Official UK procurement notice
Creative Content Exchange Platform
Authority: Natural History Museum (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe UK Government is committed to establishing a Creative Content Exchange (CCE) in the Creative Industries Sector Plan (June 2025). The intention is for the CCE to be a trusted marketplace for selling, buying, licensing, and enabling permitted access to digitised cultural and creative assets.
To test the proof of concept behind the CCE, The Natural History Museum (NHM) in collaboration with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) is organising a small, closed pilot.
As part of this NHM is exploring options for procuring a complete platform solution to house the Creative Content Exchange (CCE) for the duration of the pilot. We envisage that this solution will need to comprise:
a) infrastructure and utilities for effecting the exchange of data and content (text, video, audio, multi-modal) between providers and consumers;
b) the facility for providers and consumers to enter into licensing and other types of commercial agreements;
c) the ability to set terms and conditions of use for the CCE that providers and consumers need to adhere to;
d) facility for a notice and takedown process within an agreed SLA;
e) human technical support for providers, consumers and the CCE team within agreed SLAs;
f) training for CCE team on use of the platform in the UK;
g) agreement that the whole of the CCE and any content or documents stored in it will be located in the UK and governed by UK law;
h) adequate security to ensure the CCE and any content or documents stored in it will be safe from malicious access;
i) facility for content providers to make content samples available to consumers;
j) provision of a sandbox or similar type of test environments;
k) provision of fine grained access controls for content providers to configure; and
l) billing, invoicing and payment facility.
To view this notice, please click here:
CPV: Networking, Internet and intranet software package · Procurement software package · Software programming and consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£500,000
- Economic & financial standing
See ITT
- Technical & professional ability
See ITT
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 (3)
- Technical: 60%
- Commercial: 30%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
- Technical: See ITT
- Social Value: See ITT
- Commercial: See ITT
- Economic & financial standing
See ITT
- Technical & professional ability
See ITT
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA, CPTPP)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 17 Nov 2025, 12:05 GMT
- Last source update
- 4 Feb 2026, 14:05 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 17 Feb 2026
- Authority reference
994397042- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-082704- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e256Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 19 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 8 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
17 Nov 2025 → 23 Feb 2026 · 10 dates- Planning notice published343 days ago17 Nov 2025, 12:05 GMT
- Market engagement332 days ago28 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
Please use the following link: forms.office.com/r/cQuLNcBG8M ↗
These responses will help us to shape the Invitation to Tender.
Participation in this questionnaire is not mandatory or binding and will not affect eligibility for involvement in the tender process.
- Tender notice published318 days ago12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
- Clarification questions by291 days ago8 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline280 days ago19 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent266 days ago3 Feb 2026
- Latest notice published264 days ago4 Feb 2026, 14:05 GMT
- Standstill ends255 days ago13 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Award decision expected by251 days ago17 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts246 days ago23 Feb 2026
Notice history
11 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Nov 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published17 Nov 2025, 12:05 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published17 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMTUK2
- Published value updated to £500,00017 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMTwas £200,000
- Tender notice published12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMTUK4
- Status changed to active12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
- Procurement method changed12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
- Deadline published: 19 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
- Tender notice published15 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published4 Feb 2026, 14:05 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete4 Feb 2026, 14:05 GMT
- Contract signature expected23 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Published amendments (1)
Change of title from Pre Market Engagement to Platform for clarity.
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2025-11: 2 releases · 17 Nov 2025, 17 Nov 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harbr Group Limited24 Feb 2026 – 24 Feb 2027 · up to 23 Feb 2028Extensions: The Contract may be extended beyond the Initial Term on a maximum of two occasions, for a period of up to 6 months on each occasion (each a Renewal Period) at NHMs sole discretion, by NHM giving the Contractor not less than one months notice prior to the expiry of the Initial Term or the Renewal Period (as applicable). | £500,000 | 3 Feb 2026standstill to 13 Feb 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5final-stage tenders · 7 at stage one | 5 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Harbr Group LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender