Awarded without open competition
Awarded without open competition. The buyer went directly to one or a few suppliers instead of advertising the contract. Procurement rules allow this only in specific cases, such as extreme urgency, when only one supplier can do the work, or for call-offs from an existing framework.
Key facts
- Buyer
- The Water Services Regulation Authority · National or federal agency/office
- Supplier
- L.e.k. Consulting LLP
- Value
- £3,000,000
- Procedure
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Sector
- Business services · Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security (CPV 79000000)
- Region
- North East
- Official notice
- 038509-2026 on Find a Tender
- Timeline
-
- Contract date15 Oct 2024
- Published28 Apr 2026Published 560 days after the contract date
Description
In October 2024, Ofwat awarded a 12-month independent monitor contract. No overall or firm fee position was settled at the outset as it was expected that requirements under the contract would develop over time. However, initially the fees were expected to be in the region of £3m for core monitoring work. The contract was awarded under Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, as, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by Ofwat, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation could not be complied with. The direct award was justified due to the extremely urgent need to appoint a Monitor to fulfil the requirements of the undertakings under section 19(1)(b) of the Water Industry Act 1991 and in time for key next steps in the Company's equity raise process, and for its commitment to develop and implement a business plan as set out in the undertakings. Therefore, due to the urgency and follow…
About the supplier
L.e.k. Consulting LLP: every public contract they have won, plus their Companies House record (company OC300277).