NI Water recently held a supplier engagement event for the retender of their Water and Wastewater Network services contract in Craigavon, County Armagh.
This major operational contract, to deliver improvement, repair and maintenance works across the water and wastewater network has an indicative value range of between £200 million and up to £400 million and the procurement for the new contract is anticipated to commence in early 2024.
A successful supplier engagement event was delivered to the market to define targets, goals and requirements for the new contract. Potential suppliers also had the opportunity to hear directly from the various functions and Senior Stakeholders within NI Water, regarding their strategies for the Price Control Periods; PC21 and PC27. (Business plans until 2027 and beyond.)
This was followed up with very positive one-to-one supplier engagement sessions to assess the capacity, and capability of the market in providing these services.
Des Nevin Director or Customer and Operations said:
“The supplier engagement sessions have been hugely beneficial. They have given us the opportunity to gain feedback from the industry and learn from best practice across the sector, which will assist us in developing our procurement strategy to deliver these essential services.
“We are committed to the highest standards of water and wastewater services and look forward to working with our future supplier delivery partners to deliver a sustainable, world-class service to our customers.”
Manus O’Kane, NI Water’s Senior Procurement Manager added:
“The supplier engagement sessions have provided the platform for NI Water to learn from the market about approaches and models used in other sectors and by other utilities on major network maintenance contracts. This will help us shape our procurement strategy for the new contract. The supplier engagement sessions also gave us an opportunity to advise the market on policy and other changes within the procurement landscape such as social value, climate change and human rights, which NI Water place great significance on.
“We would like to thank all the suppliers who participated in these engagement sessions for both their time and valuable input to the process, which will be essential in helping shape how we deliver these services in the future.”
