constellia | Procurement, empowered
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) appoints Constellia to accelerate the procurement of novel technological goods and services – Introducing the Neutral Vendor Framework for Innovation (NVFi)
4th September 2024 – Constellia announces that it has been awarded the NVFi by the MOD to compliantly and transparently increase speed and value for money in digital and innovation procurement as part of the MOD’s procurement reform. The NVFi has been developed to bring new technologies to users faster and to work with suppliers to address entry barriers for SMEs.
Constellia’s CEO, Rob Levene commented: “Driving technological advantage and innovation is at the cornerstone of the MOD’s digital strategy. We are thrilled to be able to work with and be the commercial vehicle that accelerates innovative technology into operational deployment, giving His Majesty’s Government (HMG) a strategic technological advantage, whilst continuing to support start-ups and small businesses. At Constellia, we are committed to supporting the MODs SME Action Plan in improving access for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) to do business with defence, as well as enabling exciting opportunities for new, non-traditional, and adjacent sectors to support innovation.”
Dina Kakaras, Head of Commercial X said: “The NVFi will be an amazing resource for our government Commercial officers to use in order to bring in and scale some of the new technology use cases that we have in Defence. We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Defence Innovation Unit on this and to be supporting industry to help us find brilliant ideas, brilliant suppliers and do so at the pace of relevance.”
Victoria Cope, Commercial Director of Defence Digital commented: “NVFi is a great example of how we are raising the bar commercially in the digital and innovation space. Creating innovative, agile and scalable routes to market for defence capability whilst introducing new, creative and pioneering digital suppliers to the Defence and security ecosystem.”
The NVFi also supports the Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) delivery and John Ridge, DIU director said: “The Neutral Vendor Framework for Innovation is a novel and potentially game-changing approach to contracting, which will benefit Defence and the broader national security community. Getting to this stage has required determination and a willingness to challenge convention. Once in place, the Framework will accelerate the acquisition of innovative new capabilities, helping establish and sustain strategic advantage.”
The contract has been awarded under open competition to Constellia – the ‘neutral vendor’ – and is planned to go live in September 2024. The NVFi framework is initially let for two years, with potential to extend by a further two years and is open for use across MOD, National Security organisations and wider UK government.
Further announcements will be made, but in the meantime Constellia invites technology suppliers interested in joining the Constellia marketplace to contact:
Email: info@constellia.com
Phone: 0330 320 8020
Innovative technology categories include:
about constellia
Constellia – Neutral Vendor solutions for Goods, Services, Technology and Works.
Established in 2007, Constellia is a leading Neutral Managed Service Provider for Professional Services, Technology, Goods and Works, managing over £200 million of spend across 170+ public and private sector organisations. We have also recently been recognised as one of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies in the Sunday Times 100 2024, ranking in at number 13.
We act as a conduit between clients and prequalified suppliers, providing an efficient and compliant route to market. Our diverse and dynamic marketplace has over 2,000 pre-approved suppliers, providing clients access to 400+ subcategories of spend.
We provide clients the flexibility and choice to buy through one simple route quickly and compliantly, helping drive efficiencies and savings.
about UK Ministry of defence
The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) purpose is to protect the nation and help it prosper.
The MOD is one of the biggest public procurement organisations in Europe and the single largest customer for UK industry. Over the next decade it is committed to spending over £190 billion on equipment and support. Its customers include both the armed forces and national security agencies.
The MOD encourages innovation and wider small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) participation throughout its supply chain. It continues to pursue policies and practices that make it easier for new and smaller businesses to identify, compete for and win opportunities with the MOD. This helps the MOD to deliver its vision of a vibrant, sustainable, and competitive UK industrial base, while obtaining the best possible value for money for the taxpayer.
about Neutral Vendor Framework for Innovation (NVFi)
The Neutral Vendor Framework for Innovation (NVFi) has been developed by Commercial X, the flagship Defence Commercial programme to increase speed and value for money in digital and innovation procurement as part of the MOD’s procurement reform.
The NVFi offers commercial officers across government a route to market to procure these innovative technological goods and services at pace and scale.
NVFi will be a significant game changer for the digital and innovation communities to provide greater opportunity to engage more closely with the ecosystem of technology suppliers in an efficient manner.
The framework will be elevated to the benefit of wider government with access open for use across public sector entities, subject to the completion of access agreements by framework users and their approval by MOD as the framework authority.
Commercial X will lead the learning and awareness programme about the framework across Defence and wider government.
The scope of the framework covers fourteen science and technology areas of significance to the national security and defence community, covering goods and ancillary products as well as associated consultancy, engineering, research and development and systems integration services.
Defence Innovation Unit is one of the central enablers to innovation in defence, ensuring the Armed Forces maintain military advantage over ever-evolving global threats. The NVFi also supports the Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) delivery.
[…] a £400m contract, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has appointed Constellia to spearhead the procurement of novel technological goods and services through the newly developed […]