Award

Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) - 2025 Supplier Applications

THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC)

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

07 May 2025 at 09:39

Tender

02 Dec 2024 at 15:50

Summary of the contracting process

The public procurement process for the "Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) - 2025 Supplier Applications" has been completed by The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a prominent buying organisation located in London, England. This tender, associated with the category "Supply services of personnel including temporary staff," aimed at contracting suppliers for the recruitment of 165 journalists across 118 Contract Areas in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, and other regions. The process, initiated in December 2024, followed an open procedure above the threshold, with the tender period ending on 16th January 2025. The resulting contracts, valued at £32,500,000, are set to commence on 1st July 2025 and conclude on 30th June 2030, having been awarded on 7th April 2025.

This procurement presents a significant opportunity for business growth, particularly for organisations specializing in journalism and media services. The tender requirements highlight opportunities for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs), as these categories of organisations are deemed suitable for the project. By delivering crucial local journalism under the auspices of a project aligned with the BBC’s public purpose mission, businesses can enhance their footprint in media and journalism sectors. Large-scale suppliers like Baylis Community Media CiC, Brighton and Hove News Ltd, and Reach Shared Services Ltd have already been contracted, demonstrating the scale and scope of business engagement offered by this procurement process.

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Notice Title

Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) - 2025 Supplier Applications

Notice Description

A key component of the BBC's public purpose mission is to ensure that audiences can engage fully with major local issues, essential to democracy, keeping audiences informed and holding local authority to account. The BBC works with the local news industry to improve the provision of local journalism and is now announcing the result of the competitive procurement for the reselection of 'Suppliers' for the Local Democracy Reporting Service across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. and the Isle of Man, to deliver the recruitment of 165 journalists, employed by local news providers, across 118 Contract Areas. This notice outlines the results of the tender process for the 2025 Supplier Applications following the tender which commenced in December 2024. In regards to total value of the contracts awarded, the level of funding the BBC provides in relation to each Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) (as stated in the ITT) is PS40,790 per LDR (non-London) and PS43,190 per LDR (London) per annum with a 2% inflationary increase per annum in year 2 onwards. The breakdown of the 165 LDRs allocated across each contract area was stated in the tender documents.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-c2b74c1a-8ae0-4c2c-a0fc-336ce0cc10f6
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/eeda95a8-048d-45a1-949d-4997a9a653a1
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, 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
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security


CPV Codes

79620000 - Supply services of personnel including temporary staff

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£32,500,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£32,500,000 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
7 May 20259 months ago
Submission Deadline
16 Jan 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
6 Apr 202510 months ago
Contract Period
30 Jun 2025 - 30 Jun 2030 Over 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
THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC)
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
W1A 1AA
Post Town
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
West End
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
15
Supplier Names

BAYLIS COMMUNITY MEDIA

BRIGHTON AND HOVE NEWS

CAERPHILLY MEDIA

DC THOMSON

HIGHLAND NEWS & MEDIA

ILIFFE MEDIA GROUP

NATIONAL WORLD PUBLISHING

NEWBURY NEWS & MEDIA

NEWSQUEST MEDIA GROUP

RADIO MANX

REACH SHARED SERVICES

SHETLAND NEWS ONLINE

SOCIAL SPIDER

TINDLE NEWSPAPERS

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON ENTERPRISES

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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.

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