Official UK procurement notice
Corporate Finance Application Support and Cloud Hosting
Authority: West Berkshire District Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis notice sets out West Berkshire Council's intention to award a contract to Unit4 Business Software Ltd for the provision of a cloud-based corporate finance system. The Unit 4 Agresso application is used by the Council for the management of its finances. It is a business-critical system that allows the Council to meet its statutory obligations.
The proposed contract is for a period of 4 years. The estimated maximum value of the proposed contract is £1,000,000. This is based on the current estimation of licensing costs at £200,000 per year and an estimated £200,000 for the implementation.
CPV: Software-related services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 21 Feb 2025, 07:32 GMT
- Last source update
- 21 Feb 2025, 07:32 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-006490- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04e5beFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
The Council considers that the award of the contract is permitted under Regulation 32(2)(c) of the PCR 2015. Regulation 32 of the PCR 2015 allows contracting authorities to award a public contract by a negotiated procedure without prior publication.
Regulation 32(2)(c) permits the award of a public contract for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with. The Council considers that its reliance on Regulation 32(2)(c) is justified for the following reasons:
The finance solution is an essential and integral part of the Council's systems. Unit4's announcement that it would cease to provide maintenance and support services or any on premises solutions post 31 December 2024 was not foreseeable by the Council and has given rise to a situation of extreme urgency in which the Council must ensure that its corporate finance systems do not become unsupported.
At the present time it would be impossible for the council to execute a comprehensive open procurement and implement an alternative economic operator to provide this service. A 4 year term is a realistic and necessary period that would be required to procure and implement a system of this nature. The Council would not be acting responsibly by running a business-critical system unsupported due to the security risks this poses. Therefore, it is key that the council upgrades to the cloud software to ensure stability of provision.
The decision to award a contract pursuant to Unit4 to Regulation 32(2)(c) is therefore considered to be strictly necessary in a situation of extreme urgency, to ensure business continuity for the Council. This approach would provide the council with scope to align several other significant strategic systems which would provide the opportunity to ensure value for money and would give time for consideration of Government updates regarding devolution.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNIT4 Business Software Limited | £1,000,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Corporate Finance Application Support and Cloud Hosting · UNIT4 Business Software Limited
- Signed
- 19 Feb 2025
- Value
- £1,000,000
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- The High Court Royal Court of JusticeReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Unit4 Business Software LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.