EQUAL EXPERTS UK LIMITED

heata Compute: Sustainable GPU and CPU Compute Orchestration

A SaaS-based orchestration platform automating DataScience, Accelerated Computing, AI, Machine Learning and High-Throughput workloads across distributed, ultra-low-carbon infrastructure. The platform provides a unified API, intelligent scheduling, and granular carbon reporting, enabling public sector teams to seamlessly decarbonise CPU/GPU compute without managing the underlying physical hardware.

Features

• Smart Orchestration: Automated scheduling of Batch, ML & AI workloads
• Universal Compatibility: Agnostic support for OCI-compliant containers (Docker, Kubernetes)
• API-First-Control: Full programmatic control via comprehensive REST API/CLI
• Real-Time Visibility: Unified dashboard for monitoring performance, cost, carbon
• Granular Billing: Precise per-second billing and transparent, predictable pricing
• Secure Isolation: Software-defined network isolation withencrypted execution environments
• Resilience: Intelligent workload scheduling ensures completion despite node interruption
• Audit-Logging: Immutable logs of job submissions and data access
• Low carbon: waste heat from servers used to heat homes
• Social value: waste heat reduces domestic energy bills

Benefits

• Scalability: Elastic software orchestration handles thousands of concurrent jobs seamlessly
• Cost Efficiency: Automated orchestration significantly reduces spend versus hyperscale providers
• Rapid Onboarding: API access eliminates hardware procurement and setup delays
• Simplified Management: Abstracts complexity of managing distributed physical compute infrastructure
• Resilience: Platform-managed redundancy ensures job completion despite node availability
• DevOps Integration: Seamlessly integrates with existing CI/CD and MLOps pipelines
• Social Value: Compute waste heat provides free heating for households
• Decarbonisation: significantly reduces carbon emissions of compute workloads
• Audit Readiness: Automated reporting on cost, carbon and social value
• Zero Lock-in: Open standards ensure workloads remain portable across platforms

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at solutions@equalexperts.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

277526927107386

Contact

Kev Gray
+44 7851 486832
solutions@equalexperts.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Systems Infrastructure Software

  Physical and virtual computing

  Software defined compute

  • Virtual Machine Software
  • Container Infrastructure Software
  • Cloud System Software

  Other computing and storage software

  • Container Data and Infrastructure Management Software
• Multi cloud support: Yes

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: The platform is optimised for stateless, fault-tolerant workloads. The infrastructure is distributed, and individual node execution may be interrupted (similar to Spot instances), so applications must be able to handle automatic rescheduling by the platform. The service is not suitable for legacy stateful applications (e.g. traditional clustered databases) that cannot tolerate ephemeral infrastructure
• System requirements:
  • Connectivity: Internet connection required for API and Web Console access
  • Browser: Modern web browser (Chrome, Edge,Firefox, or Safari)
  • Network: Outbound HTTPS (Port 443) access to orchestration API
  • CLI Support: Windows, macOS or Linux for optional CLI tools
  • Container Tools: Local Docker engine recommended for building container images
  • Development: Python environment required only if using Python SDK
  • Remote Access: SSH client required for optional direct node debugging
  • Identity: Valid email addressor Enterprise SSO for authentication
  • Interface: Standard command-line terminal for CLI interaction
  • Hardware: No local server hardware required (SaaS delivery model)

