Published date: 10 August 2023

This notice was replaced on 5 January 2024

This notice does not contain the most up-to-date information about this procurement. The most recent notice is:

Awarded contract (published 5 January 2024)

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


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_363106/1236364

Published date

10 August 2023

Closing date

22 September 2023

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

1 January 2024

Contract end date

31 March 2027

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 procure 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.

The service is expected to go live on 1 April 2024 - following a minimum three month mobilisation
period. We expect the contract to run for up to three years - initially for one year with the option to
extend the contract on an annual basis for three more. The initial contract value is anticipated to be up to £2.5 million per annum (including VAT).

Please register your interest in submitting a tender for this project by signing up to our procurement platform, Jaggaer. The Jaggaer platform allows for all ITT documents to be viewed and downloaded, bids to be submitted, and clarification questions to be asked and responded to. Please use the following link to register on the platform: https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/.

Click on "Register" under "View Our Live Opportunities". The ITT number for this requirement is itt_912. If you have any issues signing up to this platform, please email steven.williams3@beis.gov.uk . This will ensure you receive immediate notification of updates regarding the ITT process.

More information

Additional text

Please register your interest in submitting a tender for this project by signing up to our procurement platform, Jaggaer. The Jaggaer platform allows for all ITT documents to be viewed and downloaded, bids to be submitted, and clarification questions to be asked and responded to. Please use the following link to register on the platform: https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/.

Click on "Register" under "View Our Live Opportunities". The ITT number for this requirement is itt_912. If you have any issues signing up to this platform, please email steven.williams3@beis.gov.uk . This will ensure you receive immediate notification of updates regarding the ITT process.

About the buyer

Contact name

Steven Williams

Address

Victoria Square House, Victoria Square
Birmingham
B2 4AJ
England

Email

steven.williams3@beis.gov.uk