Call centre

Tender description

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) intends to procure additional capacity from their existing contract for the Business Support Helpline. The demand has arisen due to ongoing changes related to the Government’s Transition from the EU and is hence let in accordance with the Contract’s Emergency Review Plan. The UK transition from the EU is anticipated to generate additional demand through calls to the Business Helpline. The Business Support Helpline is a free, virtual multi-channel information and guidance service, operating across England. It forms part of the government’s business support provision, working on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Business Support Helpline is part of the government’s offer to businesses, including pre-start, start-up and existing businesses, providing trusted information and sign-posting businesses to relevant sources of support. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) awarded a contract for a Business Support Helpline service following a Restricted OJEU procedure in 2019. The contract was advertised in the Official Journal (2019/S 120-2941409). The Business Support Helpline is a free, virtual multi-channel information and guidance service, operating across England. It forms part of the government’s business support provision, working on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Business Support Helpline is part of the government’s offer to businesses, including pre-start, start-up and existing businesses, providing trusted information and sign-posting businesses to relevant sources of support. BEIS anticipates that the UK transition from the EU may generate additional demand for the Business Helpline, potentially an additional 144 000 calls over 8 months. To meet this level of demand, the number of call handlers will need to be increased. BEIS intends to invoke the Emergency Response Plan, submitted by the contractor in response to the original tender documents, and incorporated into the contract originally awarded by BEIS, in order to increase existing resource levels. This is to meet the anticipated increase in demand in the volume of calls from businesses to the helpline arising from transition period issues and new arrangements that will impact businesses, particularly those trading in the EU, as a result of UK transition. The value of the additional service capacity will be up to GBP 3 000 000 and the additional capacity will be phased to meet demand. Call demand is unknown and hence the contract is not exclusive, nor is the total value guaranteed. The contract for the Business Support Helpline services provides: 1) A multi-channel business support service through which businesses can receive bespoke information (this will include information via telephone and digital channels, but not face to face support); This includes: (i) a light touch, non-scripted, response to routine enquiries with a simple diagnostic followed by provision of information, and sign-posting of callers to relevant sources of help; and (ii) a deeper level of diagnosis and advice for complex queries, and 2) A business support Knowledge Bank of business support schemes and information in England to support service delivery The contract included the option to scale up the services in accordance with the terms of an Emergency Response Plan in order to increase capacity at short notice, (for example for UK Transition).The option to increase the contract value proportionately in line with demand is provided for in the review clause within the contract documents, in the event of significant additional demand that could not be anticipated at the point of procurement resulting, for example, from economic shocks or changes in relationships with our international trading partners. This proposed contract variation constitutes an increase of up to GBP 3 000 000 in the total value of the contract.