Tender

First Rail Customer App Development Procurement

  • FIRST RAIL HOLDINGS LIMITED

F05: Contract notice – utilities

Notice identifier: 2023/S 000-014996

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-03cf8d

Published 25 May 2023, 5:01pm



Section one: Contracting entity

one.1) Name and addresses

FIRST RAIL HOLDINGS LIMITED

8th Floor, The Point,37 North Wharf Road

LONDON

W21AF

Contact

Michael Anderson

Email

michael.anderson@firstrail.com

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UKI32 - Westminster

Companies House

05154485

Internet address(es)

Main address

www.firstgroupplc.com

Buyer's address

http://redirect.transaxions.com/events/99iF6

one.3) Communication

Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at

http://redirect.transaxions.com/events/99iF6

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

Urban railway, tramway, trolleybus or bus services


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

First Rail Customer App Development Procurement

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 60000000 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

First Rail are seeking a development partner for their existing customer-facing iOS and Android mobile apps. The requirement is for a mixture of dedicated/retained and ad-hoc/on demand teams for the ability to deliver against a prioritised roadmap of feature development, security enhancements and bug fixes. The supplier will deliver roadmap items, maintain backlog, plan sprints and releases, manage UAT phases and contribute to ongoing user research activities. The supplier will also manage the development, test, staging and production environments, ensuring alignment (as close as possible) between staging and prod. The supplier must have extensive experience and knowledge of the UK rail retail market and associated RDG standards.

two.1.5) Estimated total value

Value excluding VAT: £4,700,000

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

FirstGroup operates passenger bus and rail services across the UK, providing customers with a family of apps to search, plan and purchase tickets for travel. First Rail is part of FirstGroup and are seeking a development partner for their customer-facing iOS and Android Rail mobile apps. The requirement is for a mixture of contracted/retained and ad-hoc/on demand teams to deliver against a prioritised roadmap of feature development, security enhancements and bug fixes. Across the FirstGroup Rail operators, the supplier will need to support a number of different development roadmaps.

A retained team(s) will be contracted on what is proposed to be a rolling 3-6 month basis with an agreed development sprint schedule. In addition, there will be a requirement for ad-hoc/on-demand teams for additional feature developments, maintenance or security requirements not scheduled to be delivered by a retained team. Work undertaken by the ad-hoc teams will be undertaken through agreed Statements of Work and the supplier will need to demonstrate its capability and required timescales to provide this resource.

Different rail operators use different ticketing system suppliers (WebTIS), have different development roadmaps but use elements of a shared code base. The supplier will need to support both a common codebase and different roadmaps for its operators.

The supplier team will work closely with colleagues from First Rail to prioritise roadmap items, maintain backlog, plan sprints and releases, manage UAT phases and contribute to ongoing user research activities. The supplier must have extensive experience and knowledge of the UK rail retail market and associated RDG standards.

First Rail is looking for capable supply partner with an excellent track record in delivery of transport ticketing. The supplier will need to demonstrate innovation, will share an element of the risk around delivery costs/timeframes and has strong processes in place to ensure value for money.

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: £4,700,000

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

Duration in months

36

This contract is subject to renewal

Yes

Description of renewals

The contract duration will be for 36 months with the option to extend for up to a further 3 x 12 month extensions.

two.2.10) Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: No

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No


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

22 August 2023

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.3) Additional information

- Access to the PQQ & Tender will only be granted after a potential bidder has sent an "Expression of Interest" through our Wax Digital Portal and signed an NDA (or can provide proof of an existing & relevant NDA that has been executed between our companies).

- Suppliers must submit a PQQ response by the expressed deadline in the PQQ.

- Only suppliers shortlisted at the PQQ stage will be asked to submit a full Tender response.

- The services will be required for:

> First Rail Holdings Limited and Affiliates ("FRH"); and

Affiliates being defined as "any subsidiary or holding company of FirstGroup plc and any subsidiary of any such holding company (in each case from time to time) (and the terms "subsidiary" and "holding company" shall have the meanings given to them by section 1159 Companies Act 2006).

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

First Rail Holdings Limited

London

Country

United Kingdom