Published date: 12 August 2025

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


Closing: 3 June 2025, 2pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Research and development consultancy services - 73200000

Location of contract

Any region

Value of contract

£79,925

Procurement reference

tender_490995/1504177

Published date

12 August 2025

Closing date

3 June 2025

Closing time

2pm

Contract start date

31 July 2025

Contract end date

31 January 2026

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Call-off from a dynamic purchasing system

A mini-competition or direct purchase from a pre-established dynamic purchasing system.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Description

A study to provide foundational evidence to DBT's policy teams on the nature and extent of potentially harmful OCA practices employed by a selected sample of digital platforms. This evidence is crucial for subsequently developing appropriate regulatory responses and interventions to safeguard the interests of consumers and promote fair competition in online markets.
The goods or services procured through this contract will be used by the Department for Business and Trade to:
1. Identify the types and frequency of potentially harmful OCAs used across selected online platforms.
2. Understand the probability of users encountering these practices on these platforms during their customer journey.
3. Obtain data-driven insights into the relationships between OCA prevalence and factors such as product categories, device types (desktop vs mobile), and platform types (e-commerce vs social media with market functions).
4. Establish an evidence base on the current state of potentially harmful OCA usage by major online platforms operating in the UK market.
5. Use these findings to scope future research projects examining the negative impacts of OCAs on consumer welfare, autonomy, and market competition.
6. Contribute with evidence to update relevant consumer protection and competition policies, guidance, and enforcement approaches to address consumer harms and anti-competitive effects arising from the use of potentially harmful choice architectures by online platforms.

Award information

Awarded date

31 July 2025

Contract start date

31 July 2025

Contract end date

31 January 2026

Total value of contract

£79,925

This contract was awarded to 1 supplier.

Revealing Reality

Address

The Ballroom Maritime House, Grafton Square, London, England, SW4 0JW

Reference

Companies House number: 05438122

Supplier is SME?

No

Supplier is VCSE?

No

Additional details

Refistered on Company House as ESRO LIMITED

About the buyer

Contact name

Department for Business and Trade

Address

Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall
London
SW1A 2DY
England

Email

CommercialResearchandConsultancy@businessandtrade.gov.uk