Award

Social Media Management

POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER FOR CHESHIRE

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

17 Apr 2025 at 10:13

Award

25 Mar 2025 at 14:56

Award

07 Mar 2025 at 16:10

Summary of the contracting process

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire has completed the procurement process for a social media management service, contracting SocialSignIn Ltd, trading as Orlo. This contract, identified as CPA SPU 2249P, focuses on letting users manage social media accounts centrally and professionally engage in real-time conversations with the public, similar to emergency calls. A direct award method was used due to the requirement to be compatible with existing assets. Key dates include the contract start date on 7th April 2025 and the end date on 6th April 2029. This procurement is part of the NPCC Digital Public Contact Programme and is valued at £272,107.

This tender creates significant opportunities for businesses specialising in IT services, particularly those offering social media management, consulting, software development, and internet support. Firms already experienced in working with public entities and capable of providing robust and compliant social media management tools are well-suited to compete. Businesses can harness such contracts to build partnerships with public authorities, establish their presence in providing critical digital communication services for law enforcement, and further expand their client base within the public sector.

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Notice Title

Social Media Management

Notice Description

The Services to be Provided Social Media Management CPA SPU 2249P is for the provision of management of social media accounts in one central place, and to allow users to respond to contact as professionally as they would with a 999 or 101 call, holding real-time conversations with the public via social media accounts, with the added benefit of being able to apply restrictions per user on who is able to reply to what. The Ground for Direct Award The Direct Award is being made under option A - the requirement to be compatible with an existing asset. Justification Under the NPCC Digital Public Contact Programme there are only two nationally approved social media management platforms (with significant pricing disparity between the 2) - a set of criteria was developed to ensure platforms are suitable for usage by police forces for social media engagement this includes tools to ensure content (chat logs with public) can be exported in usable format for use in cases. If Cheshire Constabulary were to have to move to a new platform we would need to re-train the 301 users of the tool on how to operate the platform. Our preferred training method is in-person but even if we moved training online this would take considerable time to make sure all users are suitably aware of how to use all the features of the tool before we can confidently have them interact with the public without risk. We would lose archived messages that may have been deleted on social media, but are retained by the incumbent supplier. Staff would no longer have access to a stock image library, again slowing down the process of providing timely updates. A smartphone shortcut has been added to work devices so they can quickly get onto the platform. A new shortcut would need to be vetted by IT services and deployed to devices The platform is used by colleagues in the Force Control Centre to engage directly with members of the public and take crime reports. Whilst this isn't encouraged method of engaging and reporting incidents (staff attempt to push people towards preferred reporting tools - website, phone, etc.) it is a potential and a move to another tool would require FCC colleagues to be extracted from their roles to receive training to ensure they can carry out their jobs properly and ensure the public are safe. The digital team would need to relink every single social media account which would be time consuming To elaborate on this - when you go to add a social media account you need to log directly into the account and then go to the social media management tool to verify the connection. Some platforms require 2 factor authentication when logging into every account which adds time but there are also rules in place checking for suspicious activity on platforms which means we wouldn't be able to add all accounts in one day or we could risk having accounts locked. Supplier Details SOCIALSIGNIN LTD Company number 08237170 Contract Commencement Planned for mid March once the 8 day standstill from Contract Award Notice has expired

Procurement Information

Social Media Management CPA SPU 2249P is for the provision of management of social media accounts in one central place, and to allow users to respond to contact as professionally as they would with a 999 or 101 call, holding real-time conversations with the public via social media accounts, with the added benefit of being able to apply restrictions per user on who is able to reply to what. The Ground for Direct Award The Direct Award is being made under option A - the requirement to be compatible with an existing asset. Justification Under the NPCC Digital Public Contact Programme there are only two nationally approved social media management platforms (with significant pricing disparity between the 2) - a set of criteria was developed to ensure platforms are suitable for usage by police forces for social media engagement this includes tools to ensure content (chat logs with public) can be exported in usable format for use in cases. If Cheshire Constabulary were to have to move to a new platform we would need to re-train the 301 users of the tool on how to operate the platform. Our preferred training method is in-person but even if we moved training online this would take considerable time to make sure all users are suitably aware of how to use all the features of the tool before we can confidently have them interact with the public without risk. We would lose archived messages that may have been deleted on social media, but are retained by the incumbent supplier. Staff would no longer have access to a stock image library, again slowing down the process of providing timely updates. A smartphone shortcut has been added to work devices so they can quickly get onto the platform. A new shortcut would need to be vetted by IT services and deployed to devices The platform is used by colleagues in the Force Control Centre to engage directly with members of the public and take crime reports. Whilst this isn't encouraged method of engaging and reporting incidents (staff attempt to push people towards preferred reporting tools - website, phone, etc.) it is a potential and a move to another tool would require FCC colleagues to be extracted from their roles to receive training to ensure they can carry out their jobs properly and ensure the public are safe. The digital team would need to relink every single social media account which would be time consuming To elaborate on this - when you go to add a social media account you need to log directly into the account and then go to the social media management tool to verify the connection. Some platforms require 2 factor authentication when logging into every account which adds time but there are also rules in place checking for suspicious activity on platforms which means we wouldn't be able to add all accounts in one day or we could risk having accounts locked.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04eab5
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015820-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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


CPV Codes

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£272,107 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
17 Apr 202510 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
7 Mar 202511 months ago
Contract Period
7 Apr 2025 - 6 Apr 2029 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER FOR CHESHIRE
Contact Name
Corporate Communications
Contact Email
barbara.beardsley@cheshire.police.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
WINSFORD, CHESHIRE
Postcode
CW7 2UA
Post Town
Crewe
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD6 Cheshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD63 Cheshire West and Chester
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Cheshire West and Chester
Electoral Ward
Winsford Over & Verdin
Westminster Constituency
Mid Cheshire

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

SOCIALSIGNIN LTD TRADING AS ORLO

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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