Digital Asset Management · UK public procurement notice

Official notice

Authority: OAK NATIONAL ACADEMY LIMITED (Central government)

Below threshold - without competition

Sectors: IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: UK

Awarded value£20,085published contract · exc. VAT

Awarded 1 Jun 2025no call for competition

Awarded to Cloudinary UK Ltd

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This contract is being directly awarded to Cloudinary under Section 41(1)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 on the basis that Cloudinary is the only supplier capable of delivering the required service for technical reasons. The contract supports the Oak National Academy's core platform, which enables free-to-access educational content aligned with the national curriculum.

The Oak platform is uniquely reliant on Cloudinary's proprietary image and video processing infrastructure. This dependency is hard-coded within the platform's architecture and embedded across hundreds of thousands of content items used by schools across England. Replicating this technical solution, or migrating to an alternative provider, would result in disproportionate operational disruption, high cost, and unacceptable delay to service continuity, particularly during the academic year.

Market testing has confirmed that no other supplier offers a solution compatible with Oak's existing content schema, metadata frameworks, or custom delivery APIs without fundamental redevelopment of the platform. As such, Cloudinary remains the only supplier technically capable of meeting the current requirements without significant re-engineering of critical systems.

This contract is therefore not the result of an artificial narrowing of the parameters of competition, but a reflection of the bespoke and irreplaceable nature of Cloudinary's embedded role in Oak's educational content delivery system.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Lot #1Awarded

Delivery: UK

72212517 IT software development services

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record

Procedure method: Below threshold - without competition
Legal basis: UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
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: Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement: Unspecified in notice
First published: 16 Jun 2025, 10:49 BST
Last source update: 16 Jun 2025, 10:49 BST
FTS notice number: 2025/S 000-032500
Latest notice: Contract details notice (UK7)
Delivery area: UK
Official registry OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05490c Find a Tender

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender

Contract details notice published
16 Jun 2025, 10:49 BST
UK7

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast

Awards 1

Awarded value £20,0851 contract exc. VAT

Contracts signed 1latest 1 Jun 2025

Awarded to	Value	Date	Status
Cloudinary UK Ltd	£20,085 †	—	Awarded

Contracts

Contract 1 · Cloudinary UK Ltd
Signed
1 Jun 2025
Value
£20,085
Period
1 Jun 2025 – 31 May 2026 · up to 31 May 2027 with extensions
Status
active
Extensions
This contract represents a continuation of a previously awarded bespoke enterprise licence agreement with Cloudinary. The extension covers a 12-month renewal of services originally procured to support the technical infrastructure of the Oak National Academy's digital content platform. This renewal is necessary to maintain seamless delivery of existing educational services embedded with Cloudinary's proprietary digital asset management technology. The terms of the extension are consistent with the original scope and pricing model, adjusted only for updated licensing and support provisions as per the enterprise subscription. The contract has not been materially altered beyond what was foreseen at the time of the original award. No new services, deliverables, or functional changes have been introduced. The extension ensures operational continuity during a period of strategic review and avoids disproportionate technical and financial risk associated with a re-platforming exercise. This extension is compliant with Section 41(1)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023, on the basis that the service can only be provided by Cloudinary for technical reasons and due to embedded architecture. With an option to extend for a further 12 months, subject to performance and budget availability

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

OAK NATIONAL ACADEMY LIMITED

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-COH: 14174888 · GB-PPON: PWYQ-7722-NDVX 1 Scott Place, Manchester, North West, M3 3AAContact email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Cloudinary UK LtdAwarded supplier 30 Old Bailey,, London, London, EC4M 7AUContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender16 Jun 2025, 10:49 BST