Procurement Annual Report 2024/25
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
To comply with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (The Act), Scottish Ambulance Service is required to publish Procurement Report annually detailing information on all regulated procurement activity. This report reflects information for the period 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025. In addition to reporting previous activity, the report includes information on all regulated procurements that are planned for the next two-year period (1st April 2025 – 31st March 2027).
A regulated procurement is any procurement for goods or services with an estimated value over the life of the contract of £50,000 or more and any such procurement for works with an estimated value over the life of the contract of £2,000,000 or more.
The professional management of procurement activity is a crucial factor contributing towards the efficient operation of Scottish Ambulance Service and the attainment of corporate objectives as identified within the Introduction
Service Annual Delivery Plan. It is essential for both patients and staff that quality projects, supplies and services are delivered on time to Scottish Ambulance Service within optimum commercial arrangements.
Scottish Ambulance Service had a total expenditure with 3rd party suppliers of £97,290,479.00 net of Vat (based on financial year 2024/25 data).
This is expenditure that is influenced by procurement and subject to contract and/or tendering activity.
The Scottish Ambulance Service Procurement Strategy 2023-26 remains in place and is supported by an annual plan.
The Head of Procurement has responsibility for procurement services that cover the Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS 24 and Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
The document attached refers only to the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The report owner is:
Brian Laughland Head of Procurement,
Scottish Ambulance Service Gyle Square
Edinburgh
2. Summary of Regulated Procurements 2024/2025
The following is a list of regulated procurements completed during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
| Supplier | Description | Complied with | Community Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gama Aviation (UK) Ltd | SAS/2022/639 - Provision of the Scottish National Air Ambulance Service This contract provides for the nationwide delivery of air ambulance services across Scotland... Cost: £242,000,000.00 |
Yes (SAS Tender) | Yes |
| Summit Facilities Services Ltd Richard Irvin FM Limited G & A Barnie Group Ltd. Valley Group Limited |
SAS2024831 - PPM, Reactive Repairs and Statutory Inspections for Heating, Ventilation and Plumbing Systems This contract covers the planned preventative maintenance (PPM)... Cost: £130,000.00 |
Yes (SAS Tender) | Yes |
| WB Electrical Services Valley Group Limited Emtec Facility Services Limited |
SAS2024830 - Electrical Systems - Planned Maintenance, Reactive Repairs and Statutory Inspections This contract provides for the ongoing maintenance... Cost: £205,000.00 |
Yes (SAS Tender) | Yes |
| Secureshield Ltd Churches Fire & Security ADT Fire & Security |
SAS2024832 - PPM Reactive Repairs & Statutory Inspections for Fire Alarms & Fire Fighting Equipment This contract ensures the ongoing maintenance... Cost: £62,000.00 |
Yes (SAS Tender) | Yes |
| D S McG Ltd Countrywide Grounds Maintenance Ltd |
SAS/2025/848 - Grounds Maintenance This contract covers the provision of grounds maintenance services... Cost: £65,000.00 |
Yes (SAS Tender) | Yes |
| Johnsons Workwear Ltd | SAS2023717 - Supply and Laundry of Fleet Workshop Coveralls This contract provides for the supply and professional laundering... Cost: £84,084.00 |
Yes (SAS Tender) | Yes |
| BT Group PLC | SAS/2025/883 - Telephone Switch System (Avaya CM Platform) This contract supports the operation and maintenance... Cost: up to £1,650,000.00 |
Yes | Yes - Awarded via national SWAN 2 Framework Agreement |
| ORH Ltd | SAS/2025/867 - Provision of: Annual Ambulance Simulation Modelling (AmbSim) License & AmbSim Update This contract provides access to the AmbSim simulation modelling software... Cost: £119,000.00 |
Yes | Yes - Awarded via CCS Framework (RM6259 Vertical Application Solutions) |
| SWRnewstar Ltd | SAS/2024/828 - Recyclates and General Waste Management This contract covers the collection, disposal, and management of general waste... Cost: £525,000.00 |
Yes | Yes - Mini-Competition from NP Recyclates and General Waste Framework Agreement |
| IdeaGen Ltd | SAS/2024/795 - The Provision of an Integrated Incident, Risk Management and Patient Safety System This contract provides the Scottish Ambulance Service with access to the InPhase platform... Cost: £156,000.00 |
Yes | Direct Award from National Framework Agreement |
Contract Value Per Annum
| Title | Contract Type | Total Value (p.a.) | Contract Awarded To | Procedure | Framework or other | Regulated Procurement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAS/2022/639 - Provision of the Scottish National Air Ambulance Service | Recurring | £24,000,000.00 | Gama Aviation (UK) Ltd | Competitive Dialogue (SAS Tender) | ITPD > ITT | Yes |
| SAS2024831 - PPM, Reactive Repairs and Statutory Inspections for Heating, Ventilation and Plumbing Systems | Recurring | £32,500.00 | Summit Facilities Services Ltd Richard Irvin FM Limited G & A Barnie Group Ltd. Valley Group Limited |
Open (SAS Tender) | ITT | Yes |
| SAS2024830 - Electrical Systems-Planned Maintenance, Reactive Repairs and Statutory Inspections | Recurring | £51,250.00 | WB Electrical Services Valley Group Limited Emtec Facility Services Limited |
Open (SAS Tender) | ITT | Yes |
| SAS2024832 - PPM Reactive Repairs & Statutory Inspections for Fire Alarms & Fire Fighting Equipment | Recurring | £15,500.00 | Secureshield Ltd Churches Fire & Security ADT Fire & Security |
Open (SAS Tender) | ITT | Yes |
| SAS/2025/848 - Grounds Maintenance | Recurring | £16,250.00 | D S McG Ltd Countrywide Grounds Maintenance Ltd |
Open (SAS Tender) | ITT | Yes |
| SAS2023717 - Supply and Laundry of Fleet Workshop Coveralls | Recurring | £21,021.00 | Johnsons Workwear Ltd | Open (SAS Tender) | ITT | Yes |
| SAS/2025/883 - Telephone Switch System (Avaya CM Platform) | Recurring | £330,000.00 | BT Group PLC | Direct Award | SWAN2 Framework Agreement | Yes |
| SAS/2025/867 - Provision of: Annual Ambulance Simulation Modelling (AmbSim) License & AmbSim Update | Recurring | £29,750.00 | ORH Ltd | Direct Award | RM6259 Vertical Application Solutions Framework Agreement | Yes |
| SAS/2024/828 - Recyclates and General Waste Management | Recurring | £131,250.00 | SWRnewstar Ltd | Mini-Competition | National Recyclates and General Waste Management Framework Agreement (Mini Comp) | Yes |
| SAS/2024/795 - The Provision of an Integrated Incident, Risk Management and Patient Safety System and Associated Services | Recurring | £39,000.00 | IdeaGen Ltd | Direct Award | National Framework Agreement | Yes |
3. Procurement Strategy Procurements not complying with SAS
In compliance with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 SAS is required to provide information on any Procurement that did not comply with the SAS’s Procurement Strategy.
This annual report confirms that all the regulated procurements awarded over the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 complied with the SAS’s Procurement Strategy requirements.
4. Community Benefits
The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 places specific duties on public sector contracting authorities to consider the inclusion of community benefit requirements in major contracts with an estimated value of £4 million or more. The Service has embedded these duties within its procurement processes and procedures to ensure that, where appropriate, community benefits are actively considered, sought, and delivered.
During the reporting period, one Service contract awarded exceeded the £4 million threshold – The provision of Scotland’s National Air Ambulance Service. This procurement secured community benefits including:
Carbon Reduction and Sustainability Initiatives
The supplier will deliver on the following commitments during the life of the contract:
- Real-time emissions auditing and mitigation
- Transition to electric ground handling equipment and optimised flight planning to reduce fuel burn.
- Adoption of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) where feasible.
- Facility upgrades including EV charging points, solar panels, and water-saving technologies.
- Waste reduction efforts targeting single-use plastics and paper minimisation.
Environmental Stewardship in Remote Communities
The supplier is partnering with the Service to promote biodiversity and climate resilience through:
- Habitat preservation and pollinator introduction (e.g., bee population support).
- Ocean plastic clean-up initiatives.
- Community engagement on sustainable practices.
STEM Education and Youth Engagement
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
A branded 45-minute STEM lesson pack will be delivered to schools, covering:
- Careers in aviation and healthcare.
- Environmental challenges and solutions in aviation.
- Aviation’s role during pandemics and future clinical applications.
- Gama staff will support delivery, and the module will be designed for integration into school curricula.
Workforce Development and Inclusion
The supplier has committed to deliver:
- Annual work experience placements for at least five candidates per operating base.
- Five £1,000 grants for students entering aviation or medicine-related higher education.
- Targeted outreach to 16–18-year-olds in rural and underrepresented communities.
Ongoing Monitoring and Governance
A dedicated GAMA Community Liaison Officer will oversee delivery of these benefits, with progress reviewed at quarterly and annual contract meetings.
The Service is committed to further strengthening its approach to community benefits across all applicable procurement activity. This includes the continued use of weighted and scored evaluation criteria for both community benefits and sustainability, as well as enhancements to how these benefits are reported, monitored, and tracked throughout the duration of each contract.
