Corporate Finance Application Support and Cloud Hosting

This notice sets out West Berkshire Council's intention to award a contract to Unit4 Business Software Ltd for the provision of a cloud-based corporate finance system. The Unit 4 Agresso application is used by the Council for the management of its finances. It is a business-critical system that allows the Council to meet its statutory obligations.

The proposed contract is for a period of 4 years. The estimated maximum value of the proposed contract is £1,000,000. This is based on the current estimation of licensing costs at £200,000 per year and an estimated £200,000 for the implementation.

This notice sets out West Berkshire Council's intention to award a contract to Unit4 Business Software Ltd for the provision of a cloud-based corporate finance system. The Unit 4 Agresso application is used by the Council for the management of its finances. It is a business-critical system that allows the Council to meet its statutory obligations.

The proposed contract is for a period of 4 years. The estimated maximum value of the proposed contract is £1,000,000. This is based on the current estimation of licensing costs at £200,000 per year and an estimated £200,000 for the implementation.

The Council considers that the award of the contract is permitted under Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (the PCR 2015). Regulation 32 of the PCR 2015 allows contracting authorities to award a public contract by a negotiated procedure without prior publication. Regulation 32(2)(c) permits the award of a public contract for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with.

The Council considers that due to Unit4's unforeseeable decision on 17 October 2023 to remove support for the Council's on-premises solution from 31 December 2024, the Council does not have sufficient time to conduct market tests, complete a full procurement exercise and implement a new solution. The award of a contract pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(c) is therefore strictly necessary, for reasons of extreme urgency, to ensure business continuity for the Council. Further details are set out in Section IV below.