Providing end-to-end, essential support to a regional digital services company’s first Project Gigabit win

"This project was the best example of a win–win. Our client won a sizeable contract that will transform its business. Over 34 000 premises will get access the fastest broadband service, transforming local living."

--Oliver Loveless, Analysys Mason Principal

The challenge

Regional broadband provider sought support for first-time bids to government programmes 

A regional digital services company wanted to expand its fibre footprint outside of its main market. It decided to pursue multiple bids in the government’s Project Gigabit programme, which aims to deliver gigabit-speed broadband to hard-to-reach communities. 

The client had never undertaken such work before, and we were retained to provide end-to-end support across all submissions. This involved meeting with the senior management team and investors to explain the risks and benefits of the scheme and then assisting in all stages of the work to reach a successful outcome. The turnaround was incredibly tight: 3 months from start to finish, with all submissions due in the final 3 weeks. 

Our approach 

Our end-to-end assistance spanned technical and commercial client teams across the firm

Our project scope involved all stages of bid management: bid strategy, invitation to tender (ITT) response authoring, financial modelling and procurement advice. We also helped the company to liaise with Building Digital UK (BDUK), the government agency running the programme, during the tender period. 

We led a discussion with the board, explaining the risks and potential returns to the client’s investors. We prepared a risk-returns table that assessed the financial commitments required for various delivery options. This helped the client to determine their investment risk appetite and enabled them to quickly reach a decision regarding the best lots to bid for.

We worked with the most senior members of the client team (the CTO, COO, project managers, network designers, health and safety) to create all the essential technical responses to the ITT. We used our expert technical experience to help resolve issues with the client’s internal commercial model and ensure that the outputs aligned with the BDUK submission model. Our technical responses consistently scored highly in all bids.

We also partnered with the client to develop the crucial bid commercials, including the Project Financial Model (PFM). Our decision-making framework for bid strategy ensured the client maintained strict financial discipline and did not take on projects with insufficient internal rates of return (IRR).

The impact 

Our client’s successful bid resulted in ultrafast broadband for more than 34 000 rural premises

Our support helped the client to win close to GBP60 million of public subsidy to deliver ultrafast broadband to more than 34 000 premises in rural areas. These localities will see a major digital upgrade with the introduction of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband infrastructure. The UK Government has invested over GBP500 million to date to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to hard- to-reach homes and businesses across the UK. 

The contract was signed in January 2024 and the first premises were connected to the network in early 2025. Residents will benefit from speeds of up to 1Gbit/s, which will facilitate the digital delivery of public services, improve employee productivity, and encourage economic growth overall. 

The successful bid was our client’s largest contract to date for broadband work. As such, it served as a meaningful boost to its commercial expansion.