Award

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

National Parking Platform

Guildford Borough Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

11 Sep 2026 at 10:42

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Guildford Borough Council is joining the National Parking Platform, a government-backed, not-for-profit service for modernising cashless parking payments. The platform provides a shared technical connection between the Council and multiple approved parking service providers, allowing motorists to use their preferred parking app rather than a single provider. The service covers collection of parking charges, transaction processing, monthly reconciliation and payment of parking revenue to the Council, while the Council retains control of tariffs and revenue. This is a technology and parking-payment service, combining software, interoperability and operational support. Delivery is for Guildford Borough Council in the United Kingdom, as part of a wider national parking ecosystem. The requirement is designed to improve choice, accessibility, consistency and interoperability for parking users.

The procurement is complete and the contract has been awarded to National Parking Platform Limited. It was a direct award under the Procurement Act 2023 because the Council considers competition absent for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative or substitute. The award covers one lot and has a value of £480,000 excluding VAT, or £576,000 including VAT. The contract period runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2030, with signature scheduled by 30 September 2026. Evaluation was based on the direct-award justification: exclusive rights to operate and develop the platform, its unique multivendor parking-payment capability, controlled provider onboarding and certification, and access to a shared interoperability infrastructure that other suppliers cannot replicate. The awarded supplier is a small or medium-sized enterprise.

This procurement indicates demand for suppliers able to operate or integrate with a governed, multivendor cashless parking platform serving local authorities. A credible competitor for a future requirement would need strong parking-payment and software capability, secure technical integration, reliable transaction processing, monthly reconciliation and accurate remittance of public parking revenue. Experience connecting multiple payment or parking-app providers, managing onboarding and certification, and supporting interoperability across different authorities would be directly relevant. Suppliers would also need to demonstrate dependable operational support and the ability to preserve a council’s control over tariffs and revenue while giving motorists wider payment choice. The requirement is aimed at platform-level interoperability rather than a single downstream payment app, so relevant expertise includes open ecosystem design, shared integration infrastructure and public-sector service delivery at national or cross-authority scale.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

National Parking Platform

Notice Description

Guildford Borough Council intends to join the National Parking Platform (NPP), a not-for-profit, government-backed initiative designed to modernise and simplify parking payments across participating local authorities. The NPP provides an open and interoperable platform that enables multiple parking service providers to connect to a single national parking ecosystem, allowing motorists to use their preferred parking application when paying for parking rather than being restricted to a single provider. Through integration with the NPP, the Council will offer users greater choice, improved accessibility, and a more consistent customer experience across participating locations. The platform operates through a transaction-fee funding model and provides a centralised mechanism through which multiple approved parking service providers can facilitate parking payments on behalf of the Council. As part of the service, participating providers will collect parking charges, undertake transaction processing and monthly reconciliations, and remit all parking revenue due to the Council in accordance with the agreed operating and settlement arrangements. The solution supports improved interoperability within the parking sector while maintaining the Council's control over parking tariffs and revenue.

Procurement Information

This direct award is made pursuant to Section 41 and Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023. The contracting authority has determined that competition is absent for technical reasons (Schedule 5, Paragraph 6(a)) and that no reasonable alternative or substitute exists (Schedule 5, Paragraph 6(b)) These conditions are satisfied because: (a) The National Parking Platform Ltd is the only supplier of a unique multivendor cashless parking solution, which is currently able to supply the critical service of aggregating service providers so as to enable users of a parking operator's facilities to pay for parking with a wide range of parking apps. (b) National Parking Platform Ltd holds exclusive rights to operate and develop the Platform, which was originally commissioned by the Department for Transport. No other supplier has access to this public asset grant. (c) The NPP operates as a central, shared interoperability platform with: * A single, governed technical integration layer enabling approved parking service providers to connect * Controlled onboarding, certification, and access arrangements managed by NPP * A defined ecosystem where authorities must connect via the platform to enable interoperability * No individual supplier can independently replicate or provide: * Access to the NPP integration layer * The ability to onboard multiple payment providers within a nationally recognised interoperability framework * The same level of cross-authority interoperability d) The requirement to integrate with the NPP does not artificially narrow competition because: * The NPP is designed as an open, non-exclusive platform enabling multiple parking service providers to participate * Competition is preserved at the payment provider level, where multiple suppliers can operate via the NPP * The Authority is not selecting a single downstream provider but enabling a competitive marketplace of providers * The specification reflects a genuine operational need for interoperability, not a preference for a specific supplier * Therefore, the direct award relates only to the core interoperability platform, while maintaining competition in the wider service ecosystem.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f7bb
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086268-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

63 - Supporting and auxiliary transport services; travel agencies services

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

CPV Codes

48900000 - Miscellaneous software package and computer systems

63712400 - Parking services

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

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£480,000 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
11 Sep 20265 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Oct 2026 - 30 Sep 2030 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Guildford Borough Council
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
GUILDFORD
Postcode
GU2 4BB
Postcode Area
Guildford
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ2 Surrey, East and West Sussex
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ25 West Surrey
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Guildford
Electoral Ward
St Nicolas
Westminster Constituency
Guildford

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

NATIONAL PARKING PLATFORM LIMITED

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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.

Loading OCDS record...