Value Added Cloud Services Tender Awarded
Summary
South Western Railway Limited has awarded a contract for Value Added Cloud Services to First Rail Holdings Limited. The contract, valued at £633,334 excluding VAT, covers the provision and management of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure accounts.
What changed
This notice announces the award of a contract for Value Added Cloud Services by South Western Railway Limited to First Rail Holdings Limited. The contract, valued at £633,334 excluding VAT (£760,000 including VAT), will run for one year from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027. The services include the provision, maintenance, support, billing, and housekeeping of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure accounts, administered by First Rail Holdings' IT Infrastructure team.
This is a direct award under the Utilities Special Regime, justified as an extension or partial replacement of existing services. The contracting authority, First Rail Holdings Limited, is the current provider of these managed cloud services. The award follows South Western Railway's transfer to public ownership and a review of potential technical separation from the agreement. Compliance officers should note the contract value and duration, and the direct award justification, which may be relevant for future procurement reviews.
Source document (simplified)
Award
Value Added Cloud Services
- SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY LIMITED UK5: Transparency notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types
Notice identifier: 2026/S 000-026000
Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-0670d8 (view related notices)
Published 20 March 2026, 6:32pm
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Contents
Scope Contract 1 Other information Procedure Supplier Contracting authority
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Description
The Services cover the provision, maintenance, support, billing, and housekeeping of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure accounts and subscriptions. First Rail Holdings' IT Infrastructure team administers the contract, including invoicing, usage analysis, and problem‑escalation management.
Contract 1
Supplier
Contract value
- £633,334 excluding VAT
- £760,000 including VAT Above the relevant threshold
Earliest date the contract will be signed
1 April 2026
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027
- 1 year
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
Information systems or technology strategic review and planning services
Computer-related management services
Contract locations
- UKC - North East (England)
- UKD - North West (England)
- UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber
- UKF - East Midlands (England)
- UKG - West Midlands (England)
- UKH - East of England
- UKI - London
- UKJ - South East (England)
- UKK - South West (England)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure type
Direct award
Special regime
Utilities
Direct award justification
Additional or repeat goods, services or works - extension or partial replacement
First Rail Holdings Limited is the contracting authority's current service provider of managed Cloud Services using Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
Services include managed service provision, as well as access to the Cloud for file storage, Cloud Server instances and Amazon Web Connect telephony services, which are used by our Customer Contact Centres.
Following SWR's transfer to public ownership, SWRL has conducted a review of the potential for technical separation from this agreement and identified some areas of significant complexity which require addressing before it will be possible to exit from the current services.
Our current arrangement comes to an end on 31st March 2026, therefore a short-term direct award is required to ensure continuity of these business-critical services. A minimum period of 6 months up to a maximum of 12 months to 31st March 2027 is required to finalise this technical review and run a compliant tender process under PA23 regulations.
The value published in this Direct Award is the value of the Services over 12 months, this value may reduce if the contracting authority is able to exit earlier than 31st March 2027.
FIRST RAIL HOLDINGS LIMITED
- Companies House: 05154485
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PPVJ-1479-GGLX 8th Floor The Point
London
W2 1AF
United Kingdom
Email: firstprocurementservices@firstrail.com
Website: http://www.firstgroupplc.com
Region: UKI32 - Westminster
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Contract 1
SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY LIMITED
- Companies House: 03266760
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PQHL-7495-VCQT South Bank Central 4th Floor, 30 Stamford Street,
London
SE1 9LQ
United Kingdom
Email: ProcurementandContracts@swrailway.com
Region: UKI44 - Lewisham and Southwark
Organisation type: Public undertaking (commercial organisation subject to public authority oversight)
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