AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
British Business Bank PLC has awarded and signed a one-year contract with MICROSOFT LIMITED for Microsoft Unified Support covering specialist support for its Microsoft IT infrastructure and cloud estate.
Published outcomeAward 1 is active and is linked to active Contract 1 with MICROSOFT LIMITED. The contract was signed on 9 October 2026 and is scheduled to run from 13 October 2026 to 12 October 2027.
Market significanceThis is a direct, below-threshold award to Microsoft for proprietary Unified Support. The published rationale says the service is available only directly from Microsoft for technical reasons.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
MICROSOFT LIMITED
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · £105,336.28 net; £126,403.54 gross GBP · Verified supplier; active award and contract
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Award 1 names GB-COH-01624297 as supplier. Supplier verification matched company number 01624297 to MICROSOFT LIMITED. Contract 1, linked to Award 1, states GBP 105,336.28 amount and GBP 126,403.54 amountGross.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice type
99% confidenceContract details notice on Find a Tender
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Published document 096214-2026 is described as a Contract details notice on Find a Tender.
Award status
99% confidenceActive
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Award 1 has status "active".
Contract status
99% confidenceActive
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Contract 1 has status "active".
Contract signature
99% confidenceSigned on 9 October 2026
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Contract 1 dateSigned is 2026-10-09.
Contract period
99% confidence13 October 2026 to 12 October 2027
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Contract 1 period startDate is 2026-10-13 and endDate is 2027-10-12.
VALUES
Published values explained
Contract value excluding VAT
99% confidence£105,336.28
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Contract 1 value.amount is 105336.28 GBP.
Contract value including VAT
99% confidence£126,403.54
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Contract 1 value.amountGross is 126403.54 GBP.
Value allocation
98% confidenceSingle contract linked to Award 1 and Lot 1
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Contract 1 references awardID 1; Award 1 references relatedLot 1 and has one supplier.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Contract signed
99% confidence9 October 2026
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Contract 1 dateSigned is 2026-10-09.
Notice published
99% confidence12 October 2026
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Document 096214-2026 datePublished is 2026-10-12T15:52:58+01:00.
Contract start
99% confidence13 October 2026
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Contract 1 period.startDate is 2026-10-13.
Contract end
99% confidence12 October 2027
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Contract 1 period.endDate is 2027-10-12.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Requirement
99% confidenceMicrosoft Unified Support for specialist Microsoft product support across the Bank's IT infrastructure and cloud estate
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The tender description states this scope.
Intended service outcomes
98% confidenceDirect access to Microsoft expertise supporting resilience, security and operational stability
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The tender description describes these intended outcomes.
Procurement category
99% confidenceServices
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Award 1 mainProcurementCategory is "services".
CPV classification
99% confidence72266000 — Software consultancy services
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Award item 1 contains CPV 72266000 with this description.
Delivery geography
97% confidenceUnited Kingdom
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Award item delivery address region is UK and country is GB.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procurement method
99% confidenceDirect; below threshold without competition
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Tender procurementMethod is "direct" and procurementMethodDetails is "Below threshold - without competition".
Published direct-award rationale
99% confidenceAbsence of competition for technical reasons: Microsoft Unified Support is stated to be available only directly from Microsoft
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The tender description gives this rationale.
Competition information
98% confidenceNo competition or bid-count information supplied in the published notice
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No tender submissions, bidder count or evaluation results are present in the supplied data.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Term
99% confidenceOne year
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The stated period is 13 October 2026 to 12 October 2027.
VAT treatment
96% confidencePublished net and gross values imply VAT is included in the gross figure
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Contract 1 provides amount of £105,336.28 and amountGross of £126,403.54.
Extension or renewal options
99% confidenceUnknown
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No extension or option terms are supplied.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Supplier route to market
98% confidenceThe published rationale positions Microsoft as the sole direct source for this Unified Support service
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The tender description says Microsoft Unified Support is only available from Microsoft directly.
Commercial visibility
97% confidenceA total contract value is published, but no pricing breakdown, service-level detail or evaluation information is supplied
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Contract value is present; the supplied record contains no detailed pricing, KPI, SLA or evaluation fields.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Supplier verification
99% confidenceVerified
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Supplier verification matched the source company number 01624297 to MICROSOFT LIMITED using company_number.
Lot detail
99% confidenceLot 1 has no published title, description or separate value
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Lot 1 is present with status complete, while title, description and value fields are null.
Award date
99% confidenceNot supplied
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Award 1 award_date is null.
Tender competition and evaluation detail
98% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice
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The supplied data contains no bid count, tenderer list, award score or evaluation narrative beyond the direct-award rationale.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- Lot 1 has no published title, description or individual value.
- No award date is supplied for Award 1.
- Information not supplied in the published notice: bid count, tenderer list, evaluation scores, pricing breakdown, service levels, performance measures and extension or renewal terms.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Microsoft Unified SupportBritish Business BankMICROSOFT LIMITEDdirect awardsoftware consultancy servicesFind a Tender
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who won the Microsoft Unified Support contract?
MICROSOFT LIMITED won Award 1. Its Companies House number 01624297 was verified in the supplied supplier-verification data.
What is the contract value?
The published contract value is £105,336.28 excluding VAT and £126,403.54 including VAT.
When does the contract run?
The contract is scheduled from 13 October 2026 to 12 October 2027 and was signed on 9 October 2026.
Why was the contract awarded directly?
The published notice says Microsoft Unified Support can only be provided directly by Microsoft, citing an absence of competition for technical reasons.
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.