Water sector regulator Ofwat has issued the formal tender notice for its £90 million (inc VAT) Water Efficiency Campaign (WEC) – with a tight deadline of 24th July 2025 to return the Procurement Specific Questionnaire.
Ahead of going out to tender, the water sector’s economic regulator issued a preliminary market engagement notice on 24th June, followed by an in-person launch event which took place in central London yesterday.
Ofwat starts the tender notice by saying:
“This isn't your typical brief - and we're not looking for your typical agency-client relationship. We're on the lookout for a Delivery Body - essentially a strategic delivery partner to take the reins on the Water Efficiency Campaign (WEC). That means the Delivery Body will be leading the way on strategy development, implementation and evaluation - all with Ofwat's oversight and collaboration.
“This is an exciting time for Ofwat and the sector. Ofwat is pioneering a sector-leading transformational approach - leveraging our unique position to establish the first large-scale, centrally funded behaviour change, water efficiency marketing campaign covering both England and Wales.”
The tender document refers to the reduced tendering period as a state of urgency with a minimum 10 days.
Ofwat is facilitating the procurement process on behalf of the 16 regulated water companies in England and Wales.
The Delivery Body (DB) will be Ofwat's end to end delivery partner for the WEC and will be expected to cover the full range of marketing skillsets including creative, content development, branding, channel planning, digital, social, media buying, partnership marketing, multicultural expertise, PR, evaluation.
The tender says these skillsets must be firmly underpinned by extensive, demonstrable evidence of behaviour change marketing with proven results that have delivered impact.
Ofwat will also require project management, governance and stakeholder engagement - upon appointment, the regulator says it will work with the successful bidder to develop and refine the Delivery Body role. including any relevant SLAs and KPIs. The WEC will be a major marketing initiative covering England and Wales, representing a step change in both budget and collaboration across the sector.
Ofwat's internal Water Efficiency Campaign team brings together expertise in behaviour change marketing, utility sector engagement, communications and water efficiency policy experts. The team has been built to support this work and will partner with the successful supplier as the delivery lead. The Delivery Body will be overseen by Ofwat's Principal Head of Marketing.
The scope covers the WEC only and expect the campaign is not expected to extend into other areas of Ofwat's work. The WEC and the associated funding has been allocated specifically as part of the Price Review process, and it must be used solely for this purpose.
Current estimated start and end contract dates are 11 November 2025 to 31 March 2030 with the contract award decision expected in 27 October 2025
Deadline to return the Procurement Specific Questionnaire to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is no later than 12:00pm on 24 July 2025. Ofwat expects to invite up to 30 suppliers to tender for the contract.