---
title: "Customer Research and Engagement Framework"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-02ad4b"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02ad4b"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02ad4b.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02ad4b.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Tender"
buyer: "NORTHUMBRIAN WATER GROUP LIMITED"
published: "2021-05-05"
---

# Customer Research and Engagement Framework

Buyer: NORTHUMBRIAN WATER GROUP LIMITED  
Current stage: Tender  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-02ad4b

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## Summary

The procurement process is being conducted by Northumbrian Water Group Limited for the "Customer Research and Engagement Framework" within the water and wastewater services industry. This tender is currently active and falls under the selective procurement method, which involves a negotiated procedure with a prior call for competition. The deadline for expressions of interest is set for 21st May 2021 at 12 noon, and interested parties must submit their applications through the Northumbrian Water e-Sourcing portal, Ariba. The contract period for successful bidders will last for 36 months, with the possibility of a further extension for an additional 36 months.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in market research, economic analysis, and customer engagement services. Companies with experience in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, behavioural economics, and those familiar with the regulatory landscape, particularly concerning the water industry, would be well-suited to compete. The contract allows for a maximum of nine framework partners, making it a lucrative opportunity for firms capable of delivering innovative and robust research that aligns with customer priorities and regulatory requirements. Collaboration with other experts in a consortium is encouraged, thus broadening the scope for engagement in this competitive bidding process.

## Notice

The provision of water and wastewater services in England and Wales is a regulated business, and a number of organisations including the economic industry regulator, Ofwat, oversee our activities. Every five years we present a business plan to Ofwat detailing the prices we wish to charge our customers for the services that our customers want us to provide. Customers are at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make. Our plans are co-created with our customers, and other stakeholders, through a robust programme of customer engagement, research and participation. We strive to ensure that our customer research and engagement is leading both within the water industry and compared to other sectors. We are currently working towards the price review that will take place in 2024 (PR24) and require framework partners to provide customer research and engagement, and supporting consultancy services. We will undertake both qualitative and quantitative research to understand our customers' priorities and the value they place on our services. This includes making decisions on the level of services customers can expect to receive and the investment we will make. Alongside this, we will require other professional services to consult on the use of the information we obtain from research to build suitable models from which we can devise cost effective plans.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The provision of water and wastewater services in England and Wales is a regulated business, and a number of organisations including the economic industry regulator, Ofwat, oversee our activities. Every five years we present a business plan to Ofwat detailing the prices we wish to charge our customers for the services that our customers want us to provide. Customers are at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make. Our plans are co-created with our customers, and other stakeholders, through a robust programme of customer engagement, research and participation. We strive to ensure that our customer research and engagement is leading both within the water industry and compared to other sectors. We are currently working towards the price review that will take place in 2024 (PR24) and require framework partners to provide customer research and engagement, and supporting consultancy services. We will undertake both qualitative and quantitative research to understand our customers' priorities and the value they place on our services. This includes making decisions on the level of services customers can expect to receive and the investment we will make. Alongside this, we will require other professional services to consult on the use of the information we obtain from research to build suitable models from which we can devise cost effective plans. We require partners, with excellent professional experience, who can demonstrate a sound understanding of: - A wide range of customer research methodologies including Citizens Assessment/Jury - A broad range of economic research methodologies - An in-depth understanding of behavioural economics - The current regulatory landscape including Ofwat guidance - Willingness to Pay and Triangulation methods - Cost benefit modelling - Our business and the industry in which we operate - Innovative practice towards economic research and other customer engagement - How to make complex information understandable for customers - How to engage with customers and gain meaningful insight in COVID safe ways We welcome submissions from individual companies or consortiums of experts. If you are part of a consortium, please indicate who the lead organisation is. We want to deliver a robust and innovative research and engagement programme so that our plan reflects our customer priorities and willingness to pay for services. Our research and engagement must stand up to robust scrutiny by our Executive Leadership Team, Board and regulators. We will also engage with the Water Forum, (NWL's Customer Challenge Group). Members of the Water Forum will challenge our research methods, the robustness of the research and engagement and the interpretation of any results. The Water Forum will ensure that our plans adequately reflect the results of the engagement. Objectives We need to undertake an innovative and leading programme of research and engagement, to consider the following questions: - What do our customers and stakeholders believe are the most important areas of service provided by NW and ESW? - What improvements, if any, would our customers and stakeholders like to see to these services and what are they willing to pay for improvement to these services? - Are the service improvements and WTP the same as those determined by the regulator? - How would our customers and stakeholders like to see us incentivised or penalised for our performance against our service commitments? - Vulnerable customer insights - as a rule of thumb in PR19 we worked to engage with vulnerable customers (financial / non-financial) separately on key elements of research to understand what really mattered to them To achieve a robust customer focused set of data that answers the above questions, we will undertake a qualitative exploratory phase followed by a number of quantitative studies to determine customer priorities and their Willingness to Pay (WTP) for potential service improvements. It is imperative that, where appropriate, our research is statistically valid and representative of NW and ESW customer bases both demographically and geographically. The customers in the ESW region will be asked about service attributes relating only to water supply where customers in the NW region will be asked about service attributes relating to both water and sewerage services. he period of any contract(s) resulting from this procurement will be 36 months from the contract start date. The length of the contract may be extended by negotiation with the supplier for a further 36 months. This research covers three disciplines - research, economics, creative, we are therefore looking for a minimum of 3 suppliers for this framework with a maximum of 9

Options: After the initial 36 month period, the contract will have the option to extend for a further 36 month period.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/009690-2021 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Tender |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 5 May 2021 |
| Submission deadline | 21 May 2021 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NORTHUMBRIAN WATER GROUP LIMITED |
| Locality | DURHAM |
| Post town | Durham |
| Postcode | DH1 5FJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear |
| ITL 3 | TLC41 Durham |
| Local authority | County Durham |
| Electoral ward | Framwellgate and Newton Hall |
| Westminster constituency | City of Durham |
| Delivery location | TLC North East (England), TLH14 Suffolk CC, TLH3 Essex |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79300000 - Market and economic research; polling and statistics
- 79310000 - Market research services

## Release History

- 5 May 2021 at 11:47 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/009690-2021

## Notice URLs

- http://www.nwl.co.uk
- https://s1.ariba.com

## 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-h6vhtk-02ad4b. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02ad4b.json.