Find a TenderOpen for tender Tender notice
Published 23 Sept 2026, 01:02 BST

Official UK procurement notice

PRO005158-Services-Contract-System Integrator : Billing and CRM

Authority: United Utilities Water Limited (Public body)

ServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdAccelerated
Sectors: IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Published estimate£10,000,000≈ £2.0m / year · £12,000,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 18 Dec 202612:00 GMT · 86d 7h left
Clarification cut-off 16 Oct 202612:00 BST · questions to the authority
Contract term 5 yrsstarts 19 Apr 2027
Bids per lot · the market 3CPV 7226 · n=9 · competition analysis ↓

What is being bought

Published requirement description

System Integrator (SI) to support the implementation of the target end state for United Utilities. The appointed supplier will be responsible for delivering end-to-end systems integration services, including solution design, configuration, integration, data migration, testing, deployment, transition to the future-state operating model, hypercare, and ongoing support and maintenance. As a critical capability within a regulated utility environment, the target end state must support accurate billing, revenue assurance, regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, an enhanced customer experience, and the modernisation of business processes through the adoption of leading industry practices.

  • How the procedure runs: The procurement will be undertaken through a multi-stage process designed to identify the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT). The procedure is intended to provide a structured yet flexible approach to evaluating bidders' capability, capacity, technical solutions, commercial proposals, and ability to deliver requirements. The Company more…reserves the right to vary the order, number and content of stages, to reduce the number of bidders progressing through the procedure, to seek clarifications at any stage, and to award the contract on the basis of the initial tenders without conducting dialogue where this is considered appropriate. Further information regarding the process, evaluation methodology, timetable, assessment criteria, and stage requirements will be detailed within the procurement documents. All bidders will be treated equally and fairly throughout the procurement and the Authority will act in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 and the principles of transparency, integrity, and non-discrimination.

CPV: Customer Relation Management software development services · Data services · Software configuration services · Software implementation services · Software integration consultancy services · Software programming and consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Lot 1 5 yrsPublished value£10,000,000
Contract period: 19 Apr 2027 — 18 Apr 2032 (5 yrs)Turnover guideline: ~£3,995,712/yr≈ 2× annual value
Value
£10,000,000 exc. VAT · £12,000,000 inc. VAT
72200000 Software programming and consultancy services72212445 Customer Relation Management software development services72227000 Software integration consultancy services72263000 Software implementation services72265000 Software configuration services72300000 Data services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids are scored
Quality: 100%
Published sub-criteria (3)
  • Experience60%
  • Cyber Security20%
  • Data Protection20%
Published award criteria (3)
  • ExperienceAs stated in CoPQ
  • Cyber SecurityAs stated in CoPQ
  • Data ProtectionAs stated in CoPQ

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How United Utilities Water Limited buys Software-related services (CPV 7226) — and who usually turns up

United Utilities Water Limited’s own published record, next to the North West England market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Software-related services (CPV 7226)

1

How the contest usually goes

Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.

This authority

United Utilities Water Limited

contract notices in 36 months: 1 in CPV 7226 · 6 in division 72 (2 route not published) · 34 in all categories (1 without competition · 23 route not published)

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no bid reports published.

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

no bid reports published
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no bid reports published.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

no bid reports published
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 1 pairs. Small sample.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

39% aboveall categories · 36m · n=1 pairs
Deadline → award date
i

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.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 11 notices.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

110dall categories · 24m · n=11 notices
Notice updates
i

How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.

Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 162 notices.

Last 24 months.

0all categories · 24m · n=162 notices
Awarded without competition
i

How often this buyer awards without a competition.

Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 72), last 36 months: 4 notices.

Last 36 months.

0%division 72 · 36m · n=4 notices
How procedures are run moderate · n=4
i

Which procedures buyers here use.

Notices by the procedure they declare: open, selective, limited or direct. Open and selective are competitions; limited and direct are not.

Based on 6 notices · division 72, last 36 months.

  • Open 50%
  • Selective 50%
  • Limited 0%
  • Direct 0%

6 notices · division 72. Open and selective are competed (they feed the bid and price figures above); limited and direct are not; notices publishing no route are outside all four.

The market · authority’s region

North West England · Software-related services (CPV 7226)

contract notices delivered in North West England in 36 months: 70 in CPV 7226 (23 competed, 18 route not published) · 603 in division 72 (249 competed, 155 route not published) · the notice publishes no delivery location, so the authority’s registered region is used

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7226), last 36 months: 9 lots. 4 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 7) and 5 from older notices (bids received, middle 3).

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

3CPV 7226 · 36m · n=9 lots
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7226), last 36 months: 9 lots.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

11%CPV 7226 · 36m · n=9 lots
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7226), last 36 months: 5 pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

8% belowCPV 7226 · 36m · n=5 pairs
Deadline → award date
i

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.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7226), last 36 months: 5 notices.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

47dCPV 7226 · 36m · n=5 notices
SME bidders
i

How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.

SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7226), last 36 months: 6 lots.

