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Financial Times Limited Digital Subscription

BANK OF ENGLAND

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

07 Oct 2026 at 11:14

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

07 Oct 2026 at 10:32

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Bank of England procured an enterprise digital subscription to the Financial Times, providing online news services for its organisational users. The requirement is for subscription services rather than printed newspapers or bespoke news production. Delivery is across the United Kingdom, covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The buying organisation is the Bank of England, a central government public authority. Financial Times Limited supplies the subscription under the resulting arrangement.

The procurement is complete and was awarded to Financial Times Limited through a direct award. The Bank of England justified this route on the basis that the supplier was identified as the sole provider with exclusive rights to deliver the required range and type of online news services. The contract covers one requirement, for an enterprise subscription, with an awarded value of £693,252. The contract period runs from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2028. The award was published on 7 October 2026; the stated date for signature was 26 October 2026. The procurement was evaluated as a direct award in a special case under the Procurement Act 2023, Schedule 5, section 41.

This award demonstrates demand at the Bank of England for organisation-wide access to a defined range of digital news services, delivered through a subscription rather than a tailored publishing project. The selected supplier was considered to hold exclusive rights to provide the required content and service range, so a credible competitor for comparable future demand would need to demonstrate equivalent coverage and dependable enterprise access, as well as the rights to supply the relevant publications. The arrangement is a single, substantial institutional subscription serving users across the UK, so suppliers would need the capacity to administer access at organisational scale. This is a specific media-subscription requirement: businesses focused on print supply, general communications or unrelated information services are not a close fit.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Financial Times Limited Digital Subscription

Notice Description

Direct award contract for Financial Times subscription on an enterprise basis for a two-year period.

Procurement Information

PA 2023, Section 41, Direct award in special cases (Schedule 5) The FT has been identified as the sole supplier in the market, possessing the exclusive rights to provide the range and type of online news services required.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-078249
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/094611-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

79980000 - Subscription services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£693,252 £500K-£1M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
7 Oct 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
7 Oct 20262 weeks ago
Contract Period
1 Nov 2026 - 31 Oct 2028 2-3 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
BANK OF ENGLAND
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
EC2R 8AH
Postcode Area
Central 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
City of London
Electoral Ward
Walbrook
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Financial Times

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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