Planning

PROCAT Digital Service Rebuild

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

22 May 2025 at 13:43

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

19 May 2025 at 08:51

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

16 May 2025 at 08:56

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The National Archives, a central government public authority based in Richmond, is currently in the planning phase for their "PROCAT Digital Service Rebuild" project. This service aims to refurbish their existing system used to catalogue public records due to obsolescent components that pose operation and cyber security risks. The procurement process is classified under IT services, encompassing consulting, software development, internet, and support. The authority has issued a preliminary market engagement notice to gauge interest, with a deadline for expressions of interest on 9 June 2025. The expected contract value is £500,000 with a gross value of £600,000, and the contract period will span from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2027. The project's main goal is to identify a suitable supplier who can help transition the architecture to a more stable and compatible system.

This opportunity can significantly benefit small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and IT service providers with expertise in system architecture transition, data ingest improvement, and modern search engine replacements. Businesses specialising in these areas stand a good chance of securing a beneficial partnership with The National Archives, potentially expanding their clientele in the public sector. Interested parties are encouraged to express their interest by the specified deadline to be considered for upcoming supplier engagement events, which can further streamline collaboration and clarify project expectations.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

PROCAT Digital Service Rebuild

Notice Description

PROCAT is a bespoke service which was commissioned by The National Archives (TNA) in 1999EUR0. It was built to catalogue public records, to provide an end-to-end service for both staff involved in cataloguing records, and for the public searching TNA's online catalogue via our public website. A service (SAR) controlling access based on PRA principles, was added soon afterwards. Although the public catalogue access is now supplied by the Discovery service, PROCAT and SAR are still in use every day for preparing descriptions of newly accessioned paper records and revising descriptions and access to existing TNA paper records. ("Paper" here stands for any records not born-digital). The service is built with components (web pages, search engine, SQL database and batch processes) of that era which have lasted well. However, many elements are now obsolete and are increasingly incompatible with any modern servers used to provide the service. TNA has already commissioned a discovery process to detail the problem areas and outline a route to a transitional architecture which will partly replace those obsolete components. The aim is to provide a stable service prior to complete replacement. This avoids both the risks inherent in a "big bang" complete replacement project and maintains the service while other elements of the successor architecture are defined. TNA now wishes to identify a delivery partner to deliver the transitional architecture. In summary these are: Improve data ingest for large scale data loads ("accessioning") and large-scale access control ("change Open\Closed status") Replace Active X based activation of an XML editing tool for markup Replace an obsolete search engine used for detailed search of the existing catalogue by inhouse ("TNA staff") users

Planning Information

The purpose of this notice is to gauge the level of potential interest in this opportunity from the marketplace, and to have the opportunity to engage with interested parties to a) provide more insight into the requirement, b) identify suppliers that may be able to supply the services required, and c) develop the authority's requirements and approach to the procurement. Any interested parties who submit an expression of interest for the opportunity will be invited to one or more supplier events at date(s) to be determined. To submit your expression of interest, simply email procurement@nationalarchives.gov.uk by 5pm on 09 June 2025 with your contact details.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-051556
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/025018-2025
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Not specified

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
£500,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
22 May 20259 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
9 Jun 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
31 Aug 2025 - 31 Aug 2027 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
procurement@nationalarchives.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
RICHMOND
Postcode
TW9 4DU
Post Town
Twickenham
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI7 Outer London - West and North West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI75 Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Richmond upon Thames
Electoral Ward
Kew
Westminster Constituency
Richmond Park

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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