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Bramble Hub named as a supplier on all lots of new Technology Services 4 (TS4) framework

Posted on 12 December 2025 - 13:25 by

The Bramble Hub team is proud to announce that we have been named as a supplier on all lots of Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS’s) newly launched Technology Services 4 (TS4) framework (RM6190). This achievement ensures that Bramble Hub and our network of technology partners can continue to provide a comprehensive range of technology services to the UK public sector, from strategic consultancy to major service transformation.

TS4 is the successor to the highly successful Technology Services 3 (TS3) agreement, and is CCS’s primary route to market for technology services. By securing a position on every available lot, Bramble Hub reaffirms its commitment to connecting innovative SMEs with government buyers across the full spectrum of IT requirements.

This latest award means that we are currently a supplier on 19 frameworks, including 14 from CCS. Bramble Hub has been a supplier on TS4’s predecessors, including TS3 and TS2 as well as the original Technology Services framework.

Comprehensive access to government technology contracts

The TS4 framework introduces a revised structure designed to accommodate both large-scale transformation programmes and smaller, more agile projects. Bramble Hub’s appointment covers the entire scope of the agreement, including the new “Lower Value & Complexity” sub-lots.​

Bramble Hub is now able to offer services through the following lots:

  • Lot 1: Technology Strategy and Service Design

  • Lot 2: Transition and Service Integration and Management (SIAM)

  • Lot 3 & 3a: End User Services (including Lower Value & Complexity)

  • Lot 4 & 4a: Infrastructure Management (including Lower Value & Complexity)

  • Lot 5 & 5a: Application and Data Management (including Lower Value & Complexity)

  • Lot 6: Major Services Transformation Programmes

Empowering SMEs in public sector IT

“Securing a place on all lots of Technology Services 4 is a testament to the strength and diversity of our partner network,” said Shanice Rostampour, Bramble Hub’s Partner Director. “TS4 is set to be one of the public sector’s most critical procurement vehicles for the next few years. Our position ensures that whether a public sector body requires a system enhancement, a cloud migration, or a complete digital transformation, they can access the best expertise the UK industry has to offer through Bramble Hub.”

About Crown Commercial Service

CCS supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services.

How Basemap is transforming transport planning in the UK and beyond

Posted on 8 December 2025 - 12:04 by

Bramble Hub is pleased to introduce our partner Basemap, a specialist provider of transport data and analytical software. The company delivers innovative solutions to public and private sector organisations, helping them make better-informed decisions about transport planning across the UK and increasingly worldwide.

From consultancy roots to software innovation

Basemap was founded in 2000 by two transport planners who initially focused on providing consultancy to local authorities. For more than a decade, the team also resold geographic software tools from US-based companies. By 2013, they recognised an opportunity to deliver more advanced, tailored solutions by developing products in-house. Their first software, TRACC, was launched the following year. Mark Gallagher, now Chief Executive, joined in 2016 and has since guided the company’s growth with his extensive experience in technology and business leadership.

A portfolio built for transport planning challenges

Basemap has created a suite of powerful products designed to support evidence-based planning:

TRACC enables local authorities and transport planners to analyse accessibility and calculate journey times across multiple transport modes. It processes millions of journey calculations to produce detailed insights that have supported many significant public sector decisions.

Highways Analyst provides real-time average speed data for the UK road network. Drawing on telematics data from more than 100,000 vehicles reporting every ten seconds, it gives emergency services and other sectors reliable information to optimise routing. As Mark Gallagher notes, “Leicester Fire and Rescue Service… want to know how they can route their fire engines the best way… they think they’ve saved lives with our software.”

DataCutter simplifies the extraction of large transport datasets, enabling users to define and download exactly the geographic data they need. A recently launched global version now supports regions including Australia, North America, Europe, and Asia.

Electric Vehicle Routing (EVR) is Basemap’s contribution to sustainable transport. Developed in partnership with the University of Surrey’s artificial intelligence department, it uses machine learning to optimise electric vehicle routes by considering variables such as elevation, temperature, weight, and wind. Major US logistics operators are already adopting the tool.

Supporting national data infrastructure

Basemap plays a key role in maintaining and supplying essential transport datasets in the United Kingdom. The company provides speed limit and average speed data to Ordnance Survey, which distributes this information to around 5,000 public sector organisations. Basemap also manages national public transport databases on behalf of Traveline, standardising data from operators and making it openly accessible.

Today, approximately 70% of UK county councils use Basemap’s tools, along with private sector clients ranging from global corporations to specialist consultancies. Their work consistently supports evidence-based decision-making. Mark Gallagher highlights this impact with a recent example: Somerset used their products to determine which stroke units to retain, which had a direct effect on patient outcomes.

