Contract for the Provision of Creative Agency Services

c2c requires the provision of Creative Agency Services to support the delivery of marketing campaigns, brand development, creative asset production and associated account management activities.

c2c is seeking to award a contract for these services directly to Pablo London Ltd, subject to satisfactory commercial negotiations, value for money validation and completion of the required governance process.

The proposed award supports the ongoing alignment of procurement and operational activities across the Anglia route, including Greater Anglia and c2c, as part of wider railway integration arrangements.

For the integrated Anglia-wide marketing operation required to support GBR transition within the required timescales, the supplier must already be embedded in Greater Anglia's campaign management systems, stakeholder relationships, governance structures and pipeline. Only Pablo meets this pre-existing integration requirement. Substituting a competitor would necessitate complete rebuilding of these embedded systems and workflows, creating material duplication and preventing timely delivery of the integrated business objective.

The contract is therefore intended to facilitate alignment activities pending future market testing and longer-term procurement considerations associated with railway reform and the establishment of Great British Railways which is expected to come into effect in late 2027, assuming the Railways Bill proceeds as planned.

Consequently, c2c considers that, in the specific circumstances of this requirement, there is an absence of competition for technical reasons (paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023).