To support this approach, the Procurement Team has developed a Community Benefit Selection Matrix and evaluation criteria to assess bidding supplier’s commitments in the following areas:
- Employment opportunities, including the recruitment of modern apprentices
- Provision of work experience placements, career events, and educational visits
- Training and development for both new and existing staff
- Environmental initiatives aimed at reducing impact and promoting sustainability
- Financial or in-kind support for community projects, including staff volunteering
Through the community benefits matrix, the Service has secured the following:
- SAS2023717 - Supply and Laundry of Fleet Workshop Coveralls
The supplier has committed to supporting local employment through the use of regional laundry facilities and aims to reduce environmental impact by implementing energy-efficient laundering processes and reusable garment systems.
Opportunities for work placements or training are also be explored in partnership with local employability programmes.
- SAS2024831 - PPM, Reactive Repairs and Statutory Inspections for Heating, Ventilation and Plumbing Systems
- SAS2024830 - Electrical Systems- Planned Maintenance, Reactive Repairs and Statutory Inspections
- SAS2024832 - PPM Reactive Repairs & Statutory Inspections for Fire Alarms & Fire Fighting Equipment
- SAS/2025/848 - Grounds Maintenance
As part of these Estates contracts, the awarded suppliers have committed to delivering a range of community benefits, including:
- Employment of modern apprentices to support workforce development
- Provision of school-age work experience placements to promote career awareness and practical learning
- Participation in school & college visits and career events to engage with young people and support employability
- Support for vocational qualifications (SVQ/NVQ) for both new and existing employees, contributing to skills development
- Implementation of carbon reduction measures, including efficient scheduling and energy-saving practices
- Financial contributions and staff volunteering to chosen community initiatives, supporting local impact and social value
The Service 2030 strategy and the Procurement and Logistics Strategy 2023-2026, has a key strategic aim to maximise the Service Corporate Social Responsibility and actively demonstrate contractors’ commitment to society.
This includes our ambition to maximise our role as an Anchor Institution, contributing to inclusive growth, sustainability, and community wellbeing across Scotland.
5. Supported Businesses
The Scottish Government encourages public sector bodies to utilise the services of supported businesses whenever appropriate opportunities arise and to seek the services of those companies on the framework agreement.
Our Procurement and Logistics Strategy, describes the SAS commitment to ensuring that the framework agreement will be utilised whenever appropriate, and consideration will be given to supported business contractors during each tendering exercise.
In addition, as an Anchor institution the SAS Procurement team continues to promote the Supplier Development Programme aimed at Scottish Small and Medium Enterprises and 3rd sector suppliers and consideration is made within the tendering strategy process where we include the LOT structure. This ensures that SMEs are not disadvantaged in the tendering process, with the provision of smaller volume / value and regional lots whenever possible.
The development of open drop-in sessions for suppliers to engage with the Procurement team to ask questions and for the Team to share best practice guidance on what is expected and required as part of the tendering process, is also being developed for implementation in 2025/26.
This will be promoted as part of the engagement with the Supplier Development Programme.
6. Supporting Innovation
Procurement has been identified as a key enabler in the continuing development and delivery of the Service’s Research, Development and Innovation strategy.
The Service is actively working on remote monitoring systems, use of drones, use of Artificial Intelligence in our ambulance control centres and engaged in a number of research projects with Academia.
Our service leads are also actively engaged with other Blue light Services in several areas trialling new and innovative solutions, example areas are body worn cameras, drone technology and telecommunication airwave systems.
Procurement plays a strategic role in supporting these initiatives and is represented on the Service’s Innovation Hub. The Procurement team has:
- Delivered sessions to Hub members on innovation procurement procedures, including routes such as the Innovation Partnership and Pre Commercial Procurement procedures).
- Promoted the importance of early market engagement to ensure market involvement at the right stage of solution development.
Procurement is fully engaged with Innovation Hub members to actively support innovation projects, helping to shape procurement strategies that support innovation.
This collaboration with innovation colleagues ensures that procurement is not only compliant but is
also proactively enabling innovation, helping the Service to adopt emerging technologies and deliver better outcomes for patients and communities
7. Procurement- Logistics and Inventory Management Systems
The Procurement & Logistics team continue to develop the Service’s Logistics provision, with the implementation of a new NHSS logistics and inventory management system to support operational demands and needs over 100 Ambulance stations around the country.
The stations are supported via three regional Hubs, servicing the West, East and North regions.
