Section one: Contracting entity
one.1) Name and addresses
THAMES WATER UTILITIES LIMITED
Reading
RG1 8DB
Contact
Thames Water
procurement.support.centre@thameswater.co.uk
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKJ11 - Berkshire
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/our-suppliers/procurement
one.3) Communication
Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at
https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/our-suppliers/procurement
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address
one.6) Main activity
Water
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Business Process Outsourcing Customer Services
Reference number
SA1536
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79342300 - Customer services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Thames Water is seeking to award Services Agreements to multiple providers for the provision of customer services across three lots:
Lot 1 - Digital led customer contact: delivering first tier contact on digital medium
Lot 2 - Transactional Back Office and Contingency Voice: Transactional, Ticketing and Exceptions Processing
Lot 3 - Post room services
We are looking for partner(s) with proven expertise to play a core role in delivering Thames Water's customer experience vision through:
Maintaining, improving and transforming services;
Increasing customers choice in the way they interact with us; and,
Increasing levels of automation.
The selected bidders will be able to demonstrate how they would support Thames Water's customer service strategy and its outcomes.
Bidders can apply for one or multiple lots. Thames Water may award more than one lot to a single bidder taking into account the evaluation of each individual lot; the tendered aggregate operational and commercial benefits to be obtained from the award of more than one lot; and, bidders stated preferences for award of lots at PQQ stage
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £63,000,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: Yes
Tenders may be submitted for all lots
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Digital Led Customer Contact
Lot No
1
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 64216100 - Electronic message services
- 79342320 - Customer-care services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKI - London
- UKJ - South East (England)
Main site or place of performance
The whole of the Thames Water region
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Thames Water is seeking a service provider for first tier customer contact through digitised media channels (including for but not limited to two-way messaging, web chat, social media).
It is expected that bidders will bring solutions to deliver our strategic outcomes in achieving a customer centric service where transactional work is highly automated and consistently delivered with residual human work.
Thames Water intends to award this lot to a single provider.
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: £15,000,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
96
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
Thames Water envisages that the contract will be awarded for an initial term of 5 years with options to extend by any period up to a further 3 years, with a maximum contract duration of 8 years.
two.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
Envisaged number of candidates: 7
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: Yes
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
Thames Water envisages that the contract will be awarded for an initial term of 5 years with options to extend by any period up to a further 3 years, with a maximum contract duration of 8 years.
Any agreement may flex in volume over time and may include additional services and unforeseen services of a similar nature as demand and requirements change within the wider scope of the requirement.
two.2.14) Additional information
Thames Water will reserve the right to seek bidder confirmation of value to be derived from the award of more than one lot and apply this value to the evaluation process and to any contractual commitment on award. This will form part of the evaluation at ITN stage.
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Transactional Back Office and Contingency Voice
Lot No
2
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72253000 - Helpdesk and support services
- 79900000 - Miscellaneous business and business-related services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKI - London
- UKJ - South East (England)
Main site or place of performance
The whole of the Thames Water region
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Thames Water is seeking a service provider to take ownership of and deliver back office transactional services (such as but not limited to service desk, exception management, cash operations (invoicing), billing, metering and home move transactional services).
It is expected the service provider will bring solutions to deliver against our strategic outcomes delivering a high-quality customer centric service where transactional work is highly automated and consistently delivered with residual human work.
The services are predominantly non-voice, the requirement also includes for some provision of outbound telephony, and contingency voice; in times of planned or unplanned incidents or peaks when, Thames Water may call upon the provider to lend voice contact services.
Thames Water intends to award this lot to a single provider.
