Home Office Quality Assurance and Testing (QAT) contracts pre-market engagement event
10.30am – 1pm27 July 2026
London
techUK, 10 St Bride Street, London, EC4A 4AD
Registration
Registration for this event is managed by the Home Office, not techUK. To register your interest, please use the Home Office eSourcing Portal: https://homeoffice.app.jaggaer.com
Please note, suppliers must confirm the names of their delegates no later than 17:00 on Thursday 23 July. There is a limit of two delegates per supplier.
techUK Code of Practice
The Home Office (referred to hereafter as the Authority) is inviting prospective bidders to take part in a series of pre-market engagement activities for the Authority’s planned Quality Assurance & Testing (QAT) procurements.
The Authority currently has a number of contracts for QAT capability, aligned to portfolios across the Home Office. The future commercial strategy is to consolidate these services into two core testing capability contracts by Autumn 2027. The exact scope, duration and values of the new contracts are still to be confirmed; however, the current expectation is that each contract will have a minimum term of three years, with a maximum spend of £150m (including any extensions). The intention is to compete for these contracts via the GCA Dynamic Purchasing System, RM6148, however the pre-market engagement is open to all suppliers.
Before any tender activity is launched, the Authority wishes to invite feedback from prospective bidders on the proposed strategy and gather information that will help it to refine its procurement and contracting approach further.
Key topics
Key topics that the Authority wishes to explore include, but are not limited to:
Route to market
Transition approach
Key Performance Indicators and contractual incentives (i.e. Service Credits)
Cost drivers
The use of innovation and AI to drive efficiency
Roles and capability
Tooling and hardware
Removing barriers for SMEs
Support in the transformation from a Programme SDLC to a Product SDLC, including using experience gained from other clients to help shape and drive the change
Support in the transformation from Quality Assurance to Quality Engineering, including using experience gained from other clients to help shape and drive the change
How to register
Suppliers can register their interest in this event by registering an account on the Authority’s eSourcing Portal (https://homeoffice.app.jaggaer.com) and navigating to the opportunity titled ‘pqq_823 – Pre-Market Engagement for Home Office Quality Assurance & Test Engineering (QAT) Contracts’. Once registered against this opportunity, you should submit a response to the ‘Qualification Envelope’ with the names and email addresses of the two delegates who you plan to attend the event.
Please note: expressions of interest for this opportunity should NOT be sent via email and must be made as instructed via the eSourcing Portal above.
Following the event
Following the event, a Request for Information questionnaire will be issued to all suppliers who have expressed an interest in the opportunity. Attendance at the in-person event is not mandatory for this but is encouraged to help your understanding.
Further information
The Authority’s published Digital Strategy may prove useful in understanding the context of the changes it is seeking to make: Home Office 2030 Digital Strategy
Heather Cover-Kus
Associate Director, Central Government and Education, techUK
Heather Cover-Kus
Associate Director, Central Government and Education, techUK
Heather is Associate Director, Central Government and Education at techUK, working to represent the tech supplier community to Central Government.
She started as Head of Central Government at techUK in April 2022 and was promoted to Associate Director in August 2025 supporting both the Central Government and Education programmes.
Prior to joining techUK in April 2022, Heather worked in the Economic Policy and Small States Section at the Commonwealth Secretariat. She led the organisation’s FinTech programme and worked to create an enabling environment for developing countries to take advantage of the socio-economic benefits of FinTech.
Before moving to the UK, Heather worked at the Office of the Prime Minister of The Bahamas and the Central Bank of The Bahamas.
Heather holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP, a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from LSE, and a BA in Economics and Sociology from Macalester College.
Ellie joined techUK in March 2018 as a Programme Assistant to the Public Sector team and now works as a Programme Manager for the Central Government Programme.
The programme represents the supplier community of technology products and services in Central Government – in summary working to make Government a more informed buyer, increasing supplier visibility in order to improve their chances of supplying to Government Departments, and fostering better engagement between the public sector and industry. To find out more about what we do, how we do this and how you can get involved – make sure to get in touch!