Strategic development and global expansion

Based in Guildford and supported by a team of 18 specialists, Basemap continues to grow internationally, operating in the United States, Canada, Poland, Sweden, India, and Australia. This expansion builds on their global data infrastructure and demonstrates increasing international demand for Basemap’s approach to transport analytics.

Bramble Hub is proud to partner with Basemap. Their technical strength, commitment to innovation, and dedication to solving real-world challenges make them an invaluable part of our partner network. Their solutions are helping public sector organisations improve service delivery, strengthen planning decisions, and achieve measurable performance improvements.

GDS Local sets out to fix tech procurement in local government

Posted on 2 December 2025 - 14:00 by

A new government unit, GDS Local, has been launched by the Government Digital Service to address long-standing problems in local authority procurement of digital services. Ministers present it as a way to end the “ball and chain” of restrictive IT contracts and to close the digital maturity gap between central and local government. Supporters welcome the prospect of greater leverage and shared tools for councils, while early reactions also highlight questions around funding, local autonomy, and the possibility of yet another central initiative failing to shift deeply entrenched cultural issues.

Local government’s procurement problem

For years, many councils have depended on long, monolithic contracts with a handful of dominant suppliers, particularly in areas such as revenues and benefits, housing, social care and CRM. These contracts often run for seven years or longer, and tend to bundle multiple functions into a single proprietary platform. Once in place, they are costly and risky to change, even when the software becomes outdated or fails to integrate well with newer tools.

Commentary around the GDS Local launch reinforces how this model can swallow large portions of IT budgets, leave councils stuck with legacy systems, and slow innovation compared with modular, cloud-based approaches. Local digital leaders frequently point to cases where systems for housing or revenues become the de-facto “core” for everything from online forms to document management, meaning even small improvements require expensive vendor work or bespoke integrations rather than simply replacing a single component.

What GDS Local is and how it works

GDS Local is a new specialist team within the Government Digital Service, part of DSIT, which was launched in November. Its intention is to bring central and local government together around shared digital products, standards and procurement models. The team’s remit is built around three pillars:

  • opening up GDS products such as GOV.UK One Login and the GOV.UK app to councils
  • reforming how councils procure technology
  • building joined-up data capabilities through the Government Digital and Data Hub

The unit is expected to work directly with local authorities, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and the Local Government Association to co-develop a strategic vision for local government technology. The ambition is to define a common “local government tech stack”, where core elements, such as identity, payments and case-management patterns, are shared and reused, with councils layering their own local variations on top.

Freeing local government procurement from “ball and chain” contracts

A major part of GDS Local’s mission is to challenge the pattern of long, restrictive single-supplier deals that lock councils into inflexible and expensive technology. Launch materials reference “ball and chain” contracts where councils pay premium prices for outdated systems and have little room to switch vendors or adopt modern cloud services.

In response, the unit aims to:

  • help councils shift to more competitive, flexible frameworks and multi-supplier models rather than all-in-one platforms
  • promote shared building blocks, such as One Login, common data models and reusable components, so councils aren’t repeatedly procuring the same functionality
  • use aggregated demand and standardised requirements to strengthen buying power and encourage new suppliers into a market dominated by a few incumbents

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, an early partner, is being highlighted as a proof-of-concept: central and local teams collaborating on shared digital patterns rather than each commissioning separate stacks.

Long-term goals and ambitions

The government frames GDS Local as part of a wider blueprint for a modern digital state. Long-term ambitions include ending the “postcode lottery” in digital service quality so that residents can expect equally modern, reliable online experiences regardless of where they live.

Ministers also want most people to access both national and local services through a single GOV.UK account and app, simplifying journeys such as applying for a driving licence, reporting a pothole, or managing council tax. The wider strategy emphasises productivity, suggesting that shared digital infrastructure and better data use across central and local government could unlock tens of billions of pounds in efficiency and service improvements. For suppliers, the direction points towards a market built on interoperable, standards-based products that plug into a common stack, rather than all-or-nothing suite deals.

Early reactions: optimism mixed with caution

Initial feedback from central and local government bodies has been broadly positive, with an emphasis on collaboration and the potential to accelerate transformation. The Local Government Association has welcomed the focus on local government tech, describing it as an opportunity to speed up change and support more accessible, efficient and locally tailored services. Industry groups such as techUK see it as a chance to open up the market and stimulate innovation.

However, sector press and practitioner networks also highlight concerns. These include:

  • whether councils will receive the funding and capacity needed to exit existing contracts
  • the risk that a centrally led model could dilute local autonomy or add complexity
  • whether ambitious plans for shared stacks and data hubs can survive political cycles and financial pressures

Some analysts point out that this isn’t the first attempt to fix local government IT procurement; GDS Local will ultimately be judged on whether it can produce tangible improvements to local government services.

NHS Cloud Solutions 2 framework extended

Posted on 1 December 2025 - 16:14 by

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) has announced an extension to its Cloud Solutions 2 framework, which will now run until April 24, 2028. This framework provides a compliant and competitive procurement route for a wide range of cloud services to the NHS and other public sector organisations.​

The framework is designed to support public sector bodies in their digital transformation journeys, offering services from initial consultancy and design to complete end-to-end cloud solutions. It is structured into four lots covering solution design and consultancy, infrastructure and platform services, support services, and end-to-end cloud solutions. This structure is intended to guide organisations through their cloud adoption process, from readiness assessments to the procurement and ongoing support of cloud infrastructure.​

Bramble Hub is a named supplier on all four lots of the framework, allowing us to offer a wide array of cloud-related services from our network of partners. The framework allows for both direct award and further competition, providing flexibility for public sector organisations to select their preferred suppliers.

Proceed Group: specialists in SAP data archiving

Posted on 1 December 2025 - 10:19 by

“We only do a few things, but we do them very well.” (Robert Reuben, Joint MD, Proceed Group)

For more than two decades, Proceed Group has been helping organisations around the world take control of their SAP data landscapes. With deep specialism in archiving, decommissioning, content management and data compliance, the company has become one of the most trusted SAP data-management partners globally. Today, it works extensively across both the private and public sectors to support cloud migration, system optimisation and regulatory compliance.

A heritage built on SAP expertise

“We feel like we’re the specialist surgeon… if you’re going to have heart surgery on your SAP system, you’ll want someone who’s done it before”

Proceed Group was founded in 2001 by Nick Parkin, whose technology pedigree began in cryptography research. After developing expertise in ERPs and studying for an MBA, Nick saw a growing need for expertise in SAP data archiving, decommissioning, and content management in enterprise systems, which led him to found Proceed.

Since then, the company has grown into a global organisation with 14 offices and more than 900 customer projects delivered worldwide. Its consistent focus on SAP data management has established Proceed as a long-standing SAP Gold Partner, supported by a global SAP master services agreement.

The company has helped more than 140 organisations migrate to SAP S/4HANA, delivering over £180 million in cost savings through reduced data volumes. Its consultant base is one of the largest pools of SAP ILM specialists globally, giving customers confidence that even the most complex data challenges will be handled with precision.

What Proceed Group does

Proceed’s services span four key areas:

  1. SAP archiving and ILM

“Archiving helps customers shrink their main database right down… when you’re paying for cloud by the gigabyte, it’s an enormous saving.”

Archiving is essential for reducing data volumes, improving performance and enabling smoother moves to SAP S/4HANA. Proceed is recognised internationally for SAP Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) expertise, having helped customers reduce more than 18,000TB of data. For public-sector organisations, this means lower cloud costs, faster backups and improved compliance with statutory retention requirements.

  1. System decommissioning with Proceed Cella

“Proceed Cella lets customers retire old systems completely while still being able to report on and access historic data.

Many organisations continue to run costly legacy systems purely to retain access to historic data. Proceed’s decommissioning approach – powered by its SaaS platform, Proceed Cella – enables full retirement of these systems while maintaining intuitive, read-only access to data. Supporting both SAP and non-SAP systems, Proceed Cella can deliver up to 80% total cost-of-ownership savings.

  1. Content management

Unstructured documents, often overlooked, can significantly increase storage costs and slow down SAP systems. Proceed supports SAP content migrations, OpenText VIM, Extended ECM and SharePoint integration, helping customers reduce stored documents by up to 50% while improving workflow efficiency.

  1. GDPR and data protection

Despite GDPR being several years old, many organisations still face compliance gaps. Proceed assists with retention rules, ILM-based deletion and data privacy automation. Its tool, Proceed Automate, shortens compliance timescales dramatically by simplifying tasks such as redaction and deletion.

Supporting complex public-sector programmes

Proceed has a strong footprint in the UK public sector, supporting councils, non-departmental bodies and central government organisations. Gloucestershire County Council, for example, reduced its SAP data volume by 64% as part of its preparation for SAP HANA.

Many public bodies rely on Proceed to reduce the size of systems ahead of cloud migration or to decommission legacy environments that must be retained for audit reasons. As Joint Managing Director Robert Reuben explains:

“Many customers must keep old data for regulatory or audit reasons, but they don’t want the cost or risk of running ageing systems. We provide a smarter alternative – a secure, compliant, accessible place for that data without the burden of maintaining the legacy system.”

Specialist skills, long-term relationships

“We’re completely focused on our customers and partners. We want successful projects and long-term relationships.”

Proceed’s delivery model blends technical depth with a customer-first mindset. Its consultants bring niche expertise, enabling them to anticipate challenges and guide clients through every stage of complex programmes.

This combination of know-how and partnership-driven delivery means customers often return for subsequent phases of work, confident that their systems and data remain in safe hands.

Enabling organisations through every stage of their SAP journey

Proceed supports organisations facing