---
title: "Crossing the Border - Level 2 Support"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "HOME OFFICE"
published: "2026-01-28"
---

# Crossing the Border - Level 2 Support

Buyer: HOME OFFICE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973

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## Summary

The procurement process titled "Crossing the Border - Level 2 Support," conducted by the Home Office, has reached the award stage, with a contract awarded to IBM United Kingdom Limited. This contract relates to the provision of software support services specifically for the Crossing the Border platform, a critical national infrastructure that manages the movement of people and services across the UK border. The contract is valued at £8,721,260 and will run from 23 January 2026 to 22 January 2030, covering a range of locations including the UK, British Overseas Territories, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Europe, and the rest of the world. The procurement employed an open procedure, indicating a competitive process aimed at identifying the most suitable supplier.

This tender creates substantial opportunities for businesses specialising in software support services, particularly those familiar with critical national infrastructure and hybrid cloud models. While large enterprises like IBM have secured the contract in this instance, other large-scale enterprises with capabilities in managing high-resilience, secure systems may find similar future opportunities within the government technology sector. The contract's scope and high resilience requirement also suggest opportunities for subcontractors who can provide specialist technical expertise and support services as part of a larger supply chain.

## Notice

This notice is for the award of the Level 2 Support contract for Crossing the Border Platform and applications. Crossing the Border (CtB) is the steady state services and products which control the flow of people and services across the UK border. This is done principally via the Primary Control Points, mediated by a Border Force officer, or via an e-gate indirectly supervised by Border Force officer/s. Information from ports is processed by a central collection of systems, hosted in the cloud and on premise. These systems are built on top of a number of infrastructure platforms, leveraging a hybrid cloud model. The supplier will provide level 2 support to ensure reliance and service of central systems, supporting a 24 hours a day 365 days a year operation, requiring high degrees of resilience and availability. The existing applications run on diverse technological stacks and have been delivered over a 3-year programme and are expected to evolve over the next 5 years in line with government policy and operational need. The system is critical national infrastructure, incorporating official and secret data sets and related processes.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e37a16ae-cbb1-405f-aa21-96d7cb12bcdd |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure (above threshold) |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 28 Jan 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 24 Jan 2025 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 31 Jul 2025 |
| Contract period | 23 Jan 2026 - 22 Jan 2030 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £8,721,260 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £8,721,260 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | HOME OFFICE |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 4DF |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | IBM UNITED KINGDOM |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 72261000 - Software support services

## Release History

- 28 Jan 2026 at 10:50 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e37a16ae-cbb1-405f-aa21-96d7cb12bcdd

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e37a16ae-cbb1-405f-aa21-96d7cb12bcdd
  28th January 2026 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/a41ce5bd-8103-4545-982e-77785a4e83d3
  n/a

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-7185a3d2-1cf2-4854-8476-c99a8c1d5973.json.