Official UK procurement notice
SONI090 – Client-Side Advisor
Authority: SONI Ltd (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSONI is seeking to appoint one (1) supplier to act as Client-Side Advisor, providing programme management, technical assurance, test assurance and transition support to SONI in respect of the Corporate IT Separation Programme and the establishment of SONI’s Security Operations Centre, working alongside SONI’s internal programme and technical teams. This procurement is being conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 (the “Act”) and the Procurement Regulations 2024.
The Client-Side Advisor augments SONI’s own programme and technical team, providing programme leadership, technical assurance and delivery oversight of the Systems Integrators (SIs) and suppliers delivering the separation workstreams. The role does not extend to the delivery, implementation or provision of any of the underlying systems, equipment or services being procured under SONI’s other separation competitions.
The Tenderer awarded the Framework Agreement (the ‘Supplier’) will act as SONI’s primary partner for Client-Side Advisory services, working alongside SONI’s internal teams and its other external advisors.
- How the procedure runs: Please refer to the RFP
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- every call-off is a further competition among the appointed suppliers
- Places
- up to 1 suppliers
- Framework period
- 2 yrs · up to 3 yrs from 1 Feb 2027
Published description of the framework
Refer to RFP
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£6,300,000
- Economic & financial standing
Please refer to RFP
- Technical & professional ability
Please refer to RFP
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)
- Previous Experience: 20%
- Approach & Methodology: 15%
- Tenderer Capacity: 10%
- Face-to-Face Meeting: 15%
- Ultimate Cost: 40%
Published award criteria (5)
- Previous Experience : Demonstrated recent and relevant experience of delivering client-side advisory, programme management and technical assurance services of a comparable nature and complexity.
- Approach & Methodology: The Tenderer's overall approach and methodology for delivering the Scope of Requirements, including programme governance, technical assurance, test assurance and transition support.
- Tenderer Capacity: Allocation of human resources to deliver the requirement effectively, including the qualifications and experience of proposed key personnel and their committed time.
- Face-to-Face Meeting: Scored validation of the proposed core team and submitted Approach & Methodology
- Ultimate Cost: Ultimate Cost of proposal in accordance with the Pricing Schedules. Sub-weighted: Fixed Monthly Fee 20%; Daily Rate Basket 20%.
- Economic & financial standing
Please refer to RFP
- Technical & professional ability
Please refer to RFP
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “SONI090 – Client-Side Advisor” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 1 suppliers, not a single contract: each call-off is a further competition, so the pricing contest starts after appointment.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How SONI Ltd buys IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72), and who usually turns up
SONI Ltd’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: IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) →
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 small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Northern Ireland.
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.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 46 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.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
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 bid4%
2–37%
4–630%
7+59%
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.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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 #1Published estimate£6.3m
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 bid4%
2–323%
4–649%
7+24%
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizon Seven Consulting LimitedWorked for this buyer | SONI084 IT Sourcing & Procurement Advisory Servicesruns to Sept 2027 | — | £750k | Similar wording and category |
| Nortal UKWorked for this buyer | SONI077 Cyber Security Governance Partner and Capacity Servicesruns to Sept 2027 | Cyber Security Governance Partner | £350k | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £750k1 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | None on file | at estimate n=1 | |
| £824m53 awards in 36m · last this month | 11 live · £33m 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. | 7% below n=4 | |
| £439m111 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 44 live · £4.5bn 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=8 | |
KPMGLarge | £574m147 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 39 live · £100m 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=23 |
Fujitsu Services LtdLarge | £898m21 awards in 36m · last 10 months ago | 1 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. | 21% below n=4 |
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
- Open admission
- 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 19 Oct 2026, 15:01 BST
- Last source update
- 19 Oct 2026, 15:01 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 15 Dec 2026
- Authority reference
SONI090- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-098580- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078af9Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Please refer to RFP
- How it runs
Please refer to the RFP
- Risks
Please refer to RFP
How to participate & submission route
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Appointment period ends
- 20 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 13 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
19 Oct 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published2 days ago19 Oct 2026, 15:01 BST
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Clarification questions byin 23 days13 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Admission / appointment period endsin 30 days · period end, not a bid countdown20 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 56 days15 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 103 days1 Feb 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published19 Oct 2026, 15:01 BSTUK4
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
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Request for Approval
- Bidding documents and specifications Framework Agreement
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender