United Kingdom30 days leftOpen

Strategic Digital Partner for Website and Mobile Applications

Tender Overview

ORGANIZATION

CalMac Ferries Limited

LOCATION

Scotland, United Kingdom

VALUE

£7,500,000

DEADLINE

March 04, 2026 at 12:00

CATEGORY

Other

CPV CODE

72000000

REFERENCE

008660-2026

Project Timeline

Contact Information

View Original

Original Tender Description

CalMac Ferries operates a business-critical digital platform comprising three public-facing websites (CalMac Consumer, CalMac Corporate, and David MacBrayne Group) and native mobile applications for iOS and Android. This platform is central to delivering ferry services, customer communications, and operational support. The current solution is built on Umbraco CMS, hosted in Microsoft Azure, and integrates with multiple internal and third-party systems, including booking, messaging, and analytics. It supports real-time service updates, timetables, and customer notifications, and is aligned with CalMac’s Digital North Star roadmap, which aims to create a seamless, data-driven customer experience. CalMac now seeks a strategic digital partner to provide: -Ongoing support and maintenance of the existing platform. -Hosting and infrastructure management within Azure. -Continuous improvement and iterative enhancements under CalMac’s governance. -Compliance with security, accessibility, and regulatory standards. -Capability to deliver future integrations and innovation through structured change control. The partner will act as a delivery partner, not a strategic owner, ensuring stability, scalability, and resilience while supporting CalMac’s long-term digital vision.
⚠️

MANDATORY EXCLUSION GROUNDS

  • No specific mandatory exclusion grounds are mentioned in the provided information.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

  • Be a strategic digital partner.
  • Possess the capability to act as a delivery partner, not a strategic owner.
  • Demonstrate the ability to ensure stability, scalability, and resilience of a digital platform.
  • Be capable of supporting CalMac’s long-term digital vision.
  • Be able to provide services for a 60-month (5-year) contract duration.
  • Be capable of undertaking a contract with an estimated value of 7,500,000 EUR.
🔧

TECHNICAL CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS

  • Demonstrate expertise in Umbraco CMS for ongoing support, maintenance, and continuous improvement.
  • Demonstrate expertise in Microsoft Azure for hosting and infrastructure management.
  • Possess the capability to support and maintain public-facing websites (CalMac Consumer, CalMac Corporate, David MacBrayne Group).
  • Possess the capability to support and maintain native mobile applications for iOS and Android.
  • Be capable of managing integrations with multiple internal and third-party systems, including booking, messaging, and analytics.
  • Be capable of delivering continuous improvement and iterative enhancements under CalMac’s governance.
  • Ensure compliance with security standards.
  • Ensure compliance with accessibility standards.
  • Ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
  • Possess the capability to deliver future integrations and innovation through structured change control.
  • Be able to support real-time service updates, timetables, and customer notifications.
  • Be capable of aligning with CalMac’s Digital North Star roadmap to create a seamless, data-driven customer experience.
  • Demonstrate capability to provide community benefits as part of the partnership.
💰

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Possess the financial capacity to undertake a contract with an estimated value of 7,500,000 EUR over 60 months.
📋

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

  • Submit the bid by the deadline: 2026-03-04T12:00:00+00:00.

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DOC
OCDS Record
OCDS Data008660-2026_ocds_record.json
Summary:
CalMac Ferries seeks a strategic digital partner for ongoing support, maintenance, and enhancement of its business-critical digital platform, with this OCDS record detailing the tender process and expected community benefits.
DOC
OCDS Release Package
OCDS Data008660-2026_ocds_release.json
Summary:
CalMac Ferries seeks a strategic digital partner for ongoing support, maintenance, hosting, and continuous improvement of its business-critical Umbraco/Azure digital platform, including websites and mobile apps, with a focus on stability, scalability, compliance, and community benefits.
PDF
Official PDF Version
Administrative Documents008660-2026_official.pdf
Summary:
CalMac Ferries is seeking a strategic digital partner to provide ongoing support, maintenance, hosting, and continuous improvement for their business-critical Umbraco CMS and Azure-based websites and mobile applications.
HTM
Tender Notice
General Information008660-2026.html
Summary:
CalMac Ferries seeks a strategic digital partner to provide ongoing support, maintenance, hosting, and continuous improvement for their business-critical Umbraco/Azure-based websites and mobile applications.

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67
Good

Tender Quality Score

This tender for a strategic digital partner is well-described and covers essential technical requirements, but is significantly hampered by the absence of explicit evaluation criteria, impacting clarity, completeness, and fairness.

Score Breakdown

Legal Compliance75/100

The tender defines the procedure type and CPV code clearly, and the submission period appears reasonable. However, the absence of a reveal date is a minor transparency concern, though no disputes or suspensions are noted.

Missing reveal date for full transparency.
Clarity60/100

The description of the required services and the existing platform is exceptionally clear and detailed. The AI-extracted requirements are also well-structured and understandable. However, the critical omission of specified evaluation criteria significantly reduces the overall clarity of how bids will be assessed.

Evaluation criteria are not specified, which is a major deficiency.
Completeness70/100

Most basic information, including title, organization, value, duration, and CPV codes, is present. Documents are listed and summarized. However, the tender is incomplete due to the absence of detailed evaluation criteria, which are fundamental for a comprehensive procurement process.

Evaluation criteria are missing, which is a critical component of a complete tender.
Fairness55/100

The tender discloses the estimated value and specifies e-procurement, promoting equal access. Requirements, while specific to existing technology (Umbraco, Azure), are not overtly tailored to a single company. The inclusion of 'community benefits' is a positive, non-discriminatory aspect. However, the lack of transparent evaluation criteria severely compromises the fairness and objectivity of the selection process.

Absence of specified evaluation criteria significantly undermines the fairness and transparency of the tender process.
Practicality65/100

The tender specifies 'E-Procurement' as a characteristic, which is practical for submission. The duration and financing information are clear. However, the lack of an explicit document URL and contract start date, along with a contradiction regarding e-submission in the automated checks, slightly reduces practicality.

No explicit document URL provided.
Contract start date is not specified.
Data Consistency80/100

Most key fields are populated, and dates are logical and consistent. There are no reported disputes or suspensions. The primary inconsistency lies in the conflicting information regarding e-submission, which needs clarification.

Contradiction between 'E-Procurement' characteristic and 'No e-submission' in automated checks.
Sustainability60/100

While not explicitly focused on green procurement, the tender positively includes 'community benefits' as a technical requirement and mentions 'innovation through structured change control,' indicating some social and innovation aspects. It is not EU funded.

Lack of explicit green procurement criteria.

Strengths

Clear and detailed description of the scope and existing platform.
Comprehensive AI-extracted technical and eligibility requirements.
Explicit inclusion of 'community benefits' and 'innovation' aspects.
Value disclosed and e-procurement enabled (based on characteristics).
No reported disputes or suspensions.

Concerns

Critical absence of specified evaluation criteria.
Missing reveal date for full transparency.
Contradiction regarding e-submission functionality.
No explicit document URL or contract start date.

Recommendations

1. Immediately publish detailed evaluation criteria to ensure transparency and fairness.
2. Clarify the functionality of e-submission and provide a direct link to tender documents.
3. Specify the contract start date to provide full project timeline clarity.

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B
Tender Quality Score
67/ 100 · Good

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