Award

Crossing the Border - Level 2 Support

HOME OFFICE

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

28 Jan 2026 at 10:50

Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process titled "Crossing the Border - Level 2 Support," conducted by the Home Office, has reached the award stage, with a contract awarded to IBM United Kingdom Limited. This contract relates to the provision of software support services specifically for the Crossing the Border platform, a critical national infrastructure that manages the movement of people and services across the UK border. The contract is valued at £8,721,260 and will run from 23 January 2026 to 22 January 2030, covering a range of locations including the UK, British Overseas Territories, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Europe, and the rest of the world. The procurement employed an open procedure, indicating a competitive process aimed at identifying the most suitable supplier.

This tender creates substantial opportunities for businesses specialising in software support services, particularly those familiar with critical national infrastructure and hybrid cloud models. While large enterprises like IBM have secured the contract in this instance, other large-scale enterprises with capabilities in managing high-resilience, secure systems may find similar future opportunities within the government technology sector. The contract's scope and high resilience requirement also suggest opportunities for subcontractors who can provide specialist technical expertise and support services as part of a larger supply chain.

Find more tenders on our Open Data Platform.
How relevant is this notice?

D3 Tenders Premium

Win More Public Sector Contracts

AI-powered tender discovery, pipeline management, and market intelligence — everything you need to grow your public sector business.

Notice Title

Crossing the Border - Level 2 Support

Notice Description

This notice is for the award of the Level 2 Support contract for Crossing the Border Platform and applications. Crossing the Border (CtB) is the steady state services and products which control the flow of people and services across the UK border. This is done principally via the Primary Control Points, mediated by a Border Force officer, or via an e-gate indirectly supervised by Border Force officer/s. Information from ports is processed by a central collection of systems, hosted in the cloud and on premise. These systems are built on top of a number of infrastructure platforms, leveraging a hybrid cloud model. The supplier will provide level 2 support to ensure reliance and service of central systems, supporting a 24 hours a day 365 days a year operation, requiring high degrees of resilience and availability. The existing applications run on diverse technological stacks and have been delivered over a 3-year programme and are expected to evolve over the next 5 years in line with government policy and operational need. The system is critical national infrastructure, incorporating official and secret data sets and related processes.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e37a16ae-cbb1-405f-aa21-96d7cb12bcdd
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure (above threshold)
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

72261000 - Software support services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£8,721,260 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£8,721,260 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Jan 20263 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
24 Jan 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
31 Jul 20256 months ago
Contract Period
23 Jan 2026 - 22 Jan 2030 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
HOME OFFICE
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 4DF
Post Town
South West London
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

IBM UNITED KINGDOM

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973-2026-01-28T10:50:27Z",
    "date": "2026-01-28T10:50:27Z",
    "ocid": "ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973",
    "language": "en",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "tender": {
        "id": "tender_439772/1547510",
        "title": "Crossing the Border - Level 2 Support",
        "description": "This notice is for the award of the Level 2 Support contract for Crossing the Border Platform and applications. Crossing the Border (CtB) is the steady state services and products which control the flow of people and services across the UK border. This is done principally via the Primary Control Points, mediated by a Border Force officer, or via an e-gate indirectly supervised by Border Force officer/s. Information from ports is processed by a central collection of systems, hosted in the cloud and on premise. These systems are built on top of a number of infrastructure platforms, leveraging a hybrid cloud model. The supplier will provide level 2 support to ensure reliance and service of central systems, supporting a 24 hours a day 365 days a year operation, requiring high degrees of resilience and availability. The existing applications run on diverse technological stacks and have been delivered over a 3-year programme and are expected to evolve over the next 5 years in line with government policy and operational need. The system is critical national infrastructure, incorporating official and secret data sets and related processes.",
        "status": "complete",
        "classification": {
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "id": "72261000",
            "description": "Software support services"
        },
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "deliveryAddresses": [
                    {
                        "countryName": "British Oversea Territories"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "Channel Islands"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "Europe"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "Isle of Man"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "Rest of the World"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "United Kingdom"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "value": {
            "amount": 8721260,
            "currency": "GBP"
        },
        "procurementMethod": "open",
        "procurementMethodDetails": "Open procedure (above threshold)",
        "tenderPeriod": {
            "endDate": "2025-01-24T17:00:00Z"
        },
        "contractPeriod": {
            "startDate": "2026-01-23T00:00:00Z",
            "endDate": "2030-01-22T23:59:59Z"
        },
        "suitability": {
            "sme": false,
            "vcse": false
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "services"
    },
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-CFS-148108",
            "name": "Home Office",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "Home Office"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "2 Marsham Street",
                "locality": "London",
                "postalCode": "SW1P 4DF",
                "countryName": "England"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "email": "CrossingtheBorder2024Procurement@homeoffice.gov.uk"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "GB-CFS-330471",
            "name": "IBM United Kingdom Limited",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "IBM United Kingdom Limited"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "IBM Hursley Office Hursley Park Road Winchester Hants SO21 2JN UK"
            },
            "details": {
                "scale": "large",
                "vcse": false
            },
            "roles": [
                "supplier"
            ]
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-CFS-148108",
        "name": "Home Office"
    },
    "awards": [
        {
            "id": "ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973-1",
            "status": "active",
            "date": "2025-08-01T00:00:00+01:00",
            "datePublished": "2026-01-28T10:50:26Z",
            "value": {
                "amount": 8721260,
                "currency": "GBP"
            },
            "suppliers": [
                {
                    "id": "GB-CFS-330471",
                    "name": "IBM United Kingdom Limited"
                }
            ],
            "contractPeriod": {
                "startDate": "2026-01-23T00:00:00Z",
                "endDate": "2030-01-22T23:59:59Z"
            },
            "documents": [
                {
                    "id": "1",
                    "documentType": "awardNotice",
                    "description": "Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder",
                    "url": "https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e37a16ae-cbb1-405f-aa21-96d7cb12bcdd",
                    "datePublished": "2026-01-28T10:50:26Z",
                    "format": "text/html",
                    "language": "en"
                },
                {
                    "id": "2",
                    "description": "n/a",
                    "url": "https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/a41ce5bd-8103-4545-982e-77785a4e83d3",
                    "format": "application/pdf"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}