Prior to joining techUK, Ellie completed Sixth Form in June 2015 and went on to work in Waitrose, moved on swiftly to walking dogs and finally, got an office job working for a small local business in North London, where she lives with her family and their two Bengal cats Kai and Nova.
When she isn’t working Ellie likes to spend time with her family and friends, her cats, and enjoys volunteering for diabetes charities. She has a keen interest in writing, escaping with a good book and expanding her knowledge watching far too many quiz shows!
Junior Programme Manager - Central Government, techUK
Charles Bauman
Junior Programme Manager - Central Government, techUK
Charles Bauman is a Junior Programme Manager in the Central Government Programme at techUK.
He supports the programme’s mission to represent the technology supplier community to the UK government and advocate for digital innovation to address public sector challenges. Charles helps facilitate market engagement, foster partnerships, and ensure that tech suppliers and the government work collaboratively to improve outcomes, deliver value for money, and enhance public services for citizens.
Before joining techUK, Charles gained significant experience in research, analysis, and strategic advisory roles. At H/Advisors Cicero, he specialised in public affairs and corporate communications, while at Verdantix, he supported sustainability research and advisory projects, focusing on regulatory and environmental challenges.
Charles holds an MSc in Theory and History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and an MA in Medieval History from King’s College London.
Charles enjoys volunteering with a think tank, reading, hiking, and spending time with his dog and family outside of work.
The techUK Central Government Programme provides a forum for government to engage with tech suppliers. We advocate for the govtech sector, evangelise tech as a solution to public sector challenges, facilitate market engagement, and help make the public sector an easier market to operate in. Visit the programme page here.
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Associate Director, Central Government and Education, techUK
Heather Cover-Kus
Associate Director, Central Government and Education, techUK
Heather is Associate Director, Central Government and Education at techUK, working to represent the tech supplier community to Central Government.
She started as Head of Central Government at techUK in April 2022 and was promoted to Associate Director in August 2025 supporting both the Central Government and Education programmes.
Prior to joining techUK in April 2022, Heather worked in the Economic Policy and Small States Section at the Commonwealth Secretariat. She led the organisation’s FinTech programme and worked to create an enabling environment for developing countries to take advantage of the socio-economic benefits of FinTech.
Before moving to the UK, Heather worked at the Office of the Prime Minister of The Bahamas and the Central Bank of The Bahamas.
Heather holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP, a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from LSE, and a BA in Economics and Sociology from Macalester College.
Ellie joined techUK in March 2018 as a Programme Assistant to the Public Sector team and now works as a Programme Manager for the Central Government Programme.
The programme represents the supplier community of technology products and services in Central Government – in summary working to make Government a more informed buyer, increasing supplier visibility in order to improve their chances of supplying to Government Departments, and fostering better engagement between the public sector and industry. To find out more about what we do, how we do this and how you can get involved – make sure to get in touch!
Prior to joining techUK, Ellie completed Sixth Form in June 2015 and went on to work in Waitrose, moved on swiftly to walking dogs and finally, got an office job working for a small local business in North London, where she lives with her family and their two Bengal cats Kai and Nova.
When she isn’t working Ellie likes to spend time with her family and friends, her cats, and enjoys volunteering for diabetes charities. She has a keen interest in writing, escaping with a good book and expanding her knowledge watching far too many quiz shows!
Junior Programme Manager - Central Government, techUK
Charles Bauman
Junior Programme Manager - Central Government, techUK
Charles Bauman is a Junior Programme Manager in the Central Government Programme at techUK.
He supports the programme’s mission to represent the technology supplier community to the UK government and advocate for digital innovation to address public sector challenges. Charles helps facilitate market engagement, foster partnerships, and ensure that tech suppliers and the government work collaboratively to improve outcomes, deliver value for money, and enhance public services for citizens.
Before joining techUK, Charles gained significant experience in research, analysis, and strategic advisory roles. At H/Advisors Cicero, he specialised in public affairs and corporate communications, while at Verdantix, he supported sustainability research and advisory projects, focusing on regulatory and environmental challenges.
Charles holds an MSc in Theory and History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and an MA in Medieval History from King’s College London.
Charles enjoys volunteering with a think tank, reading, hiking, and spending time with his dog and family outside of work.
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