Live tenders / NORTHUMBRIAN WATER LIMITED
NW2964 - Microsoft 365, AI and Intelligent Automation Partner Framework Agreement
What the buyer is asking for
NW2964 - Microsoft 365, AI and Intelligent Automation Partner Framework Agreement Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) provides essential water and wastewater services to 2.7 million customers across the North East of England and drinking water services to over 2 million customers in Essex and Suffolk. Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) has a strategic ambition to become the world's most digitally enabled water company and continues to invest significantly in Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Intelligent Automation, Data & Analytics and associated cloud technologies to support this ambition. Our digital strategy is focused on maximising business value from these technologies through improved productivity, collaboration, operational efficiency, automation and data-driven decision-making. As the Microsoft technology landscape continues to evolve rapidly, NWG requires access to a broad range of specialist expertise to support advisory services, architecture, design, implementation, optimisation, governance, adoption, change management and ongoing innovation across its Microsoft estate. This demand is expected to vary over time and will require the ability to access both strategic advisory capability and specialist technical resources across multiple disciplines. To support these requirements, NWG intends to establish a multi-supplier (up to 10 suppliers ultimately appointed in total, reserving the right to appoint a different amount subject to suppliers meeting relevant quality thresholds) Microsoft 365, AI and Intelligent Automation Framework Agreement (or framework). The Framework terms shall be 3 years with options to extend for 3+1+1 years (up to 8 years in total). The total forecasted spend under the Framework is estimated at up to £900,000 pa, equating to an estimated total potential spend of up to £7,200,000 over the full 8-year framework lifecycle. The framework will create a panel of pre-qualified partners with proven expertise across Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Copilot, AI, Intelligent Automation, Azure, Data & Analytics and related technologies. This will provide NWG with a flexible and compliant mechanism to engage specialist partners through future call-off engagements and mini-competitions as business needs arise. The framework is intended to establish long-term strategic partnerships rather than transactional supplier relationships. By appointing multiple partners, NWG will have access to a diverse range of skills, capacity and innovation capabilities, enabling the organisation to quickly respond to changing business priorities while maintaining consistency in governance, delivery standards and value for money. Implementation is expected to take approximately six weeks following contract award, with a planned go-live date of February 2027. Future capability areas may be introduced during the lifetime of the framework in response to emerging technologies and evolving business priorities. Target Contract Start date 01/02/2027.
How this is scored
Published by the buyer. A winning response is written to these weightings, not to the question.
- 60%qualityQuality
- 40%pricePrice
- Value
- £7,200,000
- Submission deadline
- 05 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST (13 days left)
- Enquiry deadline
- 28 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Award decision expected by
- 16 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract start
- Not stated
- Contract end
- Not stated
- Category
- services
- Lots
- 1
- Procedure
- Competitive flexible procedure
- CPV codes
- 72000000
- Legal basis
- 2023/54
How contested is this?
Buyers publish how many bids they received. Across 45 comparable procurements we can tell you the typical field size, how often one of these goes uncontested, and whether the buyer awards on price or on quality.
Timeline
4 published dates · Europe/London
- Tender notice published18 days ago3 Sept 2026, 16:27 BST
- Clarification questions byin 6 days28 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadlinein 13 days5 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Award decision expected byin 86 days16 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
Commercial outcome and contract awards
Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender
- Pipeline or early engagement notice14 Apr 2026, 09:08 BST033530-2026
- Tender notice3 Sept 2026, 16:27 BST083633-2026
Payment terms
45 days
How to bid
Applicants are asked to note that this procurement process will be conduced electronically with all documents and communication being managed through the Northumbrian Water eSourcing Spend Management portal called 'Ariba' https://s1.ariba.com Expressions of interest from this notice must be sent to the e-mail address andriy.volkov@nwl.co.uk before the deadline date of the 28th September 2026 at 12noon. Once expression of interest has been received that contains the details below, applicants will be given access to the Ariba portal within 48 hours from request (excluding weekends and bank holidays). This portal will contain all the tender documents associated with this procurement that are available at the time. An email link will also be provided to the email address you provide to access the portal. When sending expression of interest, applicants must provide the following information: 1) Full company name 2) Main contact details of the person who will be given access to the Ariba portal - Name, job title, E mail address and telephone number. (The deadline for return of the completed Tenders (Stage 1 - COP) is the 5th October 2026 at 12noon.
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