Trader Support Service

Description

The TSS supports traders to submit declarations via a digital platform with self-serve guidance and contact centre support on how to complete digital declarations. The service will be free to access for businesses moving goods between Northern Ireland (NI) and Great Britain (GB) under the Windsor Framework.

The Trader Support Service is made up of two key elements:  
- System: A digital platform system to enable traders to submit information to meet requirements under the Windsor Framework. 
- Service: Customer support service, providing information and guidance for businesses on how to submit compliant declarations and the steps they need to take to comply with regulations. This includes self-serve guidance such as written guides, webinars, videos, and process maps, as well as a responsive Contact Centre where traders can raise a range of enquiries.

The future contract is expected to be awarded in November 2025, for commencement of a rigorous mobilisation plan from December 2025. Following mobilisation, the future contract services shall run for an initial period of 5 years, with the option to extend for two further periods of 12 months.

The procurement is being undertaken using a "Competitive Dialogue" procedure (in accordance with Regulation 30 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015). Under the first stage of the process, bidders are required to complete a Selection Questionnaire ("SQ Stage"), which consists of mandatory requirements assessed on a pass/fail basis, and a series of qualitative questions to be evaluated to determine potential suppliers' technical and professional ability. Following evaluation of submitted SQs, HMRC will issue an Invitation to Participate in Competitive Dialogue to shortlisted bidders ("IPCD stage") and subsequently an Invitation to Tender ("ITT Stage"). Full details of the requirements, the SQ and the overall procurement process and how to participate are included in the SQ documents available in the event on the SAP Ariba eSourcing Portal.

Interested suppliers will be required to provide their latest financial accounting information and will have this assessed by the Contracting Authority in line with Regulation 58 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to ensure that the potential future contracting entity has the economic capability to deliver a contract of this size, which has an estimated contract value of circa £370m over its potential 7-year duration (5+1+1).

In line with Regulation 58(8) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Authority requires that interested suppliers (and for the avoidance of doubt, in the case of consortia this means the contracting entity) have a minimum annual turnover of £50m in order to participate in this Procurement and reserves the right to reject any SQ responses that do not meet this threshold.

Additional information: This procurement will be conducted by way of an eSourcing event using HMRC's SAP Ariba eSourcing Portal. Please ensure you are registered with the eSourcing Portal and have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to gain access to the procurement documentation when it is released which will contain full details of the requirement. The NDA will be provided once you have confirmed the below details.

If you are not already registered, the registration link is: http://hmrc.sourcing-eu.ariba.com/ad/selfRegistration 

As part of the registration process you will receive a system generated email asking you to activate your SAP Ariba supplier account by verifying your email address. Once you have completed the activation process you will receive a further email by return confirming the 'registration process is now complete' and providing you with 'your organisation's account ID' number. If an email response from HMRC is not received within one working day of your request, please re-contact [email protected] (after first checking your spam in-box) notifying non-receipt and confirming when your registration request was first made.

Once you have obtained 'your organization's account ID' number, please email [email protected], [email protected] and copy in [email protected] with your:

Contract title and Reference
Your organisation's HMRC SAP Ariba account ID
Your organisation name
Your name
Your email address
Your telephone number.

Once you have complied with the foregoing you will receive an e-mail confirming access to the procurement event once it is built. Further information about HMRC's procurement tool SAP Ariba, a Suppliers Guide and general information about supplying to HMRC is available on the HMRC website: www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/supplying.htm
If you have already registered on SAP Ariba then you may also need to re-register on HMRC's SAP Ariba in order to be added to the event.