RM1043.8-1-GENOMICS ENGLAND LIMITED Website Development-closed

Tender description

Work done so far The incumbent supplier has developed the Generation Study website using CraftCMS, and has been providing ongoing maintenance, support and hosting services. There is an agreed exit plan with the incumbent supplier, and Genomics England expects the new supplier to adapt to onboarding for a smooth transition. Which phase the project is in Live Existing team The teams managing Genomics England's websites consists of the Communications Director (web administrator), Head of Digital Communications, Content and Brand (web administrator), Digital Channels Manager (web administrator), Content Designer, Product Designer, User Researcher, Delivery Manager (these roles work across the Generation Study programme and other workstreams). Genomics England has internal multi-disciplinary teams with embedded Service Owners, Product Managers, Engineers and Bioinformaticians. The successful supplier should also be required to work alongside these existing teams, to take responsibility for specific improvements and to deliver these according to standards set agreed. Address where the work will be done Genomics England, One Canada Square, London, E14 5AB. Working arrangements The appointed supplier will be expected to work remotely and collaborate with Genomics England primarily through Microsoft Teams meetings. In the event which face-to-face meetings are required, the Supplier will be expected to attend Genomics England's London office: Genomics England, One Canada Square, London, E14 5AB, for which expenses will be paid for in line with Genomics England's travel policy. Provide more information about your security requirements: No security clearance needed Latest start date 2025-12-15 Enter the expected contract length: 2 years Extension period: 1 year Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 290000 Provide further information: The indication is, that the anticipated maximum spend over the lifetime of this contract is to be £290,000. Pricing will be evaluated on the basis of the most competitive bid. Confirm if you require a contracted out service or supply of resource Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Summary of work Genomics England are seeking a supplier to support the ongoing maintenance, development and hosting of Genomics England's websites. This includes maintenance and enhancements of our corporate website and our Generation Study website. There is also a requirement for a new website to be developed in 2027 to support a further Genomics England initiative. Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Why the work is being done Our existing websites require ongoing maintenance, development and hosting. The existing contract that captures these services is set to expire 31 December 2025, we therefore require a supplier for the next contract period up to 31 December 2027 to ensure these websites remain live and up-to-date. The business problem you need to solve The websites are both managed on CraftCMS. Website development over the contract period would need to include tasks such as patching, security and accessibility reviews, and remediation work. As well as proactive support to improve site performance. There is also a requirement for continuous improvement of both sites to ensure they continue to meet user requirements, and ensure the content, structure and functionality of the websites remains up-to-date and relevant for users. The supplier must be able to create a new website that is currently in the pipeline using CraftCMS. Hosting services also forms a core part of this procurement. There is a requirement that the supplier will be able to provide hosting services for the two existing contracts, as well as for the third, once live. First user type: Potential research participants or family members First user type: Existing research participants or family members First user type: Patients and patient organisations First user type: Researcher (academia or industry) First user type: NHS healthcare professionals Questions and Clarifications 1. What version of Craft are the websites running? Both sites are currently on Craft CMS PRO 5.8.17 Last Updated: 14 October 2025, 08:37 2. Is Craft CMS experience and case studies essential for prospective suppliers? Yes. Craft CMS experience is an essential requirement for the procurement. Last Updated: 13 October 2025, 16:08 3. 1) Could you tell us more about the incumbent supplier's exit strategy? What materials will be handed over? Will we get complete access to the source code (e.g. in a git repository)? 2) Can you share more information about the new website planned for 2027 including whether it will be similar in size and complexity to the existing Genomics England Websites? 3) Who is the incumbent supplier? 1) This will be in accordance with Call-Off Schedule 10: Exit Strategy, which has commenced. The incumbent will work with the successful supplier for the offboarding and onboarding. 2) For now, we can share that this will be similar to our Generation Study website. 3) The incumbent supplier is Empyrean Digital Limited, who were awarded the contract in 2023 on this framework. Last Updated: 13 October 2025, 16:05 4. There is no mention of Service Level Agreements (e.g. guaranteed uptime percentage, issue response time etc.). What SLAs would you expect out of a supplier, as a baseline? Support SLAs will be confirmed upon contract award and will follow Call-Off Schedule 14. As a minimum, suppliers are expected to maintain 99.9% uptime during core business hours (08:00-18:00). Incident response times will vary depending on how severe the issue is. Last Updated: 13 October 2025, 16:03 5. 1) Can you confirm if the incumbent will be bidding for this opportunity? 2) Has any existing user research been carried out? 3) What hosting solution is in place, alternatively, what hosting requirements should suppliers assume? 4) Will the successful supplier need to work with external designers or Genomic England's designers? 5) How many people or stakeholders will the successful supplier need to liaise with on this project? 6) Do you have any website traffic statistics you could share with us? 7) Can you give any recent example of support issues that your existing supplier has been required to resolve? 8) Do you have any support SLAs that we need to be aware of? 9) Can you confirm if the budget is inclusive or exclusive of VAT? 10) Do any of your websites need to be audited against accessibility standards by a third party? 11) What is the driver behind redeveloping the corporate website? 12) Will this new third website replace any of the existing sites? 13) Has any planning or discovery work around this third website been carried out? 1) The incumbent is on this framework and has been informed in the same manner as every other supplier - through publication of this opportunity. We cannot confirm the bidding intentions of the incumbent supplier. 2) We haven’t conducted full user research yet. So far, our insights are based only on an audience research project carried out in 2024. 3) Our existing hosting solution is with Microsoft Azure. We have not set a criteria in terms of which hosting solution we require, we expect suppliers to offer solutions in their full technical responses. 4) Internal only. 5) The supplier will regularly work with three colleagues from our Communications Directorate and two or three from the Generation Study team. They will also collaborate with the team behind our upcoming service linked to the third website. Occasionally, they may engage with stakeholders from Design and Research, Technology and Product, and others. 6) Our corporate site receives around 4,000 visitors per month on average. The Generation Study website recently reached 3,000 unique monthly visitors. 7) A recent support ticket which we raised with the supplier involved issues with login access and multi-factor authentication. 8) Support SLAs will be confirmed upon contract award and will follow Call-Off Schedule 14. As a minimum, suppliers are expected to maintain 99.9% uptime during core business hours (08:00-18:00). Incident response times will vary depending on how severe the issue is. 9) The budget is exclusive of VAT. 10) Yes. We occasionally request audits of our websites by third parties. 11) Our corporate website has not been updated in several years. Genomics England is entering a new phase as an organisation, and a redevelopment is now essential to meet our evolving needs. 12) No, it will not replace any site. The planned site for 2027 will be an addition to the existing two. 13) No. Last Updated: 13 October 2025, 16:00