The Department Of Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (Defra) has gone out to tender with a major contract for Future Hosting and Storage Services (FHAS) worth an estimated £294.6 million (inc VAT).
Defra Digital, Data, Technology & Security Services ( DDTS) provides digital services to six organisations within the Defra Group (Authority; Environment Agency; Rural Payments Agency; Animal and Plant Health Agency; Natural England; and Marine Management Organisation), serving locations throughout the UK.
Within DDTS Group Infrastructure and Operations (GIO) provides critical end-to-end technology services and support to c. 33,000 colleagues across the Defra Group.
The Future Hosting and Storage Services (FHAS) will include at its core the following activities:
- Data Centre Facilities Management and Site Services (On-Premises).
- Cloud Hosting Services - Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)/Platform as a Service (PaaS)/Software as a Service (SaaS).
- Cloud Engineering Services
- Cost Management and Optimisation (FinOps)
- Transformational Services Infrastructure Services
- Optional Services
Current estimated start and contract dates are 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2031 with a possible further extension option to 31 July 2033.
Deadline to submit enquiries about the tender is 12:00pm on 22 August 2025 and deadline to submit requests to participate is 12:00pm on 4 September 2025 - all submissions must be made using Defra tender portal: https://atamis-9529.my.site.com/s/Welcome
The estimated contract award decision date is currently 1 August 2026.
Defra will require any potential supplier to complete a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) prior to getting access to the full documentation set. In order to request the NDA suppliers are asked to email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it using the email title, 'FHAS Potential Supplier'. Suppliers are required to include the following information in their email:
Company name. Company number. Contact details including email, telephone and preferred person to contact.
The tender process will be split into the following high-level stages:
- Stage One: Requests to Participate and PSQ which will be used to down-select to a range of 3 - 5 Suppliers Stage Two: Invitation to Submit Initial Tender (ISIT) Stage Optional
- Stage Three: Interim Down Selection ((The Authority may take a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of (5) suppliers through to the next phase of dialogue/negotiations if the interim down-selection is utilised. Further details of the approach used to determine how many Potential Suppliers will progress through to further negotiation will be included in the Invitation to Submit Initial Tenders)).
- Stage Four: Dialogue and Negotiations Stage
- Stage Five: Invitation to Submit Final Tender (ISFT) Stage
- Stage Six: Identification of Preferred Bidder
- Stage Seven: Standstill and Contract Award
Full details of the process and each stage will be detailed in the Conditions of Participation documentation as well as the ISIT documentation.
Click here to download the Tender Notice - Supporting Document CFP.pdf
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