Official UK procurement notice
Media Buying · BBJ&K Ltd for West Midlands Combined Authority (Aug 2025)
Authority: West Midlands Combined Authority (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionWMCA is seeking to procure a qualified media buying agency to plan, purchase, manage, and report on media campaigns across multiple channels. This contract aims to deliver cost-effective, targeted communications that reach intended audiences and support the organisation’s strategic objectives.
CPV: Advertising campaign services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£18,000,000
- Economic & financial standing
Financial Capacity assessed through self-completion of WMCA's Financial Risk Assessment Tool.
If a 'Fail' or 'Flag as Risk' is received for any metrics, the tenderer MUST engage with WMCA BEFORE THE END OF THE CLARIFICATION PERIOD to provide an explanation and agree mitigation measures. If Tenderers receive a 'Fail' or 'Flag as Risk' and don't engage during the clarification period, they will Fail this condition of participation.
The Concessionaire will be required to hold the following levels of insurance;
- Professional Indemnity: £2,000,000
- Public Liability: £5,000,000
- Employers' Liability: £10,000,000
- Cyber Liability: £1,000,000
Tenderers must confirm that they commit to obtaining and maintaining these levels of insurance throughout the duration of the contract and must upload either;
a) Insurance Certificates showing that these levels of cover are currently held; or
b) A letter/quotation from an insurance company confirming that they would offer the required level of insurance
- Technical & professional ability
A Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) will be used.
Insurance Requirements - Pass/Fail
Financial Standings - Pass/Fail
Modern Slavery 2015 - Pass/Fail
Real Living wage - Pass/Fail
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 (2)
- Technical Quality Assessment: 60%
- Price: 40%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical Quality Assessment: 6 Technical/Quality questions are to be answered. Each question carries a weighting, with the total weighting for all questions totalling 60%.
- Price
- Economic & financial standing
Financial Capacity assessed through self-completion of WMCA's Financial Risk Assessment Tool.
If a 'Fail' or 'Flag as Risk' is received for any metrics, the tenderer MUST engage with WMCA BEFORE THE END OF THE CLARIFICATION PERIOD to provide an explanation and agree mitigation measures. If Tenderers receive a 'Fail' or 'Flag as Risk' and don't engage during the clarification period, they will Fail this condition of participation.
The Concessionaire will be required to hold the following levels of insurance;
- Professional Indemnity: £2,000,000
- Public Liability: £5,000,000
- Employers' Liability: £10,000,000
- Cyber Liability: £1,000,000
Tenderers must confirm that they commit to obtaining and maintaining these levels of insurance throughout the duration of the contract and must upload either;
a) Insurance Certificates showing that these levels of cover are currently held; or
b) A letter/quotation from an insurance company confirming that they would offer the required level of insurance
- Technical & professional ability
A Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) will be used.
Insurance Requirements - Pass/Fail
Financial Standings - Pass/Fail
Modern Slavery 2015 - Pass/Fail
Real Living wage - Pass/Fail
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Awarded
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 4 Aug 2025, 14:56 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Feb 2026, 09:42 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 14 Jan 2026
- Authority reference
PRT-COMM-ESG-2025-0001- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-068990- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-056c68Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 24 Nov 2025, 17:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 13 Nov 2025, 17:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Via Bravo
wmca.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/47290782019A0BA65FD1 ↗
Interested suppliers will need to register for a Bravo account if required
Timeline
4 Aug 2025 → 24 Feb 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published4 Aug 2025, 14:56 BST
- Market engagement15 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST
WMCA intend to circulate a questionnaire through Bravo (WMCA e-tendering portal), allowing you to provide more information about your interest and comment on the proposed approach.
Portal Website: wmca.bravosolution.co.uk ↗
PQQ Title: Pre Market Engagment Media Buying
Bravo Solution Project Reference: pqq_257
- Next notice expected8 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published359 days ago28 Oct 2025, 13:59 GMT
- Clarification questions by343 days ago13 Nov 2025, 17:00 GMT
- Submission deadline332 days ago24 Nov 2025, 17:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by280 days ago14 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts263 days ago1 Feb 2026
- Assessment summaries sent261 days ago3 Feb 2026
- Standstill ends251 days ago12 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published240 days ago24 Feb 2026, 09:42 GMT
Notice history
11 events · 6 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Aug 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published4 Aug 2025, 14:56 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published28 Oct 2025, 13:59 GMTUK4
- Status changed to active28 Oct 2025, 13:59 GMT
- Procurement method changed28 Oct 2025, 13:59 GMT
- Deadline published: 24 Nov 2025, 17:00 GMT28 Oct 2025, 13:59 GMT
- Tender notice published29 Oct 2025, 10:53 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published3 Feb 2026, 10:01 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete3 Feb 2026, 10:01 GMT
- Contract signature expected13 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published24 Feb 2026, 09:04 GMTUK7
- Contract details notice published24 Feb 2026, 09:42 GMTUK7
Published amendments (1)
Evaluation weightings have been corrected
Routine re-releases (6)
- 2025-10: 2 releases · 28 Oct 2025, 29 Oct 2025
- 2025-08: 1 release · 4 Aug 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBJ&K LtdSME16 Feb 2026 – 15 Feb 2029 · up to 15 Feb 2031Extensions: upto a further 24 months | £15,000,000 | 3 Feb 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Media Buying · BBJ&K LtdSME
- Signed
- 20 Feb 2026
- Value
- £15,000,000
- Period
- 20 Feb 2026 – 21 Feb 2029 · up to 21 Feb 2031 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- To extend the contract, a review of the suppliers performance against the KPI's will be undertaken 6 months prior to the end of the contract. If KPI's are being met, then the contract can be extended.
- Change Copy of contract uploaded
4 agreed KPIs: Budget Reporting · Campaign Delivery · Governance …
- Budget Reporting, To report on spend during campaigns
- Campaign Delivery, 95% of campaigns launched on time and in full by the desired start date outlined in the works order form
- Governance, New briefs answered within a maximum of 3 weeks from issue date Timescales will vary dependant on the size of campaign (between 1 to 3 weeks) and will be set out in the work order
- Customer Services, 95% of request calls and emails acknowledged within 24 hours during business hours
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5final-stage tenders | 5 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- did not winHarvest Digital Limited · Greater London
- did not winMcCann Erickson Central Ltd · West Midlands
- did not winMediaworks UK Ltd · North East England
- did not winMediaplus UK Ltd · Greater London
- wonBBJ&K LtdSME · West Midlands
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
5 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- BBJ&KAwarded supplier
- Harvest Digital LimitedBidder / tenderer
- McCann Erickson Central LtdBidder / tenderer
- Mediaplus UK LtdBidder / tenderer
- Mediaworks UK LtdBidder / tenderer
Official documents & specifications (7)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender