UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

Border to Coast has propositions within Public Listed, Private Markets, and Real Estate asset classes that deliver investment opportunities and management to our Partner Funds, with specific systems in place for each asset class. As part of our strategy to become more effective and efficient, whilst being able to offer more value to our Partner Funds, we need to implement a platform that enables management of, and insight into, Partner Fund cross-asset investments. Border to Coast wishes to procure an Enterprise Investments platform that creates a unified and integrated data layer as the foundation that enables the efficient and effective implementation of new investments capabilities. These capabilities will be core to our ongoing delivery of strategic outcomes to our Partner Funds. The platform needs to have interoperability with our administrator and other third parties, such as Partner Fund custodians, to enable the on-going management of Border to Coast’s own investment funds (including public market and private market funds). Additionally, the platform needs to enable Border to Coast to manage the ‘whole customer fund’ and the provision of these new capabilities. For clarity, ‘whole customer fund’ relates to Partner Fund holdings within their selected investment funds across multiple asset classes, inclusive of any Partner Fund assets not managed directly by Border to Coast.

Border to Coast offers investment propositions across Public and Private asset classes that deliver investment opportunities and management to our Partner Funds. As part of our strategic plan, we intend to expand our range of services for our Partner Funds. A key capability is to enable us to support Partner Funds with their SAA and Portfolio Construction decisions. Therefore, we aim to procure an Asset Liability Management (ALM) model to support the efficient implementation of these new capabilities. The ALM model will support evaluation of scheme investment strategy and risk management, strategic investment planning, asset allocation, and scenario analysis. The core functionalities and modules of the ALM are expected to include Economic Scenario Generator and Capital Market Assumptions, capable of accurate representation of Partner Funds underlying asset classes and investment strategies, stochastic ALM projections and stress testing, and comprehensive reporting modules. The ALM model will utilize the current scheme actuaries' liability data as input. The contract will cover a 6-year period, followed by a review, with the expectation that if satisfied, the contract will be extended for another 3 years (therefore 9 years in total).

The successful Supplier appointed through this Procurement will be required to enter into a contractual agreement with Border to Coast to provide corporate ICT services. Border to Coast is looking for the appointed successful Supplier to contract for a term of 4 years, with then the option to extend, subject to performance and price negotiation, twice for 2 additional years each (resulting in a maximum possible term of 8 years). Border to Coast intends to appoint a partner organisation to support core capabilities necessary to manage its existing infrastructure and achieve its future ICT objectives. This includes the oversight of the existing infrastructure and provision of corporate ICT solutions to enable Border to Coast to operate its core business using latest technologies deployed in a modern and flexible environment. The ICT Managed Service will manage and oversee the cloud based collaborative platform to allow Border to Coast to manage and deliver its investment portfolio effectively and securely. This will include hardware, infrastructure, communications, service support, cyber and data resilience capabilities. Border to Coast currently operates on a single site with circa. 180 users, and has adopted standard Microsoft 365 solutions, with additional Business Central (Finance), CRM and Data modules deployed across the business. The Supplier’s Standard Terms & Conditions must incorporate the Mandatory Terms & Conditions or equivalent terms, full details of which are contained in Appendix M. Suppliers wishing to provide an equivalent set of terms to Part 2 Appendix M Mandatory Terms & Conditions must indicate this clearly in Appendix M by ticking the relevant confirmation statement at the top. Suppliers should ensure that they are familiar with these requirements and that their Standard Terms & Conditions are capable of being accepted by Border to Coast. Any queries regarding the Mandatory Terms & Conditions such as the adoption of the Suppliers’ terms should be raised as part of the clarification process prior to submission of tenders. A full contract incorporating the Mandatory Terms & Conditions will only need to be provided to Border to Coast once the successful Supplier has been notified.

Initial discussions have taken place since September 2025 with at least 7 suppliers, to understand propositions available within the areas of interest to Border to Coast. This has taken the form of informal overviews and discussions of our organisation, our requirement, and the challenges with this type of transformational change to ensure successful business outcomes. In partnership with Border to Coast, our Asset Servicer, and our selected platform Provider (BlackRock Solutions), set-up and deliver the implementation programme to time, scope, and budget. Roles and responsibilities include but not limited to: - Programme/project management: Governance set-up and on-going management, ensuring strong delivery mindset and partnership approach instilled throughout the programme across all parties involved. - Workstream leadership: Drive the successful delivery of workstreams as defined by the programme. - Communications and Test planning: Oversee defining the communications and testing strategy to ensure successful delivery and embedding of this change. - Business Analysis: Facilitate effective and efficient delivery such that Border to Coast's outcomes are delivered, able to engage with SMEs and own the business analysis load todeliver the programme. The proposed team will need to have proven experience successfully implementing the platform.

Border to Coast is seeking a strategic recruitment partner to support permanent and interim resourcing for senior and specialist roles, including senior investment positions and high- level appointments, such as Executives and Non-Executive Directors. As a growing organisation (currently 187 employees) with a small HR team, Border to Coast need a partner who can act as an extension of the HR team, providing expertise, flexibility, and innovation to help Border to Coast attract and retain exceptional talent. Border to Coast is not bound to award the contract to any provider following this procurement exercise. Should a contract be entered into, it will be on a non-exclusive basis, meaning Border to Coast may procure for the same position through a different route or supplier outside of this contract. The recruitment services must operate in line with industry standards, regulatory requirements, and Border to Coast policies. All data storage and processing must comply with the Data Protection Act 2018. Suppliers must comply with ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials or any other equivalent.