Official UK procurement notice
Independent Monitor · UK public procurement notice
Authority: The Water Services Regulation Authority (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAn independent monitor (the Monitor) was appointed to monitor and review compliance by Thames Water Utilities Limited ("the Company") (a company regulated by Ofwat) with the conditions of the undertakings given by the Company, and accepted by Ofwat, under section 19(1)(b) of the Water Industry Act 1991. In that context, the Monitor has been monitoring and reviewing progress by the Company towards achieving the objective of the undertakings. The Monitor reports to Ofwat and makes recommendations as to any additional steps the Company should take to achieve the conditions and objectives of the undertakings. Under the terms of the undertakings, the Company agreed to pay the reasonable fees and out-of-pocket expenses of the Monitor. The contract end date at the time of award was 15 October 2025.
CPV: Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 28 Apr 2026, 12:23 BST
- Last source update
- 28 Apr 2026, 12:44 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-038509- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-068c98Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority/entity and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive
- Published justification
The contract was awarded under Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, as, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by Ofwat, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation could not be complied with. Prior to making the direct award, Ofwat carried out a non‑regulated competition involving seven potential suppliers. Following that process, and having regard to the urgency of appointing an independent monitor, Ofwat proceeded to negotiate directly with L.E.K. Consulting LLP and make a direct award.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| L.E.K. CONSULTING LLP | £3,000,000 †same award published again · counted once | — | Awarded |
| L.E.K. CONSULTING LLP | £7,500,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Independent Monitor · L.E.K. CONSULTING LLP
- Signed
- 15 Oct 2024
- Value
- £3,000,000
- Status
- active
Contract 038532-2026-PROC.0051-1 · L.E.K. CONSULTING LLP
- Signed
- 15 Oct 2024
- Value
- £7,500,000
- Period
- … – 31 Aug 2026
- Status
- active
- Change It has been necessary to modify the contract on three occasions with each extension justified under regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The first modification on 24 April 2025 was necessary to maintain continuity of the monitoring and assessment of the turnaround plans of Thames Water Utilities Limited ("the Company") (a company regulated by Ofwat) and the progress made by the Company with raising equity, both of which required a greater level of activity than initially anticipated. The value of the modification was £1.5m. With the equity raise process ongoing, a second modification on 15 October 2025 was necessary to enable the independent monitor (the Monitor) to continue to provide oversight in relation to the Company's turnaround and input in relation to critical and detailed discussions between the Company Ofwat and relevant advisors, including to understand and assess the steps being taken by the Company during its equity raise process. The value of the modification was £1.5m. A third modification on 27 February 2026 was necessary for continuity, in terms of the ongoing scrutiny and monitoring of the progress of the Company's equity raise and proposed recapitalisation processes due to ongoing and unanticipated delays in the equity raise process. The value of the modification was £1.5m. In terms of the technical reasons for the modifications, the role of the Monitor involves detailed discussions with the Company, Ofwat and relevant advisors, to understand and assess the steps the Company has taken, and proposes to take, to raise necessary capital to support investment and long-term financial resilience of the Company. The first modification was to the budget which had initially been allocated to the work and reflected the additional scope which was required within the initial term of the contract for the Monitor to undertake its role effectively, including to support the assessment of the plans being developed for the equity raise. The second modification was to the term of the contract, involving extending it to 28 February 2026, which was required because it was technically impractical for another contractor to take over the Monitor role at that point in time, due to the technical complexity of the ongoing work and discussions. The third modification, which extended the term to 31 August 2026, was necessary for the same reasons as the second modification. Specifically, the requirements set out in the undertakings and referred to in the contract award notice, to raise the necessary capital to support the Company's investment programme and long-term financial resilience remains outstanding and subject to an ongoing process. The Company is continuing discussions with stakeholders in relation to a potential recapitalisation, which requires the continued monitoring of actions and progress. Onboarding a new contractor as monitor would necessitate considerable additional work on the part of the new monitor, as a new monitor would need to bring itself up to speed with many months of detailed analysis and this would have resulted in disproportionate duplicative costs and time at a key stage of the equity raise process. For further details on the initial contract award in October 2024, please refer to the contract award notice published on the same date as this modification notice. While Ofwat is not able to confirm exact dates, Ofwat intends to commence a re-procurement process for the award of the longer-term independent monitor at an appropriate juncture in mid-2026, Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: Onboarding a new contractor as monitor would necessitate considerable additional work on the part of the new monitor, as a new monitor would need to bring itself up to speed with many months of detailed analysis and this would have resulted in disproportionate duplicative costs and time at a key stage of the equity raise process.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High Court of Justice of England and WalesReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- L.E.K. CONSULTING LLPAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.