Tender

Trader Support Service

  • H M REVENUE & CUSTOMS

F02: Contract notice

Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-005479

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-049b31

Published 17 February 2025, 5:59pm



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

H M REVENUE & CUSTOMS

100 Parliament Street

London

SW1A 2BQ

Contact

Bhavina Patel

Email

bhavina.patel1@hmrc.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UK - United Kingdom

Justification for not providing organisation identifier

Not on any register

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs

one.3) Communication

The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at

http://hmrc.sourcing-eu.ariba.com/ad/selfRegistration

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address

Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via

http://hmrc.sourcing-eu.ariba.com/ad/selfRegistration

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Ministry or any other national or federal authority

one.5) Main activity

Other activity

Direct/Indirect Taxes and Duties


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Trader Support Service

Reference number

SR2256931926

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 72250000 - System and support services

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

HMRC is looking to appoint a service provider(s) for the Trader Support Service (TSS) to:

• provide a free end-to-end support package to manage the processes required to move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland on behalf of traders registered with the service;

• educate businesses on the regime for moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including changes introduced by the Windsor Framework, and the steps they need to take to comply with it; and

• be available to all sizes of businesses moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The service will include a digital portal to facilitate the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, self-serve guidance and specialist support for meeting customs obligations.

two.1.5) Estimated total value

Value excluding VAT: £370,000,000

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.2) Description

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 80510000 - Specialist training services
  • 98110000 - Services furnished by business, professional and specialist organisations

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The TSS supports traders to submit declarations via a digital platform with self-serve guidance and contact centre support on how to complete digital declarations. The service will be free to access for businesses moving goods between Northern Ireland (NI) and Great Britain (GB) under the Windsor Framework.

The Trader Support Service is made up of two key elements:

- System: A digital platform system to enable traders to submit information to meet requirements under the Windsor Framework.

- Service: Customer support service, providing information and guidance for businesses on how to submit compliant declarations and the steps they need to take to comply with regulations. This includes self-serve guidance such as written guides, webinars, videos, and process maps, as well as a responsive Contact Centre where traders can raise a range of enquiries.

The future contract is expected to be awarded in November 2025, for commencement of a rigorous mobilisation plan from December 2025. Following mobilisation, the future contract services shall run for an initial period of 5 years, with the option to extend for two further periods of 12 months.

The procurement is being undertaken using a "Competitive Dialogue" procedure (in accordance with Regulation 30 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015). Under the first stage of the process, bidders are required to complete a Selection Questionnaire ("SQ Stage"), which consists of mandatory requirements assessed on a pass/fail basis, and a series of qualitative questions to be evaluated to determine potential suppliers' technical and professional ability. Following evaluation of submitted SQs, HMRC will issue an Invitation to Participate in Competitive Dialogue to shortlisted bidders ("IPCD stage") and subsequently an Invitation to Tender ("ITT Stage"). Full details of the requirements, the SQ and the overall procurement process and how to participate are included in the SQ documents available in the event on the SAP Ariba eSourcing Portal.

Interested suppliers will be required to provide their latest financial accounting information and will have this assessed by the Contracting Authority in line with Regulation 58 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to ensure that the potential future contracting entity has the economic capability to deliver a contract of this size, which has an estimated contract value of circa £370m over its potential 7-year duration (5+1+1).

In line with Regulation 58(8) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Authority requires that interested suppliers (and for the avoidance of doubt, in the case of consortia this means the contracting entity) have a minimum annual turnover of £50m in order to participate in this Procurement and reserves the right to reject any SQ responses that do not meet this threshold.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents

two.2.6) Estimated value

Value excluding VAT: £370,000,000

two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system

Duration in months

60

This contract is subject to renewal

No

two.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited

Envisaged number of candidates: 4

two.2.10) Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: No

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No

two.2.14) Additional information

This procurement will be conducted by way of an eSourcing event using HMRC's SAP Ariba eSourcing Portal. Please ensure you are registered with the eSourcing Portal and have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to gain access to the procurement documentation when it is released which will contain full details of the requirement. The NDA will be provided once you have confirmed the below details.

If you are not already registered, the registration link is: http://hmrc.sourcing-eu.ariba.com/ad/selfRegistration

As part of the registration process you will receive a system generated email asking you to activate your SAP Ariba supplier account by verifying your email address. Once you have completed the activation process you will receive a further email by return confirming the 'registration process is now complete' and providing you with 'your organisation's account ID' number. If an email response from HMRC is not received within one working day of your request, please re-contact sapariba.hmrcsupport@hmrc.gov.uk (after first checking your spam in-box) notifying non-receipt and confirming when your registration request was first made.

Once you have obtained 'your organization's account ID' number, please email bhavina.patel1@hmrc.gov.uk, amandip.kang1@hmrc.gov.uk and copy in e.procurement@hmrc.gov.uk with your:

Contract title and Reference

Your organisation's HMRC SAP Ariba account ID

Your organisation name

Your name

Your email address

Your telephone number.

Once you have complied with the foregoing you will receive an e-mail confirming access to the procurement event once it is built. Further information about HMRC's procurement tool SAP Ariba, a Suppliers Guide and general information about supplying to HMRC is available on the HMRC website: www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/supplying.htm

If you have already registered on SAP Ariba then you may also need to re-register on HMRC's SAP Ariba in order to be added to the event.


Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information

three.1) Conditions for participation

three.1.2) Economic and financial standing

Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents

three.1.3) Technical and professional ability

Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Competitive dialogue

four.1.4) Information about reduction of the number of solutions or tenders during negotiation or dialogue

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

four.2) Administrative information

four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure

Notice number: 2024/S 000-029564

four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

Date

20 March 2025

Local time

1:00pm

four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted

English


Section six. Complementary information

six.1) Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: No

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

HM Revenue & Customs

100 Parliament Street

London

SW1A 2BQ

Country

United Kingdom