---
title: "Digital Development Partner"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06f026"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f026"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f026.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f026.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "The Arts Council of England"
published: "2026-09-02"
---

# Digital Development Partner

Buyer: The Arts Council of England  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06f026

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f026)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f026.json)

## Summary

Arts Council England procured a Digital Development Partner to support its digital and data transformation programme. The requirement covers specialist external support to accelerate delivery, strengthen engineering standards and improve governance. It also includes building sustainable internal capability, so the partner is expected to work alongside Arts Council teams rather than provide a standalone technology product. The service category is digital development and information-technology strategic review and planning services (CPV 72222000). The work supports Arts Council England’s long-term digital objectives and involves the organisation’s wider transformation activity. The appointed supplier is Mphasis UK Limited, a UK-based technology services business. This opportunity is therefore relevant to firms providing digital transformation, software engineering, data, technology strategy, governance and capability-building services to public-sector organisations.

The procurement has been awarded and the tender is complete. It used a competitive selective procedure, with the award made under a framework agreement, and comprised one completed lot. Mphasis UK Limited was awarded the Digital Development Partner contract on 1 September 2026 for £5,000,000 excluding VAT and £6,000,000 including VAT. The contract period runs from 29 September 2026 to 28 September 2029, with a possible renewal of two years and a maximum extent date of 29 September 2029. A contract signature milestone was scheduled for 28 September 2026. The award is active and the procurement was above threshold. The published amendment corrected the maximum contract value from £5,800,000 to the actual £6,000,000 including VAT.

This award shows Arts Council England’s demand for a substantial, integrated digital transformation partner rather than a narrowly defined software supplier. A credible future competitor would need demonstrable capability in digital and data transformation, software engineering delivery, technology strategy, engineering standards and governance. The requirement also favours suppliers able to transfer knowledge, develop internal capability and work sustainably with public-sector teams over a multi-year engagement. Experience of strategic review and planning for information systems or technology would strengthen a proposition. The route to market is also significant: the buyer selected a partner through a competitive framework award, so suppliers seeking comparable work should understand the relevant framework route and meet its conditions. Mphasis UK Limited’s appointment indicates that an SME can compete for this scale of specialist public-sector service.

## Notice

Arts Council England is progressing a significant digital and data transformation programme and requires specialist external support to accelerate delivery, strengthen engineering and governance standards, and build sustainable internal capability, therefore, it was decided to run a competitive tender to choose the most suitable partner to help Arts Council achieve its long-term digital objectives.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082965-2026 |
| Notice type | UK6 - Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Award under framework |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 2 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 1 Sep 2026 |
| Contract period | 29 Sep 2026 - 28 Sep 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £5,000,000 |
| 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 | The Arts Council of England |
| Locality | MANCHESTER |
| Postcode area | Manchester |
| Postcode | M1 1FN |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLD3 Greater Manchester |
| ITL 3 | TLD33 Manchester |
| Local authority | Manchester |
| Electoral ward | Piccadilly |
| Westminster constituency | Manchester Central |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

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

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 72222000 - Information systems or technology strategic review and planning services

## Release History

- 2 Sep 2026 at 10:48 - AwardUpdate - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082965-2026
- 2 Sep 2026 at 10:21 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082945-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082965-2026
  2nd September 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082945-2026
  2nd September 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/api/1.0/ocdsReleasePackages/ocds-h6vhtk-04fb0d
- 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-06f026. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f026.json.