Section one: Contracting entity
one.1) Name and addresses
LONDON & SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY LIMITED
3Rd Floor,41-51 Grey Street
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE
NE16EE
Contact
Tomasz Drost
tomasz.drost@southeasternrailway.co.uk
Telephone
+44 7929823807
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKJ - South East (England)
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.3) Communication
Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Southeastern_Contact_Centre_EOI/
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Southeastern_Contact_Centre_EOI/
one.6) Main activity
Urban railway, tramway, trolleybus or bus services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Southeastern Customer Contact Centre Services 2022-2025
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79342300 - Customer services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The following services are anticipated to be included within this tender scope:
• Telephony - core hours of 07:00-22:00 with options for out of hours services
• Email - response via email enquiries
• White mail - response via postal mail enquires
• Manual and automated processing of Delay Repay
• Webchat/bot/virtual services - introducing webchat
• Facility to handover cases from KICC Twitter team - optional, subject to market engagement
• Lost property tracking - optional, subject to market engagement
**THIS PROPOSED CONTRACT IS SUBJECT TO THE AWARD OF AN EXTENDED AGREEMENT TO LSER BY THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT. THIS EOI SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS ANY INDICATION OF THE ANTICIPATED RESULT OF ANY DIRECT AWARD NEGOTIATIONS.**
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £15,000,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79342300 - Customer services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKJ - South East (England)
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
A. Southeastern background
London & South Eastern Railway Limited (trading as 'Southeastern') provides passenger rail services in the South East of England, covering South East London, Kent and East Sussex. We operate one of the busiest and most complex networks in the country, including the UK's only domestic high-speed service.
In 2019, over 3 million passenger journeys were made on our trains each week, across over 12,000 services.
During the Covid-19 pandemic passenger volumes were materially impacted, leading to the majority of UK train operators to amend their franchise agreements with the Department for Transport ("DfT") to ensure continuity. The result of this process means that financial stability has been assured for Southeastern and we expect to commence discussions with the DfT on a medium to long term management contract in the Summer of 2021. This is likely to commence sometime between October 2021 and April 2022 and run for up to six years.
B. Scope context/background
The scope of this opportunity relates to an anticipated initial period of three (3) years commencing from April 2022 (further extension options may be applicable).
Our customer is at the heart of everything we do and customer satisfaction is a top priority. We are committed to providing a safe, reliable, and welcoming service on every journey and it is our mission to provide the best ever passenger experience. We measure this holistically using the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) and our internal Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS) but in this instance, customer feedback via our contact centre is also critical information.
At present, our Customer Relations team is structured using both in-house and outsourced resources. Southeastern have an inhouse 'head office team' of 11, used for complex cases which is operated Monday to Friday 7am - 5pm. All other services are outsourced, and the call-centre core hours are 7am to 10pm However, a 24/7 service is available to customers with any later/earlier calls to an out of hours call centre. All of our customer service team are currently based within the United Kingdom.
C. Key requirements
✓ Our aim is to deliver industry leading customer services - standing out against other comparable operators in meeting customer needs and always being there when you need to contact us, 24/7.
✓ We need to remain agile and flexible - customer contact volumes have reduced by over 50% in the 2020/21 financial year compared to the prior year. However, we forecast demand recovering significantly and we need to be structured to efficiently and effectively to meet both current and future demand profiles. Appendix 1 outlines volumes in more detail.
✓ Maintain and improve quality - Our First-Time Resolution ("FTR") currently stands at 89.34%. A lot of success has been achieved with our incumbent supplier to improve quality and performance but even highly rates are required to meet our aim.
✓ We want to be knowledgeable and relatable - We are proud of our network and communities we serve and we want our customers to receive assistance from a friendly and credible team who have a great knowledge of our business, our network and the accessibility needs of our customers.
✓ Shifting channels and enabling options - We do not currently offer webchat (or similar) and we would like for this to be introduced as a priority. In addition, we are seeking input from industry experts in a range of on-the-go, live, self-service channels to enable ease of initial contact via mobile devices, which provides easy escalation to a friendly operative where needed.
✓ Offering enhanced customer support - We are keen to support our customers in new ways and via innovative channels, as part of this we would like to explore remote video customer services for our customers and/or other solutions to assist customers at un-staffed locations or assisting Southeastern in providing 'first to last' customer support.
✓ Consistency and seamless contacts - access to information, on the same channel and given the same answers.
D. Key information
o We have developed our own, bespoke CRM - Javelin, and we require this to be utilised by any customer services partner. Javelin is based on a Service Now structure. Appendix 2 outlines this system in more detail.
o We require contact centre 'core hours' of between 07:00-22:00. An out of hours service would be preferential.
o We have an in-house team that manages Twitter interactions (using Clarabridge Engage). We would like to create the ability for a seamless hand-over from our social media team to our contact centre, avoiding the necessity for a new/separate contact.
o Many of our customer contacts are complex and varied. It is important that any channel introduction or shift does not result in customer frustration or repeat contact.
o We are interested in exploring options for lost property tracking/management.
E. Anticipated procurement process and timescales
Southeastern will run a formal tender process for this requirement via the competitive dialogue procedure. Suppliers will be required to respond to an Expression of Interest ("EOI") which is anticipated to be issued via the Find A Tender service. This will run in parralell with market engagement sessions during May and June 2021.
Depending on the volume of interest generated, a pre-qualification phase may be required in/around July 2021. If required, this will be evaluated using a published scoring methodology (to be provided on or before invitation) and a tender shortlist created from the highest scoring, eligible participants.
This is anticipated to then lead to a tender phase between August and December 2021, with contracts being awarded before the end of the calendar year. Tenders will be evaluated against how suitably Southeastern's objectives have been met (or exceeded) by a bidder's response, allowing for flexibility in approach to be considered.
A handover and mobilisation period has been allowed for between early January and late March 2022. However, Southeastern will take steps to maximise this handover and mobilisation period by reducing other steps where appropriate.
Southeastern will utilise our Smartsource e-tendering portal throughout this process and further detail and log-in details will be provided to interested parties.
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
66
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
Initial Period of 36 months. The contract may be renewed for the remainder of the term subject to the requirements of London & South Eastern Railway Limited.
two.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
Envisaged minimum number: 3
Maximum number: 5
Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates:
The numbers stated above relate to the shortlisted tender stage. Unlimited number of suppliers is permitted for PQQ stage.
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: Yes
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2.14) Additional information
**THIS PROPOSED CONTRACT IS SUBJECT TO THE AWARD OF AN EXTENDED AGREEMENT TO LSER BY THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT. THIS EOI SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS ANY INDICATION OF THE ANTICIPATED RESULT OF ANY DIRECT AWARD NEGOTIATIONS.
**ACCESS TO TENDER DOCUMENTS WILL ONLY BE GRANTED TO BIDDERS WHO HAVE EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN THIS OPPORTUNITY. EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (EOI) MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA THE FOLLOWING URL: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Southeastern_Contact_Centre_EOI/
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
three.1.6) Deposits and guarantees required
Further information will be provided in the procurement documents, however suppliers will be assessed in relation to their current financial standing as part of this procurement process.
three.2) Conditions related to the contract
three.2.2) Contract performance conditions
As stated within the procurement documents
three.2.3) Information about staff responsible for the performance of the contract
Obligation to indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to performing the contract
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: No
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
18 June 2021
four.2.3) Estimated date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
5 July 2021
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: 12 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)
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.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
London & South Eastern Railway Limited
3rd Floor, 41 - 51 Grey Street
Newcastle - upon - Tyne
NE1 6EE
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
London & South Eastern Railway Limited
Newcastle - upon - Tyne
Country
United Kingdom