---
title: "External Procurement and Commercial Support"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-058dbc"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-058dbc"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058dbc.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058dbc.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "UNITED UTILITIES WATER LIMITED"
published: "2025-08-26"
---

# External Procurement and Commercial Support

Buyer: UNITED UTILITIES WATER LIMITED  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-058dbc

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## Summary

United Utilities Water Limited has awarded a contract to Efficio Limited for external procurement and commercial support under a direct award procedure. This process falls within the industry category of procurement consultancy services and involves significant sourcing and negotiation activities crucial to the company’s operation. The contract, valued at £1,560,000 gross, will address immediate resource needs to ensure compliance and operational continuity. The award was completed on 26th August 2025, with the contract period spanning from 9th September 2025 to 8th August 2026. The activity will primarily take place in the UKD region, supporting strategic categories such as Bioresources, Fleet, Energy, and more.

This contract presents substantial opportunities for firms specialising in management consultancy and procurement services to engage with large-scale utility organisations like United Utilities. Companies with expertise in category strategy development, tender execution, supplier evaluation, and negotiation planning will find this procurement especially relevant. By leveraging this tender, such businesses can expand their portfolio in the utility sector, align themselves with high-impact initiatives, and foster long-term partnerships. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could also gain access to a burgeoning market by aligning their capabilities with the forthcoming Management Consultancy Dynamic Market, set to launch in October 2025, ensuring a continuous stream of opportunities.

## Notice

United Utilities have a requirement for external procurement and commercial support, to assist with a significant bow wave of sourcing and negotiation activity that require immediate mobilisation. A full assessment of future resource has been undertaken, which confirms that short term external support is essential but once this activity concludes any further resource support / requirements are expected to be delivered through a combination of recruitment and competitions issued through the Management Consultancy Dynamic Market (current live opportunity). The activity is critical to mitigate procurement and compliance risk, drive measurable commercial value, and support the delivery of new procurements across Bioresources, Fleet, Energy, Chemicals, Wastewater, Scientific Services, and other strategic categories. This award is for the fully managed delivery of 6 high-impact initiatives, with some advisory support, and the supplier will need to work with United Utilities' internal team to ensure a timely execution of said initiatives. Deliverables include: * Category strategy development and preparing sourcing documentation * Tender execution and supplier evaluation * Negotiation planning and award recommendations * Contracting support and handover materials * Strategic advisory input for client-led sourcing activity

### Procurement Information

This direct award is being made under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, based on urgency as set out in Schedule 5, paragraph 12. The authority has an immediate and time-critical requirement to ensure continuity of services which are essential to the delivery of statutory and business critical functions. No existing framework agreement is in place which could practicably be used to meet the requirement within the time available. Failure to act would create significant operational costs and service delivery risks for United Utilities. In this circumstance, a direct award to Efficio represents a viable option to maintain continuity of services pending completion of a longer-term solution. That longer term solution being the live procurement of PRO004901-Management Consultancy Dynamic Market which will go live in October 2025 following the conclusion of the procurement process. This contract is being awarded strictly due to the time-limited requirements; however, future requirements of this kind will be suited to PRO004901-Management Consultancy Dynamic Market. Once this Dynamic Market is live, requirements of this nature will be issued in accordance with said agreement.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051255-2025 |
| Notice type | UK6 - Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 26 Aug 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 25 Aug 2025 |
| Contract period | 8 Sep 2025 - 8 Aug 2026 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £1,300,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | UNITED UTILITIES WATER LIMITED |
| Locality | GREAT SANKEY |
| Post town | Warrington |
| Postcode | WA5 3LP |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLD6 Cheshire |
| ITL 3 | TLD61 Warrington |
| Local authority | Warrington |
| Electoral ward | Great Sankey North and Whittle Hall |
| Westminster constituency | Warrington South |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | EFFICIO |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79418000 - Procurement consultancy services

## Release History

- 26 Aug 2025 at 12:06 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051255-2025
- 26 Aug 2025 at 12:01 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051251-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051255-2025
  26th August 2025 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051251-2025
  26th August 2025 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.efficioconsulting.com/en-gb/
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## 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-058dbc. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058dbc.json.