Prior information notice
This notice is for prior information only
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Link Group
2c New Mart Road
Edinburgh
EH14 1RL
UK
Telephone: +44 3303030124
E-mail: linkprocurement@linkgroup.org.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://linkhousing.org.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA12842
I.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at:
www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Housing and community amenities
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Replacement of Corporate Telephony and Contact Centre Environment
II.1.2) Main CPV code
64210000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Link Group, the Contracting Authority, is seeking to modernise its telephony and contact management environment as part of a wider customer experience transformation. The requirement is not limited to a like-for-like telephony replacement. Link is seeking to understand how the market can support a move from fragmented channels and siloed systems towards a single, integrated and insight-led contact management platform.
The primary objective is to implement a modern, scalable, cloud-based Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution capable of supporting seamless multi-channel customer engagement across voice, live chat, messaging, social media and future digital channels. Link is particularly interested in solutions that can provide a single view of the customer, intelligent routing based on customer intent and need, real-time operational visibility, workforce engagement capability and data-driven insight across the end-to-end customer journey.
This Prior Information Notice (PIN) is issued solely to initiate a Preliminary Market Consultation exercise. The purpose is to test market capability, understand available delivery models, inform Link’s emerging specification and procurement strategy, and explore how suppliers can support both technology replacement and service transformation outcomes, including automation, virtual assistants, AI-assisted colleague support, workforce management and customer journey-led redesign.
Link’s emerging priorities include reducing repeat contact, redials, avoidable transfers and misdirected queries; improving colleague access to customer history and knowledge prompts; enabling real-time demand management and reporting; increasing digital adoption through automation and self-service; and ensuring that future technology is aligned to priority customer journeys rather than being designed around existing channel structures.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
64210000
32500000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM75
Main site or place of performance:
Link House, 2C New Mart Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1RL
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Link Group is a group of social enterprise companies and one of Scotland’s largest social landlords. Link Group provides affordable housing, property management, regeneration, advice, financial inclusion, employability, care and support services to a large and diverse customer base across Scotland. Link Group serves more than 20,000 customers and provides housing management services to circa 16,000 tenants in social rented accommodation, including general needs and sheltered housing.
The Link Group structure includes a number of related organisations and service areas that collectively deliver housing, property, care, support and community-based services. These include Link Group Ltd, which provides core group functions; Link Group Housing Services, which delivers housing management services for social rented tenants; C~urb, which brings together development, property management, letting, factoring and property maintenance activities; Horizon Housing Association, which provides affordable housing and services that support people with impairments to live independently; Larkfield Housing Association, a community-based Registered Social Landlord in Greenock; LinkLiving, which provides person-centred care, housing support and wellbeing services, and West Highland Housing Association, which provides affordable housing, property management, and maintenance services across the Lorn area and the Inner Hebridean islands of Scotland.
The proposed replacement of telephony and contact centre systems is intended to support the wider Link Group operating environment rather than a single isolated service area. The future solution may therefore need to support multiple customer-facing and colleague-facing functions across housing, repairs, property management, factoring, care and support, advice, employability, development and corporate services.
The Customer Service Centre (CSC) acts as a primary customer contact function, managing enquiries across housing, repairs, income, complaints and related services. Link also operates specialist customer-facing teams, including services supporting housing applications, registrations, lettings, responsive repairs, planned maintenance, compliance activities and property-related enquiries. These teams collectively support high-volume contact across a broad range of customer journeys. For market-sizing purposes, Link currently anticipates a future licence requirement in the region of 250–500 user licences across the Group, subject to confirmation through future operating model development, service design and multi-skilling activity.
Given the scale and breadth of these services, effective contact management is central to Link’s ability to provide responsive, accessible and joined-up services to tenants, owners, applicants, private rented sector customers, supported people, partners and other stakeholders.
This group-wide context is important because suppliers may be required to demonstrate how their proposed solution can support different operating models, service hours, customer journeys, user groups, reporting requirements, call flows, contact channels and integration needs across Link Group. Link is therefore seeking market insight into solutions that can provide scalable, resilient and configurable contact management capability across the full breadth of the group, while enabling consistent customer experience, improved colleague access to information and better operational insight.
II.2.14) Additional information
See Attached Document
II.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice:
02/10/2026
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
No
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
Critical Compliance and Equal Treatment Notice:
This exercise is not a call for competition, and no contract will be awarded directly from this PIN. A separate Contract Notice will be published on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) at a future date to initiate the formal procurement process.
To ensure compliance with Regulation 41 (Prior involvement of candidates or tenderers) and Regulation 19 (Principles of procurement) of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015:
- Non-Discriminatory Specifications: Information, feedback and technical ideas captured through the questionnaire and Microsoft Teams briefings will be used solely to inform and refine Link’s requirements. They will not be adopted, drafted or incorporated in a way that creates an unfair advantage or restricts open market competition.
- Equal Information Sharing: Any technical specifications, data, clarification or additional contextual information provided by the Contracting Authority during Microsoft Teams sessions will be documented and, where relevant to the future procurement, made available to all future bidders within the formal Invitation to Tender (ITT) suite. This will help ensure that suppliers invited to market engagement sessions do not receive an unfair advantage over suppliers that were not invited or did not participate.
- No Competitive Commitment: Participation in this market engagement is entirely voluntary. Non-participation, non-selection for a Microsoft Teams market engagement session, or participation by written questionnaire response only will not prejudice or disqualify any supplier from bidding in any future formal tender. Conversely, participation in this market consultation, including attendance at a Microsoft Teams session, does not grant any special status or advantage in the final evaluation.
- Commercial Confidentiality: The Contracting Authority will safeguard all proprietary or commercially sensitive data provided by suppliers in their questionnaire responses or during the Teams sessions, ensuring it is not disclosed to competing operators.
NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=838193.
(SC Ref:838193)
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
30/07/2026