Official UK procurement notice
Audience Services · UK public procurement notice
Authority: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe BBC has procured customer management services to support a broad range of services including:
- Handling editorial and non-editorial complaints
- Responding to enquiries
- Managing comments & appreciations
- Technical support for iPlayer, Sounds, BBC Account
- Reception Advice
- BBC Action Lines
- BBC Charitable Appeals & Donations collections (Lifeline & Radio 4)
- Artist mail
- Ticketing for BBC shows
- 'Take Part' in a show
- BBC Switchboard
The BBC has a mission to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which continue to inform, educate and entertain. Audience Services supports this by continuing to put our audiences at the heart of our operation, providing them exceptional service, irrespective of channel. We engage them with respect and understanding and work to build audience loyalty to the BBC and the Licence Fee.
CPV: Customer services · Telephone switchboard services · Tickets
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The over-riding objective of the procurement was to enhance the service offering…Awarded
The over-riding objective of the procurement was to enhance the service offering whilst maintaining the high quality of the services enjoyed by audiences today. Potential efficiency opportunities were assessed for all service lines, in particular how the introduction of new technologies such as AI can augment case handling making our skilled agents even more efficient and effective. We also want to make better use of the rich data we compile to help us drive audience insights across the BBC.
Examples of potential use cases already identified include:
- Sifting and grouping contacts which relate to the same issue, which can be handled via bulk responses
- Drawing from our Knowledge database to draft responses for agents to review
- Increasing audience self-service via dynamic FAQ surfaced using Chatbot
We made use of the negotiation phase of this procurement to work with bidders to really develop this thinking and ensure we deliver the best operating model possible for the next generation of Audience Services. The procurement has awarded the contract to a single supplier to provide a seamless end-to-end service to audiences in conjunction with the BBC team.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Merit Score: 55%
- Whole Life Cost Score: 45%
Published award criteria (2)
- Merit Score: 55
- Whole Life Cost Score: 45
- Suitability
Where there is more than one economic operator, the BBC reserves the right to require a grouping of economic operators to take a particular legal form or to require a single economic operator to take primary liability or to require that each party undertakes joint and several liability.
Please register your interest in this project by taking the following steps: 1 - Register your company on the Jaggaer eSourcing portal (this is only required once): 1.1 Go to bbc.bravosolution.co.uk ↗ 1.2 - Click the link on the login page to register. 1.3 Accept the terms and conditions and click 'Continue'. 1.4 - Enter your correct business and user details. 1.5 - Note the username you chose and click 'Save' when complete. 1.6 - You will shortly receive an email with your temporary password. 2 - Express an interest in the tender: 2.1 - Login to the portal with the username/password. 2.2 - Click the 'PQQs/ITTs Open to all Suppliers' link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier). 2.3 - Click on the relevant PQQ/ITT to access the content. 2.4 - Click the 'Express Interest' button at the top of the page. This will move the PQQ/ITT into your 'My PQQs/My ITTs page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only. 2.5 - You can now access any attachments by clicking 'Buyer Attachments' in the 'PQQ/ITT Details' box. 3. Responding to the tender: 3.1 - Click 'My Response' under PQQ/ITT Details', you can choose to 'Create Respon…
- Price carries 45 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4.5 points. Quality carries 55 of 100: the paper moves it further than the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Competitive procedure with negotiation
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 4 Mar 2024, 15:17 GMT
- Last source update
- 6 May 2025, 14:53 BST
- Authority reference
PROC 2024 01 JP- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-019138- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04453fFind a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Review procedure
As stated in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The applicable review time limits shall be as stated in Regulations 92 and 93 Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Publisher note: In the case of technology requirements, the BBC may involve its technology partner (Atos IT Solutions and Services Limited) to assist in the scoping and drafting of invitations to tender and/or the evaluation of tenders. However, the final decision as to which is the most economically advantageous (by reference to the award criteria) will be made by the BBC. The awarding authority reserves the right not to award a contract and to annul the procurement process at any stage. Tenders and all supporting documents must be priced in sterling and all payments will be made in sterling. The contract shall be subject to English law. The awarding authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest, or any tender and reserves the right to accept part of a tender unless the tenderer expressly stipulates otherwise in the tender document.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 3 Apr 2024, 13:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission","written"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Participation fee
- document
- Bid validity
- 120 days from the deadline
Timeline
3 Apr 2024 → 6 May 2025 · 3 dates- Submission deadline3 Apr 2024, 13:00 BST
- Invitations to tender expected30 May 2024, 00:00 BST
- Notice published6 May 2025, 14:53 BST
Notice history
1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender- Status changed to complete6 May 2025, 14:53 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serco Limited | £40,600,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Audience Services · Serco Limited
- Signed
- 8 Apr 2025
- Value
- £40,600,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3bids · 3 electronic | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Business and Property Courts of England and Wales – TCCReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Serco LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria