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TVCA-PROC-0863 - Business Tees Valley website Platform Development

Tees Valley Combined Authority

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

24 Sep 2026 at 15:43

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

22 Jul 2026 at 17:17

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

04 Jun 2026 at 15:44

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Tees Valley Combined Authority commissioned the design, development and ongoing evolution of a digital business-support platform for businesses across Tees Valley. Intended as the main online entry point to regional business support, it will support a tiered service model and help the authority engage businesses more efficiently and at scale. The work covers user research and service design, technical architecture and integrations, building a minimum viable product and later iterations, AI-enabled functionality and data intelligence, and content architecture and integration with the wider service ecosystem. This is a combined software development and IT consultancy service, delivered for the Tees Valley area.

The procurement is complete: Thornacre Engineering Ltd was selected through an open procedure for a single-provider framework. The award was made on 22 July 2026, and the contract was signed on 28 August 2026. The contract period runs from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2028, with an option to extend for a further two years if suitable funding is available. The contract is valued at £1.2 million excluding VAT (£1.44 million including VAT). There was one lot, assessed on quality (60%), price (20%) and social value (20%). The tender closed on 29 June 2026; the enquiry deadline was 19 June 2026. The competition received 42 bids, including 37 from SMEs.

This award demonstrates demand from Tees Valley Combined Authority for a supplier able to deliver an end-to-end digital business-support platform, rather than a standalone website build. Credible competitors for a future requirement of this kind would need strengths in user research and service design, software and platform development, technical architecture, systems integration, content architecture and ongoing product evolution. Experience delivering a minimum viable product and iterating it into a dependable service would be relevant, alongside the ability to apply AI and data intelligence to business-support services. The winning competition was evaluated primarily on quality, with price and social value also carrying weight, so suppliers would need to evidence technical delivery capability and a clear social-value contribution. The framework was for one provider and attracted substantial SME participation.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

TVCA-PROC-0863 - Business Tees Valley website Platform Development

Notice Description

Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) ('the contracting authority') has awarded a contract to establish a single provider framework to support the design, development and ongoing evolution of a Business Support Digital Platform which will become the primary digital front door to business support in Tees Valley, underpinning a new, tiered model of support and enabling a more streamlined, intelligent and scalable approach to engaging businesses across the region. The framework will cover the full lifecycle of platform development and evolution, supporting both the front-end user experience and the underlying systems required to manage and deliver business support services end-to-end. This includes: *discovery, user research and service design *technical architecture and integration design *development of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and subsequent iterations *implementation of AI-enabled functionality and data intelligence *content architecture and ecosystem integration For transparency, the Contract start date was 1st September 2026, however there was a delay with signing due to resource. The contract was signed on 15th September 2026.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: Option to extend for a further 2 years if suitable funding is available.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06addf
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/090688-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

30 - Office and computing machinery, equipment and supplies except furniture and software packages

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

CPV Codes

30211300 - Computer platforms

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

72212220 - Internet and intranet software development services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,200,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£1,200,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£1,200,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£1,200,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
24 Sep 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
29 Jun 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
22 Jul 20262 months ago
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Tees Valley Combined Authority
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
DARLINGTON
Postcode
DL2 1NJ
Postcode Area
Darlington
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLC North East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLC3 Tees Valley
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLC33 Darlington
Delivery Location
TLC1 Tees Valley and Durham
Local Authority
Darlington
Electoral Ward
Sadberge & Middleton St George
Westminster Constituency
Stockton West

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Thornacre Engineering Ltd

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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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