United Utilities has awarded an AMP8 contract for a Software as a Service (SaaS) inhouse estimating system worth an estimated £738,000.

The procurement is for the replacement of the existing inhouse estimating system with a Software as a Service system and covers implementation services and a 5 year subscription.

Estimated contract dates are 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030 with further possible extension options up to 31 March 2035. Earliest date the contract will be signed is 31 March 2025.

The water company has issued a transparency notice under the Procurement Act 2023 setting out its reasons to make a direct award to the single supplier for technical reasons.

United Utilities explained that ollowing an assessment of the market involving a number of potential suppliers, it had been identified that only this supplier could meet all the technical requirements the copany for this specific activity.

“In part this is due to a substantial number of existing business processes that would not be able to be undertaken by alternative solutions or feasibly changed”, United Utilities added.

Based in Sydney, Australia, Benchmark Global Pty Ltd operates as a (software-as-a-service) SaaS company.

Scottish Water and Welsh Water are among its water sector clients.