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: £45,000,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
96
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
Thames Water envisages that the contract will be awarded for an initial term of 5 years with options to extend by any period up to a further 3 years, with a maximum contract duration of 8 years.
two.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
Envisaged number of candidates: 7
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: Yes
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
Thames Water envisages that the contract will be awarded for an initial term of 5 years with options to extend by any period up to a further 3 years, with a maximum contract duration of 8 years.. Any agreement may flex in volume over time and may include additional services unforeseen services of a similar nature as demand and requirements change within the wider scope of the requirement.
two.2.14) Additional information
Thames Water requires bidders to sign an unamended one-way non-disclosure agreement, prior to accessing the draft ITN content.
Thames Water will reserve the right to seek bidder confirmation of value to be derived from the award of more than one lot and apply this value to the evaluation process and to any contractual commitment on award. This will form part of the evaluation at ITN stage.
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Post Room Services
Lot No
3
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 64110000 - Postal services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKI - London
- UKJ - South East (England)
Main site or place of performance
Whole of the Thames Water region
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Thames Water is seeking a service provider to take ownership of and deliver our post room services and document handling centre.
Thames Water is looking for the service provider to take on the service delivery and bring solutions to deliver against our strategic outcomes with a high-quality service; creating a cost optimised approach where services are increasingly automated and consistently delivered.
Thames Water intends to award this lot to a single provider.
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: £3,000,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
96
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
Thames Water envisages that the contract will be awarded for an initial term of 5 years with options to extend by any period up to a further 3 years, with a maximum contract duration of 8 years
two.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
Envisaged number of candidates: 7
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: Yes
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
Thames Water envisages that the contract will be awarded for an initial term of 5 years with options to extend by any period up to a further 3 years, with a maximum contract duration of 8 years. Any agreement may flex in volume over time and may include additional services unforeseen services of a similar nature as demand and requirements change within the wider scope of the requirement.
two.2.14) Additional information
Thames Water requires bidders to sign an unamended one-way non-disclosure agreement, prior to accessing the draft ITN content.
Thames Water will reserve the right to seek bidder confirmation of value to be derived from the award of more than one Lot and apply this value to the contract value on award. This will form part of the evaluation at ITN stage.
Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information
three.1) Conditions for participation
three.1.2) Economic and financial standing
List and brief description of selection criteria
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents.
NB - To pass this section at PQQ, bidders will need to demonstrate no tangible financial risk to this opportunity
three.1.3) Technical and professional ability
List and brief description of selection criteria
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents.
PQQ bidders will need to demonstrate:
- Expertise, experience and skillsets to deliver the services
- Legislative and regulatory compliance
- Absence of material conflict of interest
- Compliance with Achilles Verify and commitment to Thames Waters (relevant) Health and Safety standards
- Data protection and privacy & security compliance
- Ability to service our operational hours and operate in English as a first language in the office environment
three.1.4) Objective rules and criteria for participation
List and brief description of rules and criteria
As detailed in section VI.3 and PQQ.
three.1.6) Deposits and guarantees required
Bonds and/or parent company guarantees of performance and financial standing may be required.
three.1.7) Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them
Specified in Invitation to Negotiate Document.
three.1.8) Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded
Consortia may be required to form a legal entity prior to award
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
3 May 2022
Local time
10:00am
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
four.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Duration in months: 9 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: Yes
Estimated timing for further notices to be published: Between 5 and 8 years.
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
All suppliers who wish to respond to this notice must request a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) by using the web link in Section I.3 (www.thameswater.co.uk/procurement).
From your response to the link in Section I.3 or above, Thames Water's Procurement Support Centre will send you an email providing login details for our eSourcing system (i.e. IASTA Smartsource). To complete the PQQ you will need to login to IASTA Smartsource.
If the project requires it, you will receive an additional and separate survey to complete for Data Protection.
Note - The client may be Thames Water Utilities Limited or another company within the Kemble Water group structure.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Thames Water Utilities Limited
Reading
RG1 8DB
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
Thames Water Utilities Limited will incorporate a standstill period at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. The standstill period, which will be for a minimum of 10 calendar days, provides time for unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.
The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (SI 2016 No 274) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by a breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).