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: Users can submit support requests via our online ticketing system or email. For Professional and Enterprise customers, we provide enhanced access via direct phone and dedicated Slack/Teams channels. We categorise issues from S1 (Critical Outage) to S4 (GeneralQuery), with response times ranging from 1 hour to 2 business days depending on the severity and the customer's support tier. Enterprise tier gets 24/7 support; Professional tier gets 9am-5pm on business days.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: No
• Support levels: Heata provides three distinct support levels to cater to different operational needs: Standard Support: Designed for non-critical workloads and testing. This provides access to our online ticketing system and documentation with a 2-business-day response time for non-critical queries. Included free of charge. Professional Support: Tailored for production environments. This provides access to our Specialist Engineering team with a 1-hour initial response time for S1 (Critical) incidents. It includes support via email and online portal, ensuring direct interaction with engineers who build the platform. (Charged at 5% of the monthly consumption spend, subject to a minimum monthly fee of £500). Enterprise Support: Our highest level of care for mission-critical operations. This level provides proactive partnership through a named Technical Account Manager (TAM), direct phone and Slack/Teams channel access, and monthly strategic service reviews. Charged at 10% of the monthly consumption spend, subject to a minimum monthly fee of £3,000.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Self-Service Resources (Available to all users): Documentation: Comprehensive, publicly available guides covering the CLI, API reference (OpenAPI/Swagger), and Management Console. QuickStart Guides: Step-by-step tutorials to get a "Hello World" job running in under 5 minutes. Code Examples: A dedicated GitHub repository containing template job definitions, container examples and integration scripts for common frameworks (e.g., Python, R, TensorFlow). Assisted Onboarding (Enterprise/Premium) Onboarding Webinars: Live demonstrations of platform capabilities and best practices for cost optimisation.Architectural Review: For Enterprise customers, we provide a dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM) to review your initial workload architecture and assist with migration strategies from legacy on-premise schedulers or other cloud providers. The TAM can also provide hands-on support in setting up the platform. Training: Bespoke online or onsite training workshops can be arranged for larger engineering teams (additional costs may apply).
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: HTML
• End-of-contract data extraction: The service is designed to prevent vendor lock-in, ensuring easy data portability upon contract termination: ServiceData (Logs & Metadata): Users can extract their full job history, execution logs and configuration metadata at anytime via the REST API (in JSON format) or the Web Console (as CSV/JSON exports). Input/Output Data: As the platform orchestrates compute over the customer’s own storage (e.g., S3, Azure Blob), returning data on job completion-,the customer's primary business data remains in their own cloud buckets throughout the contract. Therefore, no data migration is required to leave the service.
• End-of-contract process: Upon expiration or termination of the contract: Grace Period: The customer is provided a 30-day grace period to perform final data extractions (logs, billing reports) via the API/Console. Account Suspension: After the grace period, the account is suspended, preventing further job submissions. Data Deletion: In accordance with GDPR and our data retention policy, all customer metadata, credentials and logs stored within the platform are permanently deleted 90 days after contract termination - with the exception of billing information and anonymised platform usage logs. Confirmation: A final certificate of data destruction can be provided if required.
• Documentation accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: No
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Description of service interface: Web Management Console: A modern, secure browser-based dashboard (HTTPS) for account management. It provides visualisations for real-time job monitoring, billing control, budget caps, and carbon saving metrics. Command Line Interface (CLI): A native CLI tool that enables developers to submit jobs, manage clusters and stream logs directly from their terminal. It is optimised for scripting and integration into existing dev-ops workflows. REST API: A fully documented, programmatic interface enabling integration with third-party tools and CI/CD pipelines. The API provides granular control over all platform functions, facilitating automated scaling and job orchestration.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Accessibility testing: Command Line Interface (CLI): As a developer-focused platform, our primary interface is the CLI. Being purely text-based, this provides a natively accessible experience that is fully compatible with screen readers (NVDA, JAWS) and braille displays. This ensures visually impaired engineers can operate the service with the same speed and precision as sighted users, often exceeding the efficiency of graphical interfaces. 2. Web Console Compliance: For the visual dashboard, we utilise modern frontend frameworks that enforce semantic HTML and ARIA standards. Our testing strategy includes: Automated Auditing: Using tools like Google Lighthouse and Axe to verify colour contrast ratios and element labelling against WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Keyboard Navigation: Internal QA validates that all core workflows (billing, job monitoring) are fully navigable without a mouse.
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Full Lifecycle Management: The API is designed for complete automation of the compute lifecycle, allowing users to: Setup & Configuration: Programmatically define compute environments, including hardware specifications (CPU, RAM, GPU types), container images, and storage volume associations. Job Execution: Submit, pause, resume and cancel batch processing jobs. Users can dynamically parameterise workloads to run at scale across multiple cloud regions. Monitoring & Retrieval: Poll real-time job status, stream live logs (stdout/stderr), and retrieve exit codes or error reports for integration into downstream workflows. Integration The API enables "Headless" operation, allowing users to trigger jobs directly from CI/CD pipelines (e.g. Jenkins, GitHub Actions) or internal data platforms without human intervention. Limitations: For security and compliance reasons, the following actions are restricted to the Web Management Console and cannot be performed via API: Billing Administration: Adding payment methods, changing billing addresses, or viewing high-level invoices. Identity Management: Initial configuration of SSO (Single Sign-On) providers and root-level account creation.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: Open API (also known as Swagger)
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: The platform is designed to be highly configurable to support bespoke batch processing workflows: Execution Environment: Users can customise the runtime environment by bringing their own container images (e.g.Docker). This allows for control over operating systems, libraries and software dependencies. Infrastructure Definitions: Users can define custom hardware profiles, selecting specific CPU:RAM ratios or GPUs to match their workload requirements rather than relying on fixed instance sizes.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: We guarantee resource independence through strict isolation: Dedicated Compute: Each job executes within its own isolated container or VM. CPU and RAM are exclusively allocated to that workload and are never shared or over-committed between tenants. Clients are VM-isolated and have their own dedicated encrypted networking. Performance Isolation: The'Noisy Neighbour' effect is eliminated as resources are reserved at the infrastructure level. High load from one user does not degrade computer performance for others. Control Plane Scaling: Our API and scheduler auto-scale independently. A surge in submissions from one customer triggers automatic scaling, maintaining API responsiveness for all users.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: We provide granular real-time and historical metrics across operational, financial, and environmental dimensions: Operational Performance: Job Status: Real-time tracking of job states (Queued, Running, Succeeded, Failed). Throughput: Metrics on concurrent job execution and queue wait times. Logs: Access to stdout/stderr logs and exit codes for debugging. Sustainability: Carbon Footprint: Detailed reporting on the carbon intensity (gCO2eq) of compute jobs. Social impact: domestic energy bill savings from server heat reuse. Financial & Usage: Cost Tracking: Estimated spend per job, per project or per user. Resource Allocation: Data on CPU/RAM/GPU hours requested versus consumed.
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Supplier-defined controls
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Equipment disposal approach: A third-party destruction service
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed / Cryptographic Erasure

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Web Management Console: Users can download billing reports, carbon usage metrics and job performance summaries directly from the dashboard as CSV files for use in spreadsheet software. Configuration Export:No configuration export required. Job definitions and environment specifications are held in the client's domain and use open standards (e.g. Helmcharts) to ensure portability across platforms.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: JSON
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data import formats: JSON

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
• Data protection within supplier network: IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Guaranteed Availability Access Gateway: The API and Management Console (the gateway to the network) are guaranteed to have a monthly Uptime of >99.9%. Worker Nodes: We guarantee a Committed Capacity of >99.5% per job. This ensures your full reserved cluster capacity is available for that percentage of the job’s duration. Maintenance: Scheduled maintenance occurs between 00:00 and 08:00 (UTC) and is excluded from downtime calculations. Service Credits (Refunds) If guarantees are not met, clients are compensated via Service Credits (up to 100% of the monthly bill): Access Uptime: Credits start at 10% if uptime falls below 99.5%, escalating to 100% credit if uptime drops below 95.0%. Capacity: Credits start at 10% if committed capacity falls below 99.0%, escalating to 100% credit if capacity drops below 90.0%. To claim, clients must notify us within 60 days of the incident with supporting logs.
• Approach to resilience: Our service approaches resilience through distribution, directly addressing the government's 'Asset Protection and Resilience' principle. 1. Distributed Data Centre Architecture. Unlike traditional providers reliant on single physical facilities, the heata network is a geographically distributed data centre spanning over 100 locations. This architecture eliminates the Single Point of Failure risks associated with physical datacentres (e.g. power cuts, cooling failures). No single regional incident can compromise the integrity of the service. 2. Automated Fault Tolerance. Our 'Automated Scheduling Engine' continuously monitors the health of the network. If an individual Compute Node becomes unavailable, the scheduler automatically detects the Reduced Capacity and rapidly re-schedules the workload to healthy nodes to restore the cluster to full committed capacity. 3. Hybrid Backup (Cloud Burst). To guarantee availability even during network-wide anomalies, the platform employs 'Cloud Burst Nodes' (standard public cloud instances). This serves as an automated failover mechanism to absorb peak demand or replace lost capacity, ensuring the Committed Capacity SLA is always met regardless of network conditions. 4. Control Plane Resilience. Client access is secured via high-availability Access Nodes hosted on established Tier-1 cloud infrastructure. This ensures that the network gateway remains accessible 24/7, utilising secure Wireguard VPN tunnels for connectivity.
• Outage reporting: We employ multiple transparent channels to ensure users are notified immediately of any platform outages or degradations. 1. Public Status Dashboard: We maintain a dedicated public status page providing real-time health indicators for all core components (API Gateway, Compute Network, Management Console). This serves as the primary source of truth for historical uptime and current incident updates. 2. Email Alerts: Registered users are automatically subscribed to proactive alerts. Notifications are triggered for: High-Priority Incidents (P1): Immediate alerts for service-wide outages. Degradations (P2): Notificationsfor significant performance drops or capacity reductions. Maintenance: Advance warning of scheduled maintenance windows (sent 14 days prior). 3. Status API: For automated integration, we provide a public status API endpoint. This allows customers' internal monitoring systems to programmatically retrieve service health data and trigger their own failover workflows if required.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Access is strictly controlled via the principle of Least Privilege.1. Management Interfaces Authentication: Requires mandatory Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and unique API credentials. Clients can use single sign-on (e.g.Entra ID). Authorisation: Governed by granular Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), ensuring users only access functions necessary for their specific role. 2. Support Channels Segregation: Support systems are logically separated from production control planes. Just-in-Time Access: Support engineers have no standing access. Temporary, audited access is granted only to resolve specific incidents and is automatically revoked upon ticket closure.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users receive audit information on a regular basis
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users receive audit information on a regular basis
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: Between 6 months and 12 months

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: Other
• Other security governance standards: Cyber Essentials Plus
• Information security policies and processes: Our Information Security Management System (ISMS) is built on ISO 27001 principles and strictly adheres to Cyber Essentials Plus standards. Core Policies Access Control: Internally, we enforce 'Least Privilege' using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and mandatory Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across all systems. Clients typically access services through integrations with their single sign-on e.g. Entra ID. Data Security: Data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.2+). Development: Secure Development Lifecycle (SDLC) includes automated vulnerability scanning and mandatory peer reviews for all code. Reporting Structure Security governance is led by the CTO, who maintains the Risk Register and reports directly to the Board of Directors on security posture and compliance. All employees undergo mandatory security awareness training upon induction. Assurance & Enforcement External: Annual Cyber Essentials Plus audits and annual Penetration Testing by accredited third parties. Internal: Quarterly access reviews and continuous automated infrastructure scanning to detect non-compliance
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: We utilise an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach for full traceability. Lifecycle TrackingSource of Truth: All infrastructure and firmware configurations are stored inversion control (Git), creating an immutable audit log from provisioning to decommissioning. Versioning: Every change is versioned, allowing us to pinpoint the environment's exact state at anytime. Security & Workflow GitOps: Changes require Pull Requests with mandatory peer review. Automated Assessment: CI/CD pipelines automatically trigger security scanning (SAST) to detect vulnerabilities before deployment. SafeDeployment: Updates are validated in a staging environment to ensure integrity.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Our vulnerability management process is aligned with Cyber Essentials Plus requirements and NCSC guidelines: Automated Scanning: We perform weekly automated vulnerability scans of all infrastructure and code repositories to identify known CVEs and configuration weaknesses. Patch Management: Vulnerabilities are triaged based on severity (CVSS score). We adhere to strict SLAs for remediation: Critical/High: Patched within 14days. Medium/Low: Patched within 30 days. Independent Assurance: We commission annual IT Health Checks (Penetration Testing) by an external CREST-accredited provider to validate our internal scanning results. Responsible Disclosure: We maintain a security contact channel to allow researchers/users to safely report potential vulnerabilities.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: 1. Identification: We employ continuous, centralised monitoring. Logs (API, auth, system) are aggregated into a secure platform where automated anomaly detection identifies indicators of compromise, such as brute-force attacks or unexpected privilege escalation. 2. Response: Our Incident Response Plan (IRP) is activated immediately upon detection: Triage: Verified by on-call engineers. Containment: Threats are isolated (e.g. revoking tokens, disconnecting nodes) to prevent lateral movement. Eradication: Root causes are patched. 3. Timelines: Critical alerts are generated in real-time. Our team guarantees triage within 1 hour, with containment actions initiated immediately upon verification.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: 1. Pre-defined Processes: We use a formal Incident Response Plan with pre-defined 'Playbooks' for common events (e.g., connectivity loss), ensuring rapid, standardised responses. 2. User Reporting: Users report incidents via the Support Portal/Email (primary channel) or Web Chat (for immediate assistance). 3. Incident Reports: Live: Updates via our Public Status Dashboard. Post-Incident: For major incidents, we provide a formal Root Cause Analysis (RCA) within 5 days, detailing the timeline, cause, and preventative measures.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: No

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: New users receive introductory credits to validate the service. Included: Full access to the API, CLI and standard distributed compute nodes for testing and benchmarking. Excluded: Committed Capacity SLAs, financial service credits and Priority Support. Limit: Credits are valid for 30 days or until the allowance is consumed.

Discount percentage by annual call-off contract value (excluding VAT)

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 5%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 10%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 15%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 20%
• Over £5,000,001: 25%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: British Assessment Bureau (BAB)
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Tuesday 27 August 2024
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: N/a
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO 9001 certification: British Assessment Bureau (BAB)
• ISO 9001 accreditation date: Tuesday 27 August 2024
• What the ISO 9001 doesn’t cover: N/a
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: Afa64908-ca03-43ea-88da-09dc8ae75b71
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: 8d12a08b-1902-4f2e-b271-a3732f2f2dc0
• Other security certifications: No

Social value

• Section B - Commitment for Future: Delivery:

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 1: Fair work: That offers fair wages and good working conditions. Help people get a job, stay in work, and progress in their careers, with good employment opportunities across the country. Notes: Where there is a large proportion of labour costs in the contract, commercial teams should consider MAC in Outcome 1 as a priority

    • New or retained jobs on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b, 1c and 1d
    • New apprenticeships on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b
    • Providing opportunities for, and measuring and monitoring of, staff workforce conditions over time, including employee engagement, involvement in decision-making and satisfaction and adapting to any changes in the results, with clear processes for acting on issues identified
    • Plans to engage the contract workforce in deciding the most important workplace issues to address
    • Employment contracts that reflect actual hours worked; steps taken to ensure employees understand their contracts and have the ability to review and adjust them if actual hours regularly exceed contracted hours
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about, and feel empowered to, address their physical wellbeing
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about and feel empowered to report and address bullying and harassment
    • Activities to cascade good practice on fair working conditions throughout the supply chain
    • Offer a pay and leave entitlement to all eligible staff who become kinship carers, ideally equivalent to statutory adoption pay and leave
    • Payment of more than the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (as appropriate) to the contract workforce
    • Entitlement to sick pay for the contract workforce, with provision in place for any staff who do not meet the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, payment of sick pay from day one of absence and payment of staff on the contract workforce who are off sick a replacement income of 100% of their usual earnings for as long as possible
    • Plans for an appropriate income replacement policy for staff who are required to spend time away from work to care for a sick dependent or close relative
    • Understanding of in-work progression issues affecting the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Measures to support in-work progression to help people in the contract workforce, to move into higher paid work by developing new skills relevant to the contract
    • Support for the contract workforce by providing career advice, and providing opportunities for staff working on the contract with in-work progression career development into known skills shortages or high growth areas
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Volunteering opportunities for staff
    • Understanding of the modern slavery risks and issues affecting the market, industry, sector or country (of origin or of source) relevant to the contract, and the workforce in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key subcontractors
    • Measures to identify, mitigate and manage modern slavery risks relating to the contract and how these will be implemented
    • Outline policies and practices to be applied to or put in place for the contract to mitigate and manage modern slavery risks, including: Pre-employment checks, recruitment practices. Workplace conditions, safeguarding plans and processes in place and regular monitoring with relevant groups considered, which may include sampling
    • How these flow down the supply chain and are monitored Illustrative examples include reporting, site visits, audits, etc.
    • How to ensure business decisions re: price/cost, short lead times, payment timescales do not create modern slavery risks in the supply chain
    • How the supplier will work with NGOs, trade unions or other businesses to address modern slavery risk
    • Means of influencing staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders with respect to modern slavery risks relating to the contract

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 2: Skills for growth: Supporting growth sectors and addressing skills gaps.

    • Understanding of employment and relevant skills issues, and of the education and training issues relating to the contract. Illustrative examples: demographics, skills shortages, new opportunities in high growth sectors, geographic/local community and skills/employment challenges
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Activities to support relevant sector related skills growth and sustainability in the contract workforce. Illustrative examples: careers talks, curriculum support, literacy support, safety talks and volunteering
    • Delivery of apprenticeships, supported internships and T Level industry placement opportunities (Level 2, 3 and 4+) in relation to the contract

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 3: Resilient, innovative and flexible supply chains: Support economic growth through enabling resilient businesses, opportunities for small businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises

    • Understanding of the types of businesses in the market and the level of participation by new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Activities to identify opportunities to open up sub-contracts under the prime contract to a diverse range of businesses, including new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Plans for engaging a diverse range of businesses in engagement activities prior to appointing subcontractors (including activities prior to award of the main contract and during the contract term)
    • Activities that demonstrate a collaborative way to work with a diverse range of businesses as part of the supply chain
    • Ensuring accessibility to contracting and subcontracting opportunities for disabled business owners and employees
    • Structuring of the supply chain selection process to ensure fairness (e.g. anti-corruption) and encourages participation by a diverse range of businesses, including with regard to new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutual
    • Understanding of local demographics, needs and opportunities for the co-design of the goods, services and works to be delivered under the contract
    • Methods for engaging with different parts of the community (including the education system and charities representing the community) and how communities come together to inform decisions, strategy and projects to leave a positive legacy for future generations
    • Measures to involve local stakeholders and/or users in design (e.g. in the design of services, systems, products or buildings)
    • Plans for positive actions with community groups.
    • Measures for making facilities used in the delivery of the contract available for community groups, education or training
    • Measures to engage users and communities and build relationships to increase community integration build trust and influence how the contract is delivered
    • Plans to respond flexibly and adapt approaches to community engagement and initiatives
    • Support for community-led initiatives relevant to the contract. Illustrative examples: improving transport links; reducing loneliness; helping with English language proficiency; and facilitating social mixing among people with different backgrounds
    • Collaborating with anchor institutions and community groups to make facilities available for education, training or community events

  • Mission: Make Britain a clean energy superpower: To cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero

    Policy Outcome 4: Sustainable procurement practices: Reducing carbon footprints, minimising waste, and promoting the use of clean energy and green technologies.

    • Understanding of opportunities for additional environmental benefits delivery in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Collaborative ways of working with the supply chain to deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Delivery of additional environmental benefits through the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Understanding of how to influence staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders through the delivery of the contract to support climate and nature protection and improvement
    • Activities to reconnect people with the environment and increase awareness of ways to protect and enhance it

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 6: Employment and training: For those who face barriers to employment

    • Understanding of employment and skills issues, and of the skills and employment shortages of high growth sectors relating to the contract
    • Creation of employment opportunities particularly for those who face barriers to employment, such as prison leavers, care leavers and/or who are located in deprived areas, and for people in industries with known skills shortages or in high growth sectors
    • Delivery of training schemes and programmes to address any identified skills gaps and under-representation in the workforce for the contract (e.g. prison leavers, care leavers, kinship carers, disabled people)
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
    • Understanding of the issues affecting the representation of disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Collection of the views and expertise of disabled people and their representative organisations on successfully supporting disabled employees or applicants
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, and retention-focused activities, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition
    • Introducing transparency to pay and reward processes
    • Offering a range of quality opportunities with routes of progression if appropriate, e.g. T Level industry placements, students supported into higher level apprenticeships.
    • Working conditions which promote an inclusive working environment and promote retention and progression
    • Other measures to provide equality of opportunity for disabled people and those with health conditions into employment, including becoming a Disability Confident employer and inclusion of supported businesses in the contract supply chain
    • Understanding of the issues affecting inequality in employment, skills and pay in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. Measures to tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce
    • Inclusive and accessible development practices, including guidance for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 7: Creating a pipeline of opportunities: For the contract workforce, reducing barriers to entry for under-represented groups.

    • Understanding of the issues affecting the development of new skills by target cohort
    • Understanding of the underlying factors affecting improvements to reduce barriers to entry and training schemes for the target cohort(s) related to the contract workforce
    • Other measures to offer development opportunities for the target cohort(s) in the contract workforce
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
    • Understanding of issues relating to entering the contract workforce
    • Creation of outreach activities to create a pipeline of employees for the future contract delivery
    • Content of the outreach activity is designed to suit the target cohort
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort

  • Mission: Build an NHS fit for the future: That is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

    Policy Outcome 8: Increasing productivity through physical and mental wellbeing: In the supply chain and communities in the relevant area.

    • Understanding of issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce
    • Understanding barriers to access to health and social care services or employment opportunities e.g. digital inclusion
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention policies that support-focused activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing which support people with a disability or health condition
    • Actions to invest in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at solutions@equalexperts.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.