NEPRO4

NEPRO3, originally NEPRO, was first introduced in 2012 acting as a neutral vendor framework delivered through a dedicated delivery partner. From the first iteration of NEPRO we have continued to grow, providing a fully compliant, outcomes-based route for procuring Specialist Professional Services and Consultancy across the public sector. The current and third iteration of the framework, NEPRO3, is scheduled to run until 31 August 2027, at which point it will be re-tendered.

The framework agreement will require a Delivery Partner to strategically work with NEPO for the delivery of Specialist Professional Services procurements across various categories for our members. It is envisaged that this will continue to be a neutral vendor framework and will have an end-to-end process of support for our users across their individual projects. The current framework agreement has 20 categories of services to procure from, as well as a supply chain of over 6,000 suppliers.

The solution will be procured using the procedures outlined in the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023). The purpose of this Pipeline Notice is to provide prior information to the market on the intentions of NEPO to procure such a framework. It is expected that the Delivery Partner will be able to meet the following, in line with ongoing business requirement discussions around NEPRO3:

• Build a strategic relationship with NEPO, working to continuously improve the solution for our end users.
• Deep understanding of public procurement regulations and specialist knowledge across categories to best support Members.
• Ability to manage multiple projects of various scales across the UK public sector simultaneously and deliver value-for-money from beginning to end.
• A strong qualified supply chain for Members to access.
• Experience working in a Neutral Vendor framework or the evidence to provide that the supplier can.
• Ability to monitor supplier performance and the end-to-end process.
• Ability to work with our members to understand needs and support them with their projects, as well as building strong relationships.
• Ability to collate and report on information for the benefit of our members and for transparency.
• A clear focus on Social Value and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) benefits offered through the solution.
• Ability to comply with rebate procedures.

This may be subject to amendment following from Market Engagement which is expected to take place around late February/early March 2026. NEPO is a Centralised Procurement Authority as defined in the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23), providing central purchasing activity on behalf of Contracting Authorities. The agreement will be available to NEPO Member Authorities and all current and future Associate Members.

Current Associate Members are listed in the Associate Member section of the NEPO website at: nepo.org/associate-membership/current-associate-members NEPO intends to make the agreement available for use by all Contracting Authorities throughout all administrative regions of the UK (as defined by the Procurement Act 2023). A list of permissible users is available at: nepo.org/associate-membership/permissible-users Organisations wishing to access the NEPO agreement will be required to register as a NEPO Associate Member in the first instance. Further information can be found at: www.nepo.org Further and full information regarding Contracting Authorities that may use the agreement will be found in the procurement documents when published.