Official UK procurement notice
Flexible Benefits Platform (including Brokering Service) and Employee Reward & Recognition Platform
Authority: NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe National Energy System Operator (NESO) is an independent, public corporation at the centre of the energy system with a view to create access to reliable, clean and affordable energy in the UK.
Following its transition into public ownership, NESO is seeking to appoint a provider(s) to provide for the People function a reward and benefit software as a service platform solution for their 2,800 primarily UK based employees.
Lot 1 Flexible Benefits Platform and brokering service
(Estimated spend £7681779 of which 52% is pass through spend to benefit providers)
Lot 2 Employee Reward & Recognition Platform
(Estimated spend £5498319)
NESO is exploring competitive options via public sector frameworks and is therefore starting the process as a PA23 engagement to get market insight. We are releasing the Pre Market Engagement questionnaire which will help us validate the strategy at Gate 0 and to understand what the market is able to offer.
CPV: Business transaction and personal business software package · Miscellaneous business and business-related services · Miscellaneous services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 4 yrs · up to 8 yrs from 31 Oct 2026
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat 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).
- “Flexible Benefits Platform (including Brokering Service) and Employee…” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED buys Miscellaneous business and business-related services (CPV 7990), and who usually turns up
NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM OPERATOR LIMITED’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Miscellaneous business and business-related services (CPV 7990) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
No supplier sizes published for this authority.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the delivery region.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 96 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
No awards recorded for this authority in this market.
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 7990Published estimate£13m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 1,174 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–314%
4–621%
7+61%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 8 Jan 2026, 16:41 GMT
- Last source update
- 20 Jan 2026, 10:15 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-004650- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06023aFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
8 Jan 2026 → 31 Oct 2026 · 5 dates- Planning notice published286 days ago8 Jan 2026, 16:41 GMT
- Latest notice published275 days ago20 Jan 2026, 10:15 GMT
- Market engagement271 days ago23 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
NESO would like interested organisations to complete the following form:
forms.office.com/e/T2MadKHZGP ↗
which NESO will then collate in order to develop their understanding of the market and complete their assurance process. Further communication in the form of notices will then be published via Find a Tender Service (FTS).
- Tender notice expected240 days ago23 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 9 days31 Oct 2026
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 8 Jan 2026- Pipeline notice published8 Jan 2026, 16:41 GMTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published8 Jan 2026, 18:20 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published20 Jan 2026, 10:15 GMTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender