TerraQuest

Land Referencing

TerraQuest is the UK’s largest specialist and founding provider of land referencing services to private and public sector clients involved in the planning and development of major transportation, regeneration, utility, and renewable projects and is renowned for it’s right first time approach and innovative offering.

Features

• Full diligent service to assist all stages of your application
• Production/service of all notices required as part of any application
• Producing, issuing and managing requests for survey access
• Supporting public inquiry/examination by providing up to date land information
• Early identification of constraints e.g special category land, planning applications
• A quick, cost-effective early solution to provide clear ownership/constraints picture
• Bespoke plan production to fit any requirements
• Delivering data in efficient process to inform decision making process

Benefits

• Proven Service in support of 100+ applications
• 50 plus years experience across all sectors and urban/rural
• Technical quality is of paramount importance with proven control measures
• Automatic reporting of high-quality data in real time
• Works closely with stakeholders to deliver as one team
• UK’s foremost technologically innovate company in processing of land/property information
• Multi-skilled resource pool of over 100 personnel
• Experience of providing what you need, when you need
• Providing data in an accessible format to reduce data confusion

£350 an instance

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  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 Daniel.Williams@terraquest.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

758450480870126

Contact

Daniel Williams
0121 234 1300
Daniel.Williams@terraquest.co.uk

Planning

• Planning service: Yes
• How the planning service works: TerraQuest projects involve close collaboration with our customer base and our contributors to ensure our focus remains in line with expectation and any issues can be resolved quickly without significant rework. This supports and ensures the right blend of user groups utilising shared workspaces, online meetings and workshops to achieve good results and support all stakeholders. ; TerraQuest has extensive experience of processing, analysing, presenting and delivering cloud hosting and software services, often using agile frameworks. This allows both parties to quickly and effectively discuss and agree the necessary processes and expectations therefore shaping their requirements and needs. ; Our experienced Data Analysts have extensive knowledge in implementing these services, work on user insight to identify customer needs and deliver iteratively, feedback, promoting good practices and continuously improving and shaping implementation.
• Planning service works with specific services: No

Training

• Training service provided: Yes
• How the training service works: Our training will be based on the ‘train the trainer’ approach, where the user representatives are consulted and involved in the ‘show and tell process’. They will then become the core trainers that then help embed the solution in a wider team. ; Preparatory for the any live implementation we will train key end-users who can be introduced to the solution very early on and start to gain a feel for the service and basic navigation both as part of formally managed ‘walk-throughs’ and also at any time to suit their working patterns and caseload. ; In addition to training provided by specialist staff our proposal will include on-line training materials where appropriate that relate to common features and functions.
• Training is tied to specific services: No

Setup and migration

• Setup or migration service available: Yes
• How the setup or migration service works: Transitioning a service to or between cloud services carries risk, TerraQuest recognise the mission critical role that this work will have for any customer and therefore the importance of a seamless and safe transition. TerraQuest has extensive experience in delivering critical transition programmes and will work closely with the customer to develop standard processes and methods that can be deployed to meet potential challenges. We will support transformation and modernisation programmes, including processes to extract, transform and load software, functionality and data between systems. ; Migration components will be mapped to the new system, with formats, requirements and characteristics mapped accordingly. Specifications will be prepared defining the characteristics of migration as well as the processes and procedures to be applied to the workflows. This will be used to provide validation steps before progressing, acting as a quality gate ensuring that it fully complies with requirements.
• Setup or migration service is for specific cloud services: No

Quality assurance and performance testing

• Quality assurance and performance testing service: Yes
• How the quality assurance and performance testing works: We operate a rigorous and structured QA and testing process, which is both robust and proven. In order to ensure that there is complete transparency we will use our mature QA policy to draw up the necessary governance requirements, including the approach to engagement, communications and reporting, as well a QA (testing) strategy for the new customer. The strategy is a living document, regularly reviewed and agreed by both parties to allows for continuous improvement.; Full testing will be conducted in relevant environments prior to the commencement of Testing, to ensure adequate performance of the solution. This will include working with the customer to identify the resources required, roles and responsibilities and to define and undertake the necessary Performance (load and stress) Testing, Security Testing (including Vulnerability Scanning) and Infrastructure Testing (which will include Disaster Recovery Testing).; ; When a test cycle is complete, reports will be produced as prescribed in the test plan; including tracking against the test plan exit criteria. These will be regularly reviewed by all parties throughout the project in order to continually improve, e.g. to see if there are ways to increase effectiveness and efficiency.

Security testing

• Security services: Yes
• Security services type: Security risk management

Ongoing support

• Ongoing support service: Yes
• Types of service supported: Hosting or software provided by your organisation
• How the support service works: TerraQuest has extensive experience of proactively managing and supporting cloud services and TerraQuest’s software services.; We design our services to be auto scaling and monitor performance, to understand the resources being utilised over time. This includes 24/7 monitoring, to ensure the environments are always suitably scaled and available.; Our support team for the cloud services act as a reactive point of escalation for our product service desks who are available to investigate and resolve any hosting-based issues.; TerraQuests’ teams are also involved in the design and architecture of our solutions which is continually improving as technology and cloud features become available. The technical architecture we create provides a virtual version of the service, such as a storage device, network, operating system to minimise the infrastructure footprint, ensuring greater flexibility and interoperability of services, for both hardware and application components

Service scope

• Service constraints: None

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Incident response times are:; − Level 1 – Service down / unavailable, resolved within 4 working hours; − Level 2 – Issues with individual component parts impacting all or part of the system, resolved within 8 working hours; − Level 3 – Issues and advice in the usage of the system, or cosmetic issues. Resolved within 16 working hours; − Level 4 – No immediate action required, resolved within 5 working days; ; Weekends support is level 1 only, resolved within 4 working hours.; ; Users are also able to access online help and FAQs 24x7.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Support levels: − Level 1 – Website down / unavailable Resolved within 4 working hours; − Level 2 – Issues with individual applications which are stopping submission Resolved within 8 working hours; − Level 3 – Issues and advice in the usage of the system, or cosmetic issues. Resolved within 16 working hours; − Level 4 – Low priority, no immediate action required Resolved within 5 working days; Service costs are Monday to Friday (9:00 til 17:00), excluding public holidays.; Service and technical account managers provided at no extra cost. Cloud support engineers provided in line with agreed rate cards.

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: URS
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 23/12/2023
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: All TerraQuest services are covered by this accreditation.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ A/C 4.0)
• PCI DSS accreditation date: 24/04/2024
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: N/A
• Cyber essentials: No
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications:
  • TUVIT Certificate in SIG for trusted product maintainability
  • TÜVIT Evaluation Criteria for trusted product maintainability

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  TerraQuest’s aim is to leave a sustainable social value legacy supported by our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy in line with the Social Value themes in PPN 06/20. We promote our social value ethos both internally and externally with all our staff, suppliers, customers, and communities. ; ; Although our services’ impact is minimal, in respect of climate impact, change, pollution and resources, we do recognise that initiatives driven as an employer, through our employees, our clients and suppliers, when acting together have a greater impact than sum of their parts. ; ; Our Business Management System is a full set of policies and procedures, touching many aspects of our business strategy, which have been certified, accredited, and continuously audited over the last 25 years. Accreditations include ISO14001: Environmental Management. ; ; We will continue to minimise the environmental impact by making our solutions and services as efficient as possible through increasingly automated operations and operating in efficient buildings and workspaces. Additional impact is realised by taking account of specific issues like carbon footprint, sustainable sourcing and by working closely with our suppliers. ; ; In 2015 we put in place an Environmental Management System and achieved ISO14001 certification. From this we assessed our emissions and measured the impact and return on our investments into environmental management measures implemented e.g. the replacement of all office lighting with motion-activated LED, measuring our carbon footprint and emissions data as we progress to achieving Net Zero. We project that carbon emissions will decrease over the next five years to 37.1 tCO2e by 2028 (21%. reduction). ; ; We also support our client National Grid through the provision of our Land Referencing service on their Norwich to Tilbury project which will support the UK’s net zero target through the connection of new low carbon energy generation and by reinforcing the region's transmission network.

  Covid-19 recovery

  To combat effects of COVID-19 the UK, TerraQuest introduced a policy aimed to inform staff of the Company’s stance on COVID-19 vaccination to ensure all staff and their loved ones were protected. TerraQuest promoted the vaccination programme but also appreciated that not everyone could or would be vaccinated against COVID-19. ; ; TerraQuest’s Business Continuity Group was fully prepared as we had anticipated that the Government was going to impose restrictions earlier in February. As well as invoking our business continuity plans, we made some tweaks in our incident management plans to make them more specific to the Covid 19 crisis. ; ; The group effectively managed the transition of the business to home working during the commencement of the pandemic response. The Group met and communicated on a daily basis and ensured that the business, its employees and customer’s wellbeing and interests were protected at all times. TerraQuest led an extremely successful response to COVID-19 and business to customers continued seamlessly. ; ; Initially from early March 2020, the business moved to a partial home working environment with a staff survey identifying the vulnerability of staff in terms of their health, their travel to work and ability to work from home. Those at higher risk were prioritised and provided with equipment and connectivity for home working, whilst the remaining staff were placed on a rota system. Those deemed at higher risk from Covid-19 had an individual risk assessment completed with mitigating actions to reduce risk. ; ; During the pandemic we enabled all our 200+ staff to work remotely by introducing an Agile Working Policy. This Agile Working arrangement has had a significant impact on the number of journeys made for commuting and for other business journeys. We estimated that during the pandemic between 2020 and 2022, the reduction in commuting mileage was ~ 420,000 miles.

  Tackling economic inequality

  We are dedicated to creating a positive impact in the communities where we operate. We recognise the challenges experienced by certain individuals such as those from deprived areas who face barriers to employment or those with skills shortages. To address these challenges, we have made a commitment to provide paid employment opportunities to these individuals. The creation of new jobs and apprenticeships is a core component of this approach. ; ; Our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness demonstrates our belief in providing equal opportunities for all, regardless of background or previous experiences. We support the Movement to Work initiative, this not only supports individuals in gaining valuable work experience and skills, but also contributes to reducing poverty, promoting social mobility, and boosting local economies. Providing paid and/or unpaid employment opportunities and placements to those who face barriers to employment or are from deprived areas is not only the right thing to do, but it also helps to build a more inclusive and diverse workforce, which in turn, can lead to improved business performance and a more positive workplace culture. ; ; To further demonstrate our commitment, our established ESG Committee, responsible for overseeing the delivery of our social value commitments will review progress regularly and identify areas for improvement. They will also be responsible for ensuring that we are fully compliant with all relevant regulations and legislation, and that our practices are aligned with best practices in the industry. ; ; Our robust reporting and monitoring processes, together with our focus on gathering and reporting on data, and our commitment to regular review, ensure that we are delivering on this requirement in a responsible and effective manner. Through this commitment, we demonstrate our strong dedication to making a tangible difference in the lives of individuals and the wider community.

  Equal opportunity

  We are fully committed to Fair Work First through our ESG Policies which are frequently and widely promoted throughout our business have become embedded in our behaviours and DNA. Our Fair Work approach ensures that we promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills, and potential and welcome applications from a wide range of backgrounds. We select all candidates for interview based on their skills, qualifications, and experience. ; ; With an explicit purpose of championing everyone's right to feel a sense of belonging, the recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse employees is critical to our success in a rapidly changing marketplace. Having an employee demographic representative of our customer base allows us to really understand our customers and to deliver products and services that meet their needs and be in line with our desire to be number one for customer care. ; ; Of the people we employ, around 27% come from an ethnic minority background and 48% of the total workforce is female. We have a number of policies in place to ensure that we fully embrace diversity, and we regularly review these in line with changing legislation and best practice. ; ; TerraQuest has a fair and equal pay policy in place and is an accredited real living wage employer. We support gender equal pay and do not offer zero-hour contracts. ; ; In line with the Equality Act 2010, we are committed to promoting equality both in the provision of opportunity to our employees and in the provision of services to our customers, to ensure that no one receives less favourable treatment either directly or indirectly on the grounds of gender, (which may include gender re-assignment), sexual orientation, marital status, civil partnership status, pregnancy, maternity, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origins, creed, religion or belief, disability or age.

  Wellbeing

  We prioritise promotion of the health and wellbeing of internal and external stakeholders with an emphasis on happy and engaged employees in a positive and inclusive environment. We have also implemented and ensured employees have access to support resources through the “Not Myself Today” mental health awareness program. The program builds awareness and understanding of mental health, reduces mental health stigma and aims to foster a psychologically safe and supportive work culture. ; ; Furthermore this forms part of our Business Continuity Policy. We have in place a Business Continuity Group that focusses on the health and wellbeing of the staff as well as productivity and quality on daily calls and ensures that all our services and performances are maintained at all times. A formal framework of management reporting and staff interfacing primarily driven by Microsoft Teams ensures that the business remains connected and operating efficiently. ; ; We continuously monitor employee satisfaction through the TerraQuest ‘Say What you See’ surveys. Any areas of concern are reviewed and actioned as part of the ‘You Said, We Listened’ initiative. In 2019, this process was a key factor in successfully increasing annual leave entitlements from 20 to 25 days for staff to ensure parity across the Group. ; ; Through our Agile Working Policy TerraQuest also promotes a healthy work-life balance by offering flexible work arrangements, such as remote work options or flexible scheduling. Encouraging employees to take regular breaks and leave can also contribute to overall physical and mental wellbeing. ; ; TerraQuest also provides workstations that are ergonomically designed to prevent injuries and promote good posture as well as adjustable desks and supportive chairs. Furthermore we provide access to confidential counselling services to support employees' mental health needs and our managers and employees undertake training on mental health awareness. We also promote social events and team outings.

Pricing

• Price: £350 an instance
• Discount for educational organisations: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  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 Daniel.Williams@terraquest.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.