Published date: 5 January 2024

Awarded contract - This means that the contract has been awarded to a supplier.


Closing: 22 September 2023, 12pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Administration services - 75100000

  • Customer services - 79342300

  • Business and management consultancy and related services - 79400000

    • Call centre - 79512000

    • Miscellaneous business and business-related services - 79900000

Location of contract

Any region

Value of contract

£7,500,000

Procurement reference

tender_363106/1299031

Published date

5 January 2024

Closing date

22 September 2023

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

1 January 2024

Contract end date

31 March 2025

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (above threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements above the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

The Department for Business and Trade is seeking to award to a supplier to provide a service to provide information,
advice, guidance and signposting for any kind of business, including pre-start-ups, in England.
This
new service will replace the existing Business Support Helpline.
The aim of the Business Information Service is to increase and encourage access to relevant high
quality business support, save businesses time and resource, and ultimately help businesses to
start,
grow and thrive - in particular Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
The Business Information Service will be expected to provide bespoke, unscripted advice (via
telephone, email, webchat, social media, and other messaging services, but not face-to-face) on a
wide range of topics including starting a business, accessing finance, and business planning.
The service will need to maintain a database of information on business support in England for use
by the service's advisers. This database will also need to be accessible to other users, such as
advisers based in Growth Hubs. The service will be demand-led so should be flexible. It must
provide capacity to meet at least 50,000 inbound contacts, with at least 10,000 in-depth
appointments per annum. It must also be capable of rapidly scaling-up (at extra cost) in response
to
economic shocks and other pressures.
The service will be expected to operate within standard hours, but should have a robust process for
out-of-hours contacts.

More information

Previous notice about this procurement

Business Information Service

  • Opportunity
  • Published 10 August 2023

Attachments

Award information

Awarded date

18 December 2023

Contract start date

1 January 2024

Contract end date

31 March 2025

Total value of contract

£7,500,000

This contract was awarded to 1 supplier.

UMi Commercial Limited

Address

Navigators Point, Belmonth Business Park, Durham, DH1 1TW

Reference

Companies House number: 07227157

Supplier is SME?

Yes

Supplier is VCSE?

No

About the buyer

Address

Old Admiralty Building
London
SW1A 2DY
England

Email

stsven.williams3@businessandtrade.gov.uk