Each hub holds over 200x Ambulance related consumable products, that are managed via a digital inventory stock management system that integrates with our Purchase order system. This system provides information on current Hub product stock levels and station stock demand, allowing for rapid response to changing product or service demands.
The Logistics service has delivered benefits and savings via the following.
- Product waste reduction, with excess stock being recirculated around the service to ensure usage before the product expiry date.
- Delivering efficiencies through economies of scale with reduced product costs via bulk ordering.
- Reduced carriage fees via centralised regional delivery points.
- Reduction of circa 40% in purchase orders and invoices against the core complement of Hub suppliers.
As this function and service is now being carried out by Logistics staff, valuable operational time for clinical staff and managers has also been released.
8. Sustainability
The Scottish Government introduced the Sustainable Procurement Duty (following The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act)) requiring public bodies to consider how they can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their constituency, and act in a way to secure improvements identified.
In response to this, when procuring goods and services, SAS (Scottish Ambulance Service) recognise that supply chain sustainability must be considered to help determine the extent of the potential improvements and benefits that can be secured and delivered.
SAS is committed to utilising the suite of sustainable procurement tools and guidance Sustainable Procurement (sustainableprocurementtools.scot) that Scottish Government has made available to all public bodies to inform the actions required to embed good procurement practice to realise intended
sustainable outcomes.
Currently all tendering opportunities require suppliers to outline their position, compliance, and future
strategic intent in relation to ‘sustainability’ and ‘community benefits’ as a non-scoring considering aspect within our tenders as a minimum.
As outlined, where possible and suitable, supplier responses are weighted and scored as part of the tendering evaluation methodology.
We will continue to develop our practice with respect to sustainable procurement, this will include looking for ways to broaden access to contracts for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), the third sector and supported businesses.
9. Proposed Regulated Procurements 2025/26 and 2026/27
The following is a list of regulated procurements likely to be undertaken during the next two financial years. Definitive start dates and go live dates are dependent on allocated funding and final approval to proceed.
Financial Year – 2025-26 & 26-27
| Title | Annual Budget or Budget Allocation | Start Date | Go Live Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PTS (Patient Transfer Services) System / Cleric | This is likely to be a joint procurement of these systems to gain best value for interface and resilience. Total estimated cost is estimated at £6m | As a minimum likely to be 29-30 | TBC |
| Command and Control System (C3) / MIS | This is likely to be a joint procurement of these systems to gain best value for interface and resilience. Total estimated cost is estimated at £6m | As a minimum likely to be 29-30 | TBC |
| Defibrillators | £11,000,000.00 | Jan 26 | 28/29 |
| Ambulance Vehicle Conversions | £28,000,000.00 | Aug 25 | Mar 26 |
| Safe Working at Heights training for SORT staff | £60,000.00 | April 26 | Oct 26 |
| Provision of cleaning services for Lothian stations & vehicles | £165,710.00 | Dec 25 | Apr 26 |
| Cleaning at Aberdeen Station, DHQ and North SORT | £160,000.00 | Dec 25 | Apr 26 |
As part of the formal tendering process, all suppliers are requested to provide details on their organisation's commitment and or compliance to the following. This information is then used to inform the tender evaluation process.
1. Environmental and Sustainability policy and strategy
2. Ethical trading policy
3. Compliance to Modern Slavery Act 2015
4. Provision of the Real Living Wage
5. Whistleblowing Policy
6. Cyber security credentials
7. Fair works policies in place
10. Reference Documents/Appendices
Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014
Supplier Development Programme: https://www.sdpscotland.co.uk/
https://www.scotlandsbravest.org.uk/
11. Glossary of Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| TBC | Value and/or start date subject to confirmation |
| Framework Agreement | In the context of this document, a contract establishing a supplier or suppliers with agreed terms and conditions for the supply of goods, services, or works established for one or more health boards who will call off as required. |
| Invitation to Tender (ITT) | This is a formal procurement document that is issued by the buyer, inviting suppliers to bid for the contract of goods, services, and/or works they are looking to fulfil. This could be for the supply of either goods, services, or works that the procurement authority (the buyer) requires. |
| Competitive Dialogue | This allows bidders to submit initial solutions after being successful at the selection stage. It allows you to negotiate proposed solutions with bidders. This may help to open up cross-border markets by encouraging bidders to discuss possible solutions. |
| Invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) | This is a formal procurement document issued by the buyer to invite shortlisted suppliers to engage in structured dialogue as part of a Competitive Dialogue procedure. It is used when the buyer’s requirements are complex and cannot be fully defined upfront. The ITPD outlines the scope of the contract and the key issues to be explored during the dialogue phase, allowing suppliers to propose innovative or tailored solutions before final tenders are submitted. |
