Find a TenderAwardedContract award notice
Published 17 Nov 2025, 12:05 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Creative Content Exchange Platform

Official notice

Authority: Natural History Museum (Central government)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Published estimate£500,000≈ £500k / year · £600,000 inc. VAT · 1 value update
Submissions closed 19 Jan 2026awarded 3 Feb 2026
Award (standstill) to Harbr Group Limited
Contract term 1 yrends 23 Feb 2027 · up to 23 Feb 2028 with extensions · starts 23 Feb 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The 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:

www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html ↗

CPV: Networking, Internet and intranet software package · Procurement software package · Software programming and consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1AwardedRenewal 1 yrSMEPublished value£500,000
Contract period: 23 Feb 2026 – 23 Feb 2027 (1 yr) · up to 23 Feb 2028 with extensionsValue: £500,000 exc. VAT · £600,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: 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 NHM's 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).
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    See ITT

  • Technical & professional ability

    See ITT

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids were scored
Quality: 60%Price: 30%Social value: 10%
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
Conditions of participation2
  • Economic & financial standing

    See ITT

  • Technical & professional ability

    See ITT

What this means for your bid
  • 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)
Networking, Internet and intranet software packageProcurement software packageSoftware programming and consultancy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e256 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: Delta eSourcing · Who buys & how to bid on Delta
Public notice page · account needed to bidElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free Select account; no DUNS asked at signup
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
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

17 Nov 2025 → 23 Feb 2026 · 10 dates
  1. Planning notice published343 days ago
    17 Nov 2025, 12:05 GMT
  2. Market engagement332 days ago
    28 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.

  3. Tender notice published318 days ago
    12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
  4. Clarification questions by291 days ago
    8 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
  5. Submission deadline280 days ago
    19 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
  6. Assessment summaries sent266 days ago
    3 Feb 2026
  7. Latest notice published264 days ago
    4 Feb 2026, 14:05 GMT
  8. Standstill ends255 days ago
    13 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
  9. Award decision expected by251 days ago
    17 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
  10. Contract starts246 days ago
    23 Feb 2026

Notice history

11 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Nov 2025
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Nov 2025, 12:05 GMT
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMT
    UK2
  3. Published value updated to £500,000
    17 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMT
    was £200,000
  4. Tender notice published
    12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
    UK4
  5. Status changed to active
    12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
  6. Procurement method changed
    12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
  7. Deadline published: 19 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
    12 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
  8. Tender notice published
    15 Dec 2025, 19:05 GMT
    UK4
  9. Contract award notice published
    4 Feb 2026, 14:05 GMT
    UK6
  10. Status changed to complete
    4 Feb 2026, 14:05 GMT
  11. Contract signature expected
    23 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
    scheduled
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
Awards 1
Awarded value £500,0001 award exc. VAT
Bids received 55 from SMEs
Awarded toValueDateStatus
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).£500,0003 Feb 2026standstill to 13 Feb 2026Standstill

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
5final-stage tenders · 7 at stage one50—

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Natural History Museum

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PJBJ-4723-MZPX Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, LONDON, London, SW7 5BDContact name, email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • Harbr Group LimitedAwarded supplierGB-COH: 10671007 41 Luke Street, London, London, EC2A 4DPContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (5)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure