---
title: "Provision of Nest Scheme administration services"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-03d82e"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03d82e"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03d82e.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03d82e.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SAVINGS TRUST (NEST) CORPORATION"
published: "2023-06-21"
---

# Provision of Nest Scheme administration services

Buyer: NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SAVINGS TRUST (NEST) CORPORATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-03d82e

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## Summary

The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) Corporation has awarded a contract to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for the provision of Nest Scheme administration services. This contract includes the build, delivery, and operation of administration services for the National Employment Savings Trust's defined contribution pension scheme, focusing on auto-enrolment support through digital channels. The contract is for a minimum term of 10 years, extendable up to 18 years, with a total contract value of £1.5 billion. The procurement process was conducted using the negotiated procedure without prior publication, based on the absence of competition for technical reasons, and the contract was signed on 21st June 2023.

This tender presents opportunities for businesses in financial and insurance services, software development, IT consulting, and government pension schemes to engage with NEST Corporation. The procurement process signifies NEST's requirements for technical expertise and experience, specifically in the UK Defined Contribution pensions market and digital-first service delivery. Businesses well-suited to compete are those capable of providing complex technical solutions and services on a long-term basis. The contract also includes flexible options for the contract term and service delivery models, creating potential opportunities for businesses offering innovative solutions in the defined contribution pension scheme sector.

## Notice

The Authority has awarded a contract to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for the build, delivery and operation of administration services for the defined contribution pension scheme known as the National Employment Savings Trust. The administration services will support auto-enrolment and be delivered primarily via digital channels. The contract will be for a minimum term of 10 years, with an optional extension period of up to 5 years, and the option of an additional period of up to 3 years for exit. The total contract value is indicative and covers this potential 18 year period. The Authority considers that competition is absent for technical reasons and so has awarded the contract to TCS without publishing a prior call for competition. The Authority's reasons for forming this view are set out below. The Authority and TCS entered into the contract on 21/06/23.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Authority has procured a fully outsourced service for the build, delivery and operation of administration services for the defined contribution pension scheme known as the National Employment Savings Trust. The administration services will support auto-enrolment and be delivered primarily via digital channels. The contract will be for a minimum term of 10 years, with an optional extension period of up to 5 years, and the option of an additional period of up to 3 years for exit. The total contract value is indicative and covers this potential 18 year period. As a financial services organisation with public body status, the Authority adheres to public procurement regulations. Therefore, the Authority conducted this procurement in accordance with the rules laid out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Authority has used the negotiated procedure without prior publication for the reasons explained below.

Options: The contract will be for a minimum term of 10 years, with an optional extension period of up to 5 years, and the option of an additional period of up to 3 years for exit. When exiting the contract, the Authority has three options: the Platform-as-a-Service option, the self-hosted option, and the replacement services option.

### Procurement Information

Nest requires assurance that its partner is sufficiently experienced and technically capable of delivering the complex requirements of the contract. To this end Nest requires that its partner has experience of operating in the UK Defined Contribution (DC) pensions market; that they can evidence delivering a digital first service in a DC pensions environment; and that they can evidence experience of delivering both a transition and data migration, alongside an ongoing service, to a customer base of Nest's scale and complexity. Nest has assessed the market against its requirements and has concluded that competition does not exist. Nest commissioned a broad market assessment from PricewaterhouseCoopers to understand whether there is competition in the market capable of meeting Nest's requirements for technical experience. The assessment considered all suppliers with UK DC experience, as well as the participants who engaged in the recent procurement for these services (OJEU ref 2019/S 091-219508). PwC's expert conclusion was that, apart from TCS, there was no single supplier or consortium in the market now or the short term (assessed over the next 12 months) who could meet Nest's requirements. Nest concludes there is presently no reasonable alternative or substitute available and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement. This is evidenced by the following points: 1. Given the national importance of a functioning Nest scheme Nest has carefully considered its minimum criteria relating to the experience and successful track record that any potential supplier must evidence and specifically requires the experience set out above so Nest can be assured that its complex technical requirements will be met and that it will not risk service discontinuity and can meet the transforming needs of Nest's customers over the next decade. The experience requirements have been informed by the outcome of the recent procurement where the contract was awarded to a supplier without this level of experience. 2. Nest's output requirements for the service have not changed from those advertised to the market in the recent procurement (which attracted only two final tender submissions in 2021 despite extensive market warming efforts) meaning that Nest can be confident of the judgement it is taking of the market based on the response to the recent procurement and the up-to-date market assessment provided by PwC. 3. The disaggregation of the scheme is not possible at this stage because the current solution is not readily interoperable with other suppliers' solution(s) and a change from a single service provider solution would add complexity to an already highly complex project. The new contract incorporates flexibility aimed at being able to disaggregate elements in future. Nest considers that there is no supplier in the market other than TCS that can meet Nest's requirements. Accordingly, and in the best interests of its members, Nest is able pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) to negotiate a contract directly with TCS without needing to advertise the opportunity and has done so.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/017642-2023 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 21 Jun 2023 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 20 Jun 2023 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £1,500,000,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SAVINGS TRUST (NEST) CORPORATION |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | East London |
| Postcode | E14 4PU |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI4 Inner London - East |
| ITL 3 | TLI42 Tower Hamlets |
| Local authority | Tower Hamlets |
| Electoral ward | Canary Wharf |
| Westminster constituency | Poplar and Limehouse |
| Delivery location | TLI London |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 48 - Software package and information systems
- 66 - Financial and insurance services
- 71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services
- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 75 - Administration, defence and social security services
- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 48000000 - Software package and information systems
- 66000000 - Financial and insurance services
- 71600000 - Technical testing, analysis and consultancy services
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 75100000 - Administration services
- 75320000 - Government employee pension schemes
- 79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

## Release History

- 21 Jun 2023 at 11:01 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/017642-2023

## Notice URLs

- http://www.nestpensions.org.uk
- https://www.tcs.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-03d82e. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03d82e.json.