Security equipment

Tender description

The British Library is the UK's national library and 1 of the world's greatest research libraries. The library has 3 sites. 1 located in the centre of the country at Boston Spa, another in the heart of London's knowledge Quarter at St Pancras and the third at Stockton-on-Tees. Via these sites the Library undertakes its statutory responsibility to house a growing collection, and to enable continued access to research material. This is a call for a market engagement exercise prior to the possible procurement of a technical partner for the creation and maintenance of visitor screening capability to be installed at the main entrance at the British Library's St Pancras site. As an iconic British institution the Library is a potentially target for violent terrorist action. As a result it is reviewing its options for establishing a visitor scanning capability to monitor for hidden weapons and explosives on entry. The British Library is seeking a partner to support us in establishing a visitor scanning capability located at the main public entrance to the St Pancras site. It is envisaged that any deployed system would operate in a free-flow manner. Due to the grade 1 listed status of the British Library St Pancras site airport style security checks are not seen as suitable and the selected system will need to make the minimum impact on the fabric of the building. It is also essential that the information generated by a visitor scanning system installed by the British Library is presented in such a fashion that positive identification of hidden weapons is possible in the majority of cases; a high level of false positives would not be acceptable. The design of the scanning facility must be such that it has minimal impact of the day-to-day operations of the building, this includes during any installation phase. Any appointed partner would be expected to work with the BL, and other supporting organisations, to ensure the development of sustainable operational protocols which will govern the use made of detection information. When submitting information, all organisations should note that this is not currently a tender opportunity, but is part of a market consultation exercise aiming to ensure that the procurement route selected and the options ultimately developed for the procurement are properly informed. The British Library is inviting potential providers to comment and informally discuss options and possible business solutions. At this stage, no final decision has been taken on the precise procurement route to be followed.