Find a TenderAwardedContract details notice
Published 12 Dec 2025, 13:37 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Out of Hours Contact Centre Services

Official notice

Authority: The Guinness Partnership (Public body)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Published estimate£1,104,250≈ £368k / year · £1,325,100 inc. VAT27.1% below published estimate
Submissions closed 19 Jan 2026awarded 15 Apr 2026
Awarded to Care Quality Services Ltd
Contract term 3 yrsends 30 Jun 2029 · up to 30 Jun 2032 with extensions · starts 1 Jul 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Guinness Partnership Limited (Guinness) and all of our subsidiaries have a requirement for a supplier to provide a contact centre service outside of the operating hours of our in house contact centre. The service is required to offer our residents 24/7/365 access to a telephone service in an emergency situation with immediate risk to health and safety. The out of hours service is required during the hours of 8pm to 8am Monday to Friday and from 8pm on Friday through to 8am on Monday and includes all public holidays. The supplier will also be required to provide cover during normal working hours in the event that Guinness are unable to take calls.

It is possible during the contract that the supplier will be expected to use other forms of communication for example email and web chat.

CPV: Telephone-answering services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1AwardedRenewal 3 yrsSMEPublished value£1,104,250
Contract period: 1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2029 (3 yrs) · up to 30 Jun 2032 with extensionsValue: £1,104,250 exc. VAT · £1,325,100 inc. VAT
Extensions: Other forms of communication may be introduced during the contract term, for example email and web chat. The hours of operation could be extended should the hours of operation of the in house contact centre change. · The contract may be extended by up to three years which may be taken in full or as single annual extensions. Guinness give no guarantee that the contract will be extended.
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)1
  • Economic & financial standing

    Suppliers are required to have a minimum turnover of £2,209,000 for each of the last two accounting periods.

    Suppliers are required to have a Dun & Bradstreet Impact of Supplier Failure Score of 50 or above.

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: 40%
Published sub-criteria (3)
  • Quality: 55%
  • Operational scenario: 5%
  • Price: 40%
Published award criteria (3)
  • Price
  • Quality
  • Operational scenario
Conditions of participation1
  • Economic & financial standing

    Suppliers are required to have a minimum turnover of £2,209,000 for each of the last two accounting periods.

    Suppliers are required to have a Dun & Bradstreet Impact of Supplier Failure Score of 50 or above.

What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 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)
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
12 Dec 2025, 13:37 GMT
Last source update
5 Aug 2026, 10:23 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 16 Mar 2026
Authority reference
PRJ1000165
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-082491
Latest notice
Contract details notice (UK7)
Classification (CPV)
Telephone-answering services
Delivery area
North East (UKC)North West (UKD)Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)East Midlands (UKF)West Midlands (UKG)East of England (UKH)London (UKI)South East (UKJ)
+1 moreSouth West (UKK)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f4dc Find a Tender
Review and risk notes
Risks
  1. Awaab's Law came into effect October 2025 with the law due to be extended in 2026 and 2027 to address further Housing Health and Safety Rating System hazards. The Contract requirements may require modifying to cover these new requirements and ensure that it remains compliant with the Law.
  2. There is the ever-present possibility of mergers between Guinness and other housing organisations, which could substantially alter the current property numbers and volume of calls and potentially increase the number of contact centres that Guinness operate. Whilst there are not currently any such major projects known to the Procurement Team, this is extremely common within our sector (for e.g. Guinness has recently completed a merger with another HA, Shepherd's Bush HA), so this is not outside of the realms of possibility.
  3. The number of properties owned by Guinness will fluctuate due to property disposal, acquisition, or the development build programme which in turn will have an impact on the expected volume of calls under this Contract and subsequently the Contract value.
  4. The contract has provision to extend the contract for a further three years. The extensions may be exercised as single years or as one period of three years.
  5. External factors could also impact upon the scope and associate cost of requirements, due to the introduction of new legislation or regulation. For example changes in law relating to National Insurance and Minimum National Wage may impact the Supplier's ability to deliver the Contract at the tendered sum and in line with CPI provisions in the Contract. It is not possible to predict any increases in labour costs and the impact on the Contract value. The Contract may need modification to account for any increase to the Contract value above CPI provisions in the Contract.
  6. The hours of operation of the out of hours contact centre service could change if any changes are made to the operating hours of the in house contact centre.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: ProContract (Due North) · Who buys & how to bid on ProContract
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · short registration with manual review; public opportunity list
Submission deadline
19 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

12 Dec 2025 → 5 Aug 2026 · 7 dates
  1. Tender notice published318 days ago
    12 Dec 2025, 13:37 GMT
  2. Submission deadline280 days ago
    19 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
  3. Award decision expected by224 days ago
    16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
  4. Assessment summaries sent195 days ago
    15 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
  5. Standstill ends184 days ago
    25 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
  6. Contract starts118 days ago
    1 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
  7. Latest notice published83 days ago
    5 Aug 2026, 10:23 BST

Notice history

5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 12 Dec 2025
  1. Tender notice published
    12 Dec 2025, 13:37 GMT
    UK4
  2. Contract award notice published
    15 Apr 2026, 13:27 BST
    UK6
  3. Status changed to complete
    15 Apr 2026, 13:27 BST
  4. Contract signature expected
    1 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
    scheduled
  5. Contract details notice published
    5 Aug 2026, 10:23 BST
    UK7

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £805,0001 award exc. VAT
Bids received 62 from SMEs
Contracts signed 1latest 30 Jun 2026
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Care Quality Services Ltd1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2029 · up to 30 Jun 2032Extensions: 3 year extension available.£805,00015 Apr 2026Awarded

Contracts

  • Contract 1 · Care Quality Services Ltd

    Signed
    30 Jun 2026
    Value
    £805,000
    Period
    1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2029 · up to 30 Jun 2032 with extensions
    Status
    active
    Extensions
    3 year extension based on satisfactory performance at the sole discretion of The Guinness Partnership.

    No agreed KPIs: Below £5m contract

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
6final-stage tenders · 8 at stage one20—

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

THE GUINNESS PARTNERSHIP LIMITED

Contracting authorityPublic undertaking GB-COH: IP031693 · GB-PPON: PBNQ-4523-TMYT 7th Floor, 350 Euston Road, London, London, NW1 3AXContact email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • Care Quality Services LimitedAwarded supplierGB-COH: 11696513GB-PPON: PTDB-2136-RTGM Crown House, Stephenson Road, Severalls Industrial Park,, Colchester, East of England, CO4 9QRContact email

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender