AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Cambridgeshire County Council published an award notice for postal collection and delivery services using Crown Commercial Service framework RM6280, Lot 2. The award names WHISTL UK LIMITED and has an award value of £384,000.
Published outcomeOne active award is recorded to WHISTL UK LIMITED. The published award record gives a decision date of 11 November 2024 and a stated initial service period from 3 March 2025 to 28 February 2027.
Market significanceThis is a £384,000 postal-services award made through a CCS framework route, with up to two optional 12-month extensions stated in the award description.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
WHISTL UK LIMITED
98% confidenceAward ocds-b5fd17-d976794c-bcd7-4e30-b9a1-e490816c9ffa-2 · Lots RM6280 Lot 2 – Collection and Delivery of Letters, Large Letters and Parcels · 384000 GBP · active
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The award names Whistl UK Limited as supplier; supplier verification provides verified legal name WHISTL UK LIMITED (company number 04417047). The award value is £384,000 and status is active.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Published notice type
99% confidenceAwarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
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The process identifies the notice type as “Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder”.
Award record status
98% confidenceActive
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Award ocds-b5fd17-d976794c-bcd7-4e30-b9a1-e490816c9ffa-2 has status “active”.
Award decision date
96% confidence11 November 2024
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The award record date is 2024-11-11T00:00:00Z.
Stated initial contract period
98% confidence3 March 2025 to 28 February 2027
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The tender and award contractPeriod fields state these start and end dates.
VALUES
Published values explained
Award value
99% confidence£384,000
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The active award value is 384000 GBP.
Tender value
99% confidence£400,000
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The tender value is stated as 400000 GBP.
Value relationship
98% confidenceThe £400,000 tender value and £384,000 award value are both published; the notice does not explain the difference.
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Tender.value.amount is 400000, while award.value.amount is 384000.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Tender submission deadline
98% confidence25 September 2024, 12:00 BST
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The tenderPeriod endDate is 2024-09-25T12:00:00+01:00.
Award decision date
96% confidence11 November 2024
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The award date is 2024-11-11T00:00:00Z.
Stated service start
98% confidence3 March 2025
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The published contractPeriod startDate is 2025-03-03T00:00:00Z.
Stated initial service end
98% confidence28 February 2027
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The published contractPeriod endDate is 2027-02-28T23:59:59Z.
Award notice publication
99% confidence21 October 2026
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The award-notice document datePublished is 2026-10-21T14:59:33+01:00.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Service category
99% confidencePostal services (CPV 64110000)
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The primary classification is CPV 64110000, described as Postal services.
Framework route
98% confidenceCrown Commercial Service Framework RM6280, Lot 2
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The description states that the award was via the Crown Commercial Services Framework Aggregation contract for RM6280 Lot 2.
Lot scope
98% confidenceCollection and delivery of letters, large letters and parcels
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The process description identifies RM6280 Lot 2 as “Collection and Delivery of Letters, Large Letters and Parcels”.
Geographic coverage
97% confidenceDelivery locations span nine English regions: North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West.
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The tender item lists these delivery regions.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procurement method
99% confidenceSelective
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The process procurementMethod is “selective”.
Procedure detail
99% confidenceRestricted procedure
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The published procurementMethodDetails field states “Restricted procedure”.
Competition information
99% confidenceNumber of bids and evaluation results are unknown.
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Information not supplied in the published notice.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Initial term
98% confidence2 years
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The stated period runs from 3 March 2025 to 28 February 2027.
Extension options
97% confidenceUp to two extensions of 12 months each are stated.
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The award description says: “Up to two (2) periods of twelve (12) months” and “Total Contract duration is 4 years (2 +1+1).”
Maximum stated duration
97% confidenceUp to 4 years, if both stated extensions are used
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The award description states a total duration of 4 years (2+1+1).
Contract execution
99% confidenceNot explicitly confirmed.
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The source is an award notice and an active award record; it does not explicitly state that a contract was signed.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Framework call-off context
98% confidenceThe award was made through CCS framework RM6280 Lot 2 rather than a standalone open-market procurement.
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The process description explicitly states the award was via the Crown Commercial Services Framework Aggregation contract for RM6280 Lot 2.
Award scale
96% confidenceThe published award value is £384,000 across the stated initial period; the notice does not provide a pricing schedule or annual value split.
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The award value is £384,000 and the initial period spans 3 March 2025 to 28 February 2027.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Value discrepancy reported
99% confidenceThe tender value is £400,000, while the award value is £384,000; no explanation is published.
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Published tender and award value fields differ.
Late publication relative to stated dates
99% confidenceThe award notice was published on 21 October 2026, after the stated award date and stated service start date.
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Award date is 11 November 2024, stated start date is 3 March 2025, and notice publication is 21 October 2026.
Lot allocation detail
98% confidenceThe source describes RM6280 Lot 2 but does not provide structured lot identifiers or a separate lot-value allocation.
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No lot records are supplied and award lot_ids_json is null.
Unpublished commercial detail
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice includes bid count, evaluation criteria and scoring, pricing detail, award rationale, and extension exercise conditions.
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These fields are absent from the supplied notice data.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The published notice does not explicitly confirm contract signature or execution.
- The tender value (£400,000) and award value (£384,000) differ, and the notice provides no explanation.
- The award notice publication date is later than both the stated award date and stated service start date.
- No structured lot record, individual lot value, bid count, bidder list, scoring, award rationale, pricing breakdown or extension exercise conditions are supplied.
- The stated extensions are options; no extension has been reported as exercised.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Cambridgeshire County CouncilWHISTL UK LIMITEDWhistl UK Limitedpostal servicesRM6280CCS frameworkpostal collection and deliveryContracts Finder
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who was named as supplier?
WHISTL UK LIMITED was named as supplier on the active award. The source presents the name as Whistl UK Limited; verification provides WHISTL UK LIMITED, company number 04417047.
What is the award value?
The published award value is £384,000. The tender value is separately listed as £400,000.
What services are covered?
The notice covers collection and delivery of letters, large letters and parcels under CCS framework RM6280 Lot 2.
How long is the stated term?
The stated initial period is 3 March 2025 to 28 February 2027, with up to two stated 12-month extensions.
ProcuraAxis award analysis supplements, but does not replace, the official award notice, contract data or procurement documents. “Awarded” does not by itself prove that a contract has been signed.