Business Support Service
Planned
Key facts
- Deadline to express interest or request to participate
- Tuesday 10 November 2026, 23:59 (UK time)
- Buyer's estimated value
- £10,800,000 (excl. VAT) The buyer's own estimate, not income to you.
- Contract period
- 31 Mar 2027 to 31 Mar 2029
- Procedure
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Notice type
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Suitable for SMEs (per buyer)
- Yes
Decision brief
Taken from the buyer's published notice (shown as written, shortened where long). Tenderpatch has not added to or interpreted it. Always read the official documents before bidding.
- How bids will be scored
- Not stated in the notice.
- Conditions of participation (what you must show)
- None published in the notice. They may be in the tender documents.
- Contract length and extensions
- 31 Mar 2027 to 31 Mar 2029. Extensions: This is to give DBT the ability to retain flexibility in issuing extensions at the end of the current spending review (SR) period. It is possible that the next SR period (2029/2030) may only be for 1 year.
- How to submit
- Bidders are encouraged to sign up to the Jaggaer eSourcing prior to the requirement go live date and can do so by visiting: https://uktrade.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html Open uktrade.app.jaggaer.com ↗ Electronic submission: allowed.
- Changes the buyer has announced
- Summary of Changes: Date of Tender Notice Publication (estimate), Deadline for Request to Participate (estimate) and Award Decision (estimate) , Total Contract Value and Procurement title.
- Tender documents
- No document links in the notice. Use the official notice link.
New to public tenders? Plain-English guide to this page
- Framework
- An agreement that sets terms for work the buyer may order later, often from several suppliers. The value shown usually covers the whole agreement, not one job.
- Open for bids / closing date
- You must submit by the closing date and time, normally through the buyer's own online portal. Late bids are normally refused.
- Clarification questions
- A deadline for asking the buyer questions about the tender. It is earlier than the closing date.
- Conditions of participation
- What the buyer asks suppliers to show before they can be considered, such as experience, insurance or accreditations.
- Bids are scored on
- How the buyer will compare bids, usually a split between price and quality. A 60/40 split in favour of quality means the cheapest bid will not necessarily win.
- Lots
- A tender can be split into parts. You can often bid for only the lots that suit you.
- Area (ITL)
- The buyer names an official statistical area for where the work is, not a street address. Check the tender documents for the actual sites.
- UK4 and other notice codes
- Official codes for the type of notice. A "tender notice" means bids are being invited.
General explanations written by Tenderpatch, not part of this notice.
Description
The Department for Business and Trade wish to give notice of a planned procurement opportunity in relation to delivery of the Business Support Service (BSS).
The service will supplement guidance available on gov.uk and business.gov.uk. and is a key part of DBT’s Business Growth Service. The BSS should provide information, advice, guidance, and signposting on any business issue for any kind of business, charity or social enterprise, including pre-startups and start-ups, in England.
Scope of the requirement:
- The proposed procurement will seek a supplier to provide integrated business support including:
- Multi- channel access through telephone, webchat, email, social media, and instant messenger (such as WhatsApp)
- A database of business information for use by advisers and some external organisations
- The ability to stand up an emergency response plan with 24 hours’ notice from DBT
- Maintaining partnerships and relationships across the business support eco-system
- There is no requirement to deliver a digital front-end or website, however, the successful supplier will need to be flexible and able to contribute to, or integrate with, any similar delivery undertaken by government.
-The contract is structured as a two-year offer with the option to extend for up to two further one-year periods (2+1+1). The initial contract value is £5 million. Any future extensions are subject to budget approval.
Please note that:
- Further information and relevant guidance will be provided in or with the UK4 Tender Notice, published on Find a Tender Service website.
- UK 4 Notice and associated procurement documents provided with that notice will outline how and when to express your interest to participate in the procurement process.
- All procurement activities will be managed via DBT’s e-procurement system (Jaggaer)
- Procurement related documentation will be issued via Jaggaer. Full guidance on registration and system navigation will be provided in or with the UK4 Notice.
- It is mandatory for any interested suppliers to register on the new Central Digital Platform (CDP) which is part of the enhanced Find a Tender Service in order to participate in any future procurements. Details of how to register will be included in or with the UK4 Notice.
- DBT will not be liable for any expenditure, work, or effort incurred by a provider in acting based on this notice.
- The information provided in this notice is for indicative purposes only. DBT reserves its rights to amend any of the information included in the notice.
- DBT reserves the right to add or remove stages throughout the procurement process or to reduce the tendering period in future (in accordance with the PA 23). DBT also reserves the right to decide not to proceed with this procurement.
Please note, that involvement in Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) which is due to take place in August is not a pre-requisite for participating in the procurement process.
Secretary of State for Business and Trade will in due course be transferred to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade by an Order in Council (secondary legislation) under section 2 of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975.