid handlers and sample-preparation systems, robotic milking equipment on university and agricultural estates, and humanoid or educational robots bought for teaching and research. Universities, colleges and research institutes publish the largest share of robotics notices, buying robots for classrooms, laboratories and specialist research programmes rather than factory production lines. Buyers generally run these through general equipment, works or scientific procurement routes rather than a single dedicated robotics category.

Stotles brings together robotics tenders and contracts from 100+ portals into one search, so you do not have to check each portal separately, and you can set alerts for new opportunities across the UK and Ireland.

If you want to search the government portals directly, Find a Tender carries higher-value contracts across the UK and Contracts Finder carries lower-value contracts in England. Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Ireland's eTenders covers Irish public bodies, and many councils, NHS bodies and housing associations publish on their own e-tendering portals such as ProContract. Robotics is usually bought as one-off equipment purchases by universities and research bodies, while NHS bodies call off surgical and pharmacy robots from national frameworks.

Robotics tenders are scored on technical specification, integration with existing equipment, training, servicing and whole-life cost. Research buyers often run demonstrations, so showing the system on the buyer's own tasks helps.

Robots must carry UKCA or CE marking under machinery safety rules, and surgical and pharmacy robots must meet medical device regulations. Tenders usually set minimum insurance cover, check financial standing and ask for evidence of similar supply contracts at selection stage. Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers can be excluded for certain criminal convictions, insolvency or failure to pay tax.

Robotics equipment is typically bought as a standalone capital purchase, a framework call-off, or as one line within a larger piece of scientific, manufacturing or medical equipment. NHS bodies buy surgical robots through national frameworks run by organisations such as NHS Supply Chain and NHS Shared Business Services, while universities and colleges more often run their own open tenders or direct awards for teaching and research robots. Collaborative robots and robotic arms bought for manufacturing or training environments are frequently supplied alongside installation, commissioning and ongoing maintenance rather than as a bare machine.

Equipment is usually bought as supply and installation, with servicing separate, and some sits as a lot inside NHS Supply Chain frameworks. Universities and colleges buy teaching and research robots, NHS trusts buy surgical and pharmacy systems, and research bodies and nuclear operators buy laboratory and remote-handling robots.

Read university capital equipment plans, research grant awards, theatre development plans and preliminary market engagement notices, which show robotics work coming due ahead of a notice. On Stotles you can track those signals and the buyers behind them, then follow a notice from pre-tender through to award.

Robotics tenders are most consistently classified under CPV code 42997300, Industrial robots, which appears on notices ranging from factory robot arms to humanoid research platforms and robotic milking equipment. A large share also carry CPV code 38000000, Laboratory, optical and precision equipment, because a robotic arm or liquid handler is frequently procured as part of a wider piece of scientific or laboratory equipment rather than as a standalone purchase.