Last 36 months.

94%CPV 7226 · 36m · n=6 lots
Winners based in the region
i

How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.

Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7226), last 36 months: 36 awards.

Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.

Last 36 months.

64%CPV 7226 · 36m · n=36 awards
Bids per lot robust · n=9
i

How the number of bidders is spread across lots.

Each lot with a published bid count is put in a band: one bid, two to three, four to six, seven or more. Real competitions only.

Based on 9 lots on 9 contested notices · CPV 7226, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 11%
  • 2–3 44%
  • 4–6 11%
  • 7+ 33%

Median 3 · 9 lots on 9 contested notices · CPV 7226.

Winning award vs estimate robust · n=5
i

How often winners come in below, near or above the estimate.

Each lot with both an estimate and an award is placed by how far the award sat from the estimate.

Based on 5 lot pairs · CPV 7226, last 36 months.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

  • Below estimate 60%
  • Within ±2% 20%
  • Above estimate 20%

5 lot pairs · CPV 7226.

robust · n=5
i

Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.

We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.

Based on the North West England market’s usual movement over 5 lots (CPV 7226), applied to the £10,000,000 estimate on this notice. The range comes from the region’s middle half.

A benchmark, not a price to bid.

Awards in North West England (CPV 7226, n=5 pairs) land a median 8% below: on this notice’s £10,000,000 that is about £9,240,000, middle half £7,090,000£10,000,000 (quartiles from North West England · CPV 7226). Context for a bid, not a recommended price.
2

Who you are likely to meet
i

Who you may be up against.

Suppliers on this buyer’s earlier similar contracts, and suppliers whose record fits this tender.

A guess from the record. Buyers do not publish who is bidding.

Suppliers on this authority’s earlier similar contracts, then suppliers with a matching track record — from published award history, not a bid list

Suppliers with a similar track record — and how they price
i

Suppliers with a similar track record, and how they price.

Suppliers matched on wins in this category, history with this buyer, location and size. Their award vs estimate is from their own past wins.

A guess from the record, not a bidder list.

SupplierEvidenceLast awardTheir award vs estimateRelevance
Perceptive Engineering Limited Large4 class wins57 months agono comparable pairs53%
NPLAN LIMITED 2 class wins2 months agono comparable pairs49%
Resonate Group Limited SME3 class wins3 months agono comparable pairs47%
EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Limited Large2 class wins6 months agono comparable pairs47%
SchoolGrid Ltd SME4 class wins25 months agono comparable pairs45%

Matched by the nightly worker on class wins, buyer history, delivery geography, scale and notice text; relevance is a 0–100% heuristic score, not a probability of bidding. “Their award vs estimate” is that supplier’s median on its own comparable single-supplier wins, CPV 7226 first. Nobody here is known to be bidding.

Coverage and what to read with care
  • Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
  • Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
  • “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

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
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
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
23 Sept 2026, 01:02 BST
Last source update
23 Sept 2026, 01:02 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 19 Mar 2027, 23:59 GMT
Authority reference
PRO005158-Services-Contract-SI
Accelerated
Negotiated tendering period - utilities/not central government
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Customer Relation Management software development servicesData servicesSoftware configuration servicesSoftware implementation servicesSoftware integration consultancy servicesSoftware programming and consultancy services
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077807 Find a Tender
How it runs
The procurement will be undertaken through a multi-stage process designed to identify the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT). The procedure is intended to provide a structured yet flexible approach to evaluating bidders' capability, capacity, technical solutions, commercial proposals, and ability to deliver requirements. The Company reserves the right to vary the order, number and content of stages, to reduce the number more…of bidders progressing through the procedure, to seek clarifications at any stage, and to award the contract on the basis of the initial tenders without conducting dialogue where this is considered appropriate. Further information regarding the process, evaluation methodology, timetable, assessment criteria, and stage requirements will be detailed within the procurement documents. All bidders will be treated equally and fairly throughout the procurement and the Authority will act in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 and the principles of transparency, integrity, and non-discrimination.

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Submit via EU-Supply (CTM)
Submission portal named on this notice: EU-Supply (CTM) · Who buys & how to bid on EU-Supply
Public notice page · account needed to bidElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · 5–10 minutes
Expression of interest (EOI)
Tender submission deadline
18 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
16 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Published estimate £10,000,000 excludes VAT (£12,000,000 including VAT).

Timeline

5 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice publishedearlier today
    23 Sept 2026, 01:02 BST
  2. Clarification questions byin 23 days
    16 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
  3. Submission deadlinein 86 days
    18 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
  4. Award decision expected byin 178 days
    19 Mar 2027, 23:59 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 208 days
    19 Apr 2027, 01:00 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Tender notice published
    23 Sept 2026, 01:02 BSTUK4

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

United Utilities Water Limited

Contracting authorityPrivate utility GB-COH: 02366678 Lingley Mere Business Park, Warrington, North West, WA5 3LP

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Conflict of interest declarationtenderConflict of interest declarationNot published

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender