Scope
Reference
CM3224
Description
Yorkshire Water has made significant investments in its cloud data platform and has established an internal data science team. The organisation is now moving into a new phase of strategic maturity, aiming to apply AI in ways that deliver measurable value across the business.
AI is recognised at the executive level as a priority capability to support efficiency, resilience, and improved customer service. YW operates in a heavily regulated environment, and any use of AI must align with regulatory requirements around transparency, ethics, security, and operational reliability.
There are currently two priority domains for AI (although the scope of the framework will be for any AI/ML services required at Yorkshire Water):
1. Central Control Operations
• Yorkshire Water operates a real-time control room that monitors extensive telemetry across clean and wastewater networks.
• Operators are overwhelmed by alarms, many of which are false positives due to manually-set thresholds (e.g. "trigger at 80% tank level" without data context).
• Decision-making often relies on decades of tacit knowledge, e.g. knowing which alarms to ignore or act on.
• There is a strong opportunity to apply AI in:
o Alarm triaging and rationalisation
o Digital twins for simulation and scenario testing
o Predictive maintenance and network optimisation
o Performance is heavily regulated; service outages or pollution events result in significant financial penalties - hence the need for trusted, explainable automation.
2. Customer Service Operations
• Yorkshire Water serves around 5 million customers, handling thousands of customer queries and calls, often with high manual effort.
• Call centre volumes spike due to changes like pricing or hosepipe bans, and many interactions (e.g. moving house) are highly repetitive and ripe for automation.
• Digital self-service is limited; the website is dated and lacks tools like live chat.
• There is strong interest in deploying voice bots, LLM-powered agents, and NLP models to:
o Automate simple tasks
o Improve customer response time
o Prioritise vulnerable customers (while navigating GDPR/sentiment rules)
To accelerate delivery and unlock value across the organisation, YW is establishing a framework of specialist AI service providers. The focus is on working with partners who can bring genuine AI expertise and work collaboratively with internal teams to deliver real, operationally grounded solutions.
YW is seeking to develop trusted partnerships with AI specialists who can support the delivery of practical, business-focused solutions. There is a strong emphasis on collaboration, with suppliers expected to work closely with internal teams and co-develop solutions in an agile, transparent way. The organisation aims to upskill internal staff as part of any delivery, ensuring that solutions can be owned, maintained, and adapted in-house over time. Suppliers must be able to work entirely within Yorkshire Water's environment, including existing cloud infrastructure (e.g. Azure), CRM (Dynamics), and other systems. No data is permitted to leave YW's infrastructure.
The framework will seek suppliers with a range of AI-related expertise, including:
• AI consultancy and use case advisory
• Design, integration and implementation of AI tools and systems
• Data science and platform engineering
• Responsible AI and compliance support
• Upskilling and capability-building for internal teams
Suppliers must be able to work within Yorkshire Water's existing infrastructure and data environment, and deliver in a collaborative, agile manner.
Commercial tool
Establishes an open framework
Contract 1
Suppliers (6)
- ANSWER DIGITAL LIMITED
- ARTESIA CONSULTING LIMITED
- DOZA CONSULTING LTD
- FACULTY SCIENCE LIMITED
- JACOBS U.K. LIMITED
- SAND TECH AI (UK) LTD
Contract value
- £32,000,000 excluding VAT
- £38,400,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Award decision date
2 February 2025
Date assessment summaries were sent to tenderers
2 February 2025
Standstill period
- End: 11 December 2025
- 8 working days
Earliest date the contract will be signed
12 December 2025
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030
- Possible extension to 31 December 2033
- 8 years
Description of possible extension:
Extensions on a 1-year basis up to a maximum of 3-years, at the discretion of Yorkshire Water
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
- 72300000 - Data services
Contract locations
- UKC - North East (England)
- UKD - North West (England)
- UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber
- UKF - East Midlands (England)
- UKG - West Midlands (England)
- UKH - East of England
- UKI - London
- UKJ - South East (England)
- UKK - South West (England)
Submission
Submission type
Tenders
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Special regime
Utilities
Suppliers
ANSWER DIGITAL LIMITED
- Companies House: 03655429
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PNML-3642-MQYG
Union Mills, 9 Dewsbury Road
Leeds
LS11 5DD
United Kingdom
Email: bids@answerdigital.com
Website: https://answerdigital.com/
Region: UKE42 - Leeds
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): Yes
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 1
ARTESIA CONSULTING LIMITED
- Companies House: 06576180
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PWTM-1999-GGBV
C/O Mgb Accountants - Suite 22 Trym Lodge, 1 Henbury Road
Bristol
BS9 3HQ
United Kingdom
Email: info@artesia-consulting.co.uk
Website: https://artesia-consulting.co.uk/
Region: UKK11 - Bristol, City of
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): Yes
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 1
DOZA CONSULTING LTD
- Companies House: 14759116
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PYRZ-7879-ZZGQ
Doza Consulting, Platform
Leeds
LS1 4JB
United Kingdom
Email: ccs@doza.consulting
Website: https://doza.consulting
Region: UKE42 - Leeds
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): Yes
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 1
FACULTY SCIENCE LIMITED
- Companies House: 08873131
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PWYH-4417-MJMY
Level 5 160 Old Street
London
EC1V 9BW
United Kingdom
Email: commercial.operations@faculty.ai
Website: https://faculty.ai/
Region: UKI43 - Haringey and Islington
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 1
JACOBS U.K. LIMITED
- Companies House: 02594504
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PVJV-3436-ZCZP
Cottons Centre
London
SE1 2QG
United Kingdom
Email: BIEuropeSales@jacobs.com
Website: http://www.jacobs.com
Region: UKI44 - Lewisham and Southwark
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 1
SAND TECH AI (UK) LTD
- Companies House: 11554357
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PJWL-1539-MZGN
Emperor's Gate,114a Cromwell Road
London
SW7 4AG
United Kingdom
Email: utilitiessales@sandtech.com
Website: https://www.sandtech.com/
Region: UKI33 - Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): Yes
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 1
Contracting authority
YORKSHIRE WATER SERVICES LIMITED
- Companies House: 02366682
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PXGT-3622-WXBQ
Western House
Bradford
BD6 2SZ
United Kingdom
Region: UKE41 - Bradford
Organisation type: Private utility