Website Development - Genomics England Limited (GEL-TR-25068)

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 We expect suppliers to be able to work remotely across the UK. 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 2026-03-23 Enter the expected contract length: 2 years Write the term or acronym: Public-facing Write the term or acronym: Well-architected 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. It is an essential criteria that the supplier must have experience developing and maintaining public-facing craft CMS websites. 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 at the end of March 2026 we therefore require a supplier for the next contract period up to two years to ensure these websites remain live and up-to-date. The business problem you need to solve The public-facing 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 public-facing 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. Suppliers must maintain a service availability level of 99.9% during business hours, defined as 08:00 to 18:00 UK time. Incidents are categorised by severity, with each level carrying its own response requirement: Severity 1 issues require a response within 4 hours, Severity 2 within 8 hours, Severity 3 within 240 hours, and Severity 4 within 720 hours. 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: NHS healthcare professionals First user type: Researcher (academia or industry) Questions and Clarifications 1. Further to an earlier clarification question regarding the ISO 27001 requirement, we would appreciate some additional clarity. Your response indicated that ISO 27001 is required for both the hosting agency and the hosting supplier. Could you please confirm whether this requirement also applies to us as the digital agency submitting the bid? To clarify our earlier response stating that ISO 27001 is required for both the hosting agency and the hosting supplier, this requirement relates specifically to those responsible for providing and operating the hosting environment. In our shortlisting questions we ask suppliers to demonstrate how they are accredited to, and/or meet, standards such as WCAG 2.2 AA, UK GDPR, ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials and relevant government standards. This means the Supplier does not necessarily need to hold ISO 27001 certification, so long as it can clearly evidence that it meets the equivalent security controls in practice. This would include having a documented security framework, strong access controls, secure development and deployment practices, appropriate monitoring and logging with incident handling, and regular patching and vulnerability scanning. Last Updated: 20 February 2026, 13:08 2. 1) Please could you clarify the minimum requirements for the statement of work under this contract? 2) Also, is experience specifically in the ‘Craft’ CMS essential, or would experience with other CMS platforms be acceptable? 1) The minimum requirement for the contract is the provision of ongoing maintenance and support for our existing websites throughout the full duration of the agreement. This will be delivered under a single Statement of Work, drawn down from the total contract value, and charged against the day rates submitted in the tender response for suppliers who progress to the further assessment stage. There is also a hosting requirement that must be in place from day one of the contract. 2) Yes, experience with Craft CMS is essential. Last Updated: 19 February 2026, 16:46 3. 1) Can the customer confirm whether the only major changes from the October 2025 requirement are the addition of the Craft CMS experience criterion and the clarified hosting/service‑level requirements? If not, can you identify any other significant changes? 2) Given the shortened one‑week response window, would the customer consider allowing suppliers to submit addenda to their previous responses—addressing only the new changes—rather than requiring a complete rewrite of all answers? 1) This re‑publication includes a major change specifying that suppliers must have experience with public‑facing Craft CMS sites. It also introduces a definition of what we mean by “well‑architected” hosting. There are also further adjustments to the assessment questions to reflect our overall requirements. Please refer only to this opportunity as the definitive and current version. 2) You must answer the shortlisting questions in full as required. Only submissions made under this opportunity will be considered; previous responses cannot be carried forward. Last Updated: 19 February 2026, 14:13 4. 1) This opportunity appears to be the same as the one advertised in October 2025. Can you give more information on why this opportunity is being re-advertised? 2) Must the examples in essential skills and experience question 2 relate specifically to Craft CMS websites, or would examples of supporting and maintaining websites built on other platforms also be accepted? 3) Essential skills and experience question 5 asks about working with designers and supporting users in a live environment. Could you clarify: (a) does “working with designers” refer to collaborating with the client's own designers, working with external design agencies, or our own in-house design team? And (b) does “supporting technical and non‑technical users in a live environment” refer to providing technical support to your staff in managing the CMS, end-user support, or both? 4) In essential skills and experience question 6 you ask for evidence of standards. Is ISO 27001 required for the hosting supplier or do you require the web agency itself to also hold ISO 27001? 5) The contract start is noted as 25th March, however, your current contract with the incumbent supplier ends at the end of March. Are you expecting a migration to a new hosting platform to be undertaken within one week? Or is the assumption the new supplier will take on management of your existing hosting infrastructure and then plan the migration? Or are you planning an extension with the incumbent supplier to give time for a planned migration? 6) Can you give more detail on the current cloud hosting infrastructure at Azure? (e.g. summary of services used, estimate of monthly bandwidth used). 7) Can you confirm the URLs for all websites hosted on the current hosting infrastructure? 1) We have republished this opportunity following a change in requirements. The original notice did not specify that experience with public‑facing Craft CMS websites was essential, which is necessary for the maintenance of the existing public-facing websites and development of a third public-facing website. We have also updated the hosting requirements, which are now reflected in the definitions section, and made minor revisions to the assessment questions to better align with our overall requirements. 2) Yes. The examples must relate specifically to public‑facing Craft CMS websites. Examples based on other platforms would not meet this requirement. 3) For part (a), this refers to working with Genomics England’s own designers and user researchers. For part (b), this refers to support for technical and non-technical staff in managing the CMS and websites rather than end user support. 4) ISO 27001 is required for both the hosting agency, and the hosting supplier. 5) There is an exit and migration plan in place. We will work with both the incumbent and the successful supplier to ensure a smooth handover, including transfer of assets, licences and access. If a new hosting provider is appointed, we will accommodate the transition and ensure sufficient time for any required migration activity. 6) Unfortunately we do not have this information readily available at this stage of the procurement. 7) The current public websites hosted on the infrastructure are: https://www.genomicsengland.co.uk/ and https://www.generationstudy.co.uk/ Last Updated: 19 February 2026, 14:10 5. 1) Is the £290,000 indicated solely for the maintenance and enhancements over the 2 year period? or does it also include the budget for the new website requirement in 2027? 2) Will the new website requirement come through a separate tender process? 3) What is the budget for the new website? 4) How does GE anticipate the budget split over the 2 years? 1) The £290,000 is the total maximum budget for the full two‑year period. This covers maintenance, hosting, and support for the two existing websites, as well as the third website once it is created. It is not a separate amount for maintenance only. 2) The new website will not go through a separate tender. The successful supplier from this procurement will be expected to build the third website as part of the overall contract. 3) We expect suppliers to propose their own pricing for the development of the new website within the overall budget envelope once awarded the contract. 4) Within the £290,000, we have ring‑fenced £40,000 for hosting. The remaining £250,000 will be used for maintenance, support, the creation of the third website, and any other related project work that may arise. This budget will be drawn down over the two years as required. Last Updated: 17 February 2026, 17:33