Section one: Contracting entity
one.1) Name and addresses
NORTHUMBRIAN WATER GROUP LIMITED
Northumbria House,Abbey Road, Pity Me
DURHAM
DH15FJ
Contact
Laura McMain
Telephone
+44 7805786518
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
one.6) Main activity
Water
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Customer Research and Engagement Framework
Reference number
NW2378
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79300000 - Market and economic research; polling and statistics
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The provision of water and wastewater services in England and Wales is a regulated business, and a number of organisations including the economic industry regulator, Ofwat, oversee our activities. Every five years we present a business plan to Ofwat detailing the prices we wish to charge our customers for the services that our customers want us to provide.
Customers are at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make. Our plans are co-created with our customers, and other stakeholders, through a robust programme of customer engagement, research and participation. We strive to ensure that our customer research and engagement is leading both within the water industry and compared to other sectors.
We are currently working towards the price review that will take place in 2024 (PR24) and require framework partners to provide customer research and engagement, and supporting consultancy services.
We will undertake both qualitative and quantitative research to understand our customers' priorities and the value they place on our services. This includes making decisions on the level of services customers can expect to receive and the investment we will make. Alongside this, we will require other professional services to consult on the use of the information we obtain from research to build suitable models from which we can devise cost effective plans.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79310000 - Market research services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKC - North East (England)
- UKH14 - Suffolk
- UKH3 - Essex
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The provision of water and wastewater services in England and Wales is a regulated business, and a number of organisations including the economic industry regulator, Ofwat, oversee our activities. Every five years we present a business plan to Ofwat detailing the prices we wish to charge our customers for the services that our customers want us to provide.
Customers are at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make. Our plans are co-created with our customers, and other stakeholders, through a robust programme of customer engagement, research and participation. We strive to ensure that our customer research and engagement is leading both within the water industry and compared to other sectors.
We are currently working towards the price review that will take place in 2024 (PR24) and require framework partners to provide customer research and engagement, and supporting consultancy services.
We will undertake both qualitative and quantitative research to understand our customers' priorities and the value they place on our services. This includes making decisions on the level of services customers can expect to receive and the investment we will make. Alongside this, we will require other professional services to consult on the use of the information we obtain from research to build suitable models from which we can devise cost effective plans.
We require partners, with excellent professional experience, who can demonstrate a sound understanding of:
- A wide range of customer research methodologies including Citizens Assessment/Jury
- A broad range of economic research methodologies
- An in-depth understanding of behavioural economics
- The current regulatory landscape including Ofwat guidance
- Willingness to Pay and Triangulation methods
- Cost benefit modelling
- Our business and the industry in which we operate
- Innovative practice towards economic research and other
customer engagement
- How to make complex information understandable for customers
- How to engage with customers and gain meaningful insight in
COVID safe ways
We welcome submissions from individual companies or consortiums of experts. If you are part of a consortium, please indicate who the lead organisation is.
We want to deliver a robust and innovative research and engagement programme so that our plan reflects our customer priorities and willingness to pay for services. Our research and engagement must stand up to robust scrutiny by our Executive Leadership Team, Board and regulators.
We will also engage with the Water Forum, (NWL's Customer Challenge Group). Members of the Water Forum will challenge our research methods, the robustness of the research and engagement and the interpretation of any results. The Water Forum will ensure that our plans adequately reflect the results of the engagement.
Objectives
We need to undertake an innovative and leading programme of research and engagement, to consider the following questions:
- What do our customers and stakeholders believe are the most important areas of service provided by NW and ESW?
- What improvements, if any, would our customers and stakeholders like to see to these services and what are they willing to pay for improvement to these services?
- Are the service improvements and WTP the same as those determined by the regulator?
- How would our customers and stakeholders like to see us incentivised or penalised for our performance against our service commitments?
- Vulnerable customer insights - as a rule of thumb in PR19 we worked to engage with vulnerable customers (financial / non-financial) separately on key elements of research to understand what really mattered to them
To achieve a robust customer focused set of data that answers the above questions, we will undertake a qualitative exploratory phase followed by a number of quantitative studies to determine customer priorities and their Willingness to Pay (WTP) for potential service improvements.
It is imperative that, where appropriate, our research is statistically valid and representative of NW and ESW customer bases both demographically and geographically. The customers in the ESW region will be asked about service attributes relating only to water supply where customers in the NW region will be asked about service attributes relating to both water and sewerage services.
he period of any contract(s) resulting from this procurement will be 36 months from the contract start date. The length of the contract may be extended by negotiation with the supplier for a further 36 months.
This research covers three disciplines - research, economics, creative, we are therefore looking for a minimum of 3 suppliers for this framework with a maximum of 9
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
36
This contract is subject to renewal
No
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
After the initial 36 month period, the contract will have the option to extend for a further 36 month period.
Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information
three.1) Conditions for participation
three.1.1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
List and brief description of conditions
All conditions will form part of the Pre qualification documentation
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
three.1.4) Objective rules and criteria for participation
List and brief description of rules and criteria
All conditions will form part of the Pre qualification documentation
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition
four.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement
Framework agreement with several operators
Envisaged maximum number of participants to the framework agreement: 9
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.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
21 May 2021
Local time
12:00pm
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.2) Information about electronic workflows
Electronic ordering will be used
Electronic invoicing will be accepted
Electronic payment will be used
six.3) Additional information
Applicants are asked to note that this procurement process will be conducted electronically with all documents and communication being managed through the Northumbrian Water e-Sourcing Spend Management portal called 'Ariba. Expressions of interest must be sent to the e-mail address laura.mcmain@nwl.co.uk before the deadline date of the 21st May 2021 at 12 noon. Once expression of interest has been received that contains the details below, applicants will be given access to the Ariba portal within 48 hours from request. This portal will contain all the tender documents associated with this procurement that are available at the time. An email link will also be provided to the email address you provide to access the portal. The deadline for return of the completed PQQ is the 21st May 2021 at 12noon. When sending expression of interest, applicants must provide the following information: 1) Full company name 2) Main contact details of the person who will be given access to the Ariba portal - Name, job title, E mail address and telephone
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
TBC
tbc
Country
United Kingdom