Digital Service Provision

A national programme is being established to encourage increased levels of physical activity and sustained participation in movement across England. The programme comprises a number of complementary workstreams, including marketing and communications, partnerships and engagement, rewards and recognition, educational content, and a digital component intended to support participation, engagement and long-term habit formation.

The contracting authority is considering the future procurement of a supplier to design, build, operate and support the digital elements of the programme. A digital discovery exercise is currently underway and will provide an evidence-based recommendation for the future digital service, including user needs, service design, delivery approach and implementation roadmap. Whilst the final solution has not yet been determined, the discovery is expected to narrow the scope significantly and provide sufficient detail to support rapid delivery.

The digital service may comprise a digital product, web-based service, social and community capability, AI-enabled engagement service, integration with existing consumer platforms, or a combination of these approaches. The successful supplier will be expected to take the outputs of the discovery phase through detailed design, build, deployment and live operation.

The appointed supplier will work alongside other specialist partners responsible for marketing, communications, partnerships, rewards and wider programme delivery. The role of the digital supplier will be to translate programme objectives into effective digital services and experiences rather than duplicate functions delivered elsewhere within the programme.

The programme is operating to ambitious timescales, with an initial digital capability expected to be launched before the end of 2026 and subsequently enhanced through live operation. The authority is therefore interested in engaging with suppliers who can demonstrate experience of delivering, operating and evolving user-centred digital services at pace.

Additional information:

HI NENC would like to invite potential providers of Digital services to apply to our Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) DN670401 as a supplier.

If your company is not registered with the Proactis (ProContract) Due North Portal, click on this link Supplier registration (due-north.com) and complete your organisation name and email address and continue your registration. If you are already registered on the portal, log in as normal. In the "search" box in upper right-hand corner, type in DN670401 (this is the HI NENC DPS reference number).

This opportunity will be developed as a further competition under Lot 5 of our DPS. You should therefore ensure you apply to Lot 5 to be able to bid to provide this service.

You are also welcome to apply for any other Lots on our DPS that you feel are relevant to your organisation.

Should we decide to proceed to procurement, we are expecting to publish the Invitation to Quote to our Lot 5 suppliers towards the end of July 2026. This timeline is subject to change. Interested suppliers are advised to apply to the DPS promptly to ensure they have been accepted to the framework and receive the competition notification.

This notice is for information and engaging with the supply market only. It is not a binding statement of intent or call for competition.

HI NENC reserves the right not to enter a formal procurement process and not award a contract. The information contained in this notice, including information relating to the nature and scope of the requirements, the service classification of this requirement from the list of CPV codes, is only indicative of the HI NENC's current thinking and is neither exhaustive nor binding.

HI NENC reserves the right at its absolute discretion to amend it at the time of issue of any further notices or at any other time.

HI NENC will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work or effort incurred by a potential supplier in acting on the basis of this PIN