Official UK procurement notice
ID 6663135 - DfC - Strategic Partner Contract
Authority: Department for Communities (Central government)·Procurement run by: CPD - Supplies and Services Division
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionConstruction and Procurement Delivery on behalf of the Department for Communities, is seeking to establish a single supplier Strategic Partner Contract for the provision of Professional Services to Department for Communities and participating Arms-Length Bodies. A full list of the participating Arms-Length Bodies can be found at Annex 1 to Schedule 17 (Service Recipients). The successful Supplier shall be responsible for managing and delivering Professional Services in accordance with the Contract, the Specification and the associated Contract Documents.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 14 Jul 2031, 23:59 BST.
- No preliminary market engagement: Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) was been carried out by the Contracting Authority (Department for Communities). A Preliminary Market Engagement Notice was published on Find a Tender Service (FTS) on 01 June 2026. The reference number for the notice is 2026/S 000-051513 and the OCID is: ocds-h6vhtk-06aa9f. The PME closed 22 June 2026 with 19 suppliers responding, 14 of which wished to engage in follow up sessions. These sessions were conducted through a combination of in-person and online sessions to maximise market participation and ensure suppliers were afforded equal opportunity to engage with the project team.
CPV: Business analysis consultancy services · Business and management consultancy and related services · Business and management consultancy services · Business development consultancy services · Business intelligence software development services · Commercial property management services · Compulsory social security services · Computer audit and testing services · Computer support and consultancy services · Computer-related services · Financial consultancy, financial transaction processing and clearing-house services · Financial management consultancy services · +18 more
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£8,000,000
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 (5)
- AC1 - Proposed Methodology: 35%
- AC2 - Team Experience: 25%
- AC3 - Scenario: 20%
- AC4 - Contract Management: 10%
- AC5 - Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (5)
- AC1 - Proposed Methodology: As per tender documentation
- AC2 - Team Experience: As per tender documentation
- AC3 - Scenario: As per tender documentation
- AC4 - Contract Management: As per tender documentation
- AC5 - Social Value: As per tender documentation
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £7,989,056 (twice the annual value).
Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Department for Communities buys Systems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222), and who usually turns up
Department for Communities’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Systems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Northern Ireland (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 29 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid27% / 0%
2–327% / 60%
4–645% / 20%
7+0% / 20%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate11% / 20%
Within ±2%56% / 80%
Above estimate33% / 0%
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 7221Published estimate£8.0m
This lot is listed as CPV 7221. The table above uses the notice category.
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid35%
2–342%
4–615%
7+7%
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.
Based on 7 comparable awards. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Middle 50%£8.0m
Estimate£8.0m
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OutsystemsWorked for this buyer | ID 3734914 - DfC Employability NI - Labour Market IT (G Cloud)notice published Mar 2022 | — | — | Similar wording and category |
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
Accenture UK LimitedLarge | £514m41 awards in 36m · last this month | 5 live · £401m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=6 |
| £112m13 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 3 live · £29m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 8% above n=1 | |
| £7.4m11 awards in 36m · last 4 months ago | 1 live · £90k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 18% above n=1 | |
| £438k2 awards in 36m · last 4 months ago | None on file | at estimate n=1 | |
ANDigitalLarge | £16m2 awards in 36m · last 16 months ago | None on file | no comparable pairs |
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly. Contracts Finder appears in live search, the Retender Radar, contract pages, organisation counts and the buyer's decision figure; the other analytical figures are built from Find a Tender notices.
- 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
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 14 Jul 2031
- First published
- 9 Nov 2026, 21:17 GMT
- Last source update
- 9 Nov 2026, 21:17 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 11 Jan 2027
- Authority reference
ID 6663135- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-106452- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b817Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
For further details on invoicing procedures please see : www.finance-ni.gov.uk/articles/account-ni-… ↗.
Contract Value
The estimated value figure indicated in the Scope Section represents an overall estimated contract value. This value reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation or increases to charges due to increases in the Real Living Wage. Neither CPD nor the contracting Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender. Suppliers remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Supplier in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise (and a Supplier shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the Contracting Authority.
- Risks
Exclusions
If at any time during the procurement, or post award, it comes to the attention of the Contracting Authority (CA) or CPD, by whatever means, that a Supplier has become ‘excluded’ or ‘excludable’ as per Sec 57 of the PA 2023, the Contracting Authority, after compliance with its obligations under the PA 23, reserves the right to exclude said Supplier from the procurement procedure or terminate any contract they have been awarded.
The Contracting Authority expressly reserves the rights:
(I) not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; and
(II) to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering Competition.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via eTendersNI- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 7 Dec 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 27 Nov 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders must be submitted electronically via the relevant Call for Tender (CfT) opportunity on eTendersNI, website details immediately below.
Paper submissions will not be accepted or considered and will be rejected by the Contracting Authority / Buyer.
The tender documents are available with unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: URL etendersni.gov.uk/epps ↗
Timeline
9 Nov 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published1h ago9 Nov 2026, 21:17 GMT
- Today9 Nov 2026
- Clarification questions byin 17 days27 Nov 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 27 days7 Dec 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 63 days11 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 83 days1 Feb 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published9 Nov 2026, 21:17 GMTUK4
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPD - Supplies and Services DivisionProcess contact pointProcuring entityConstruction and Procurement Delivery – Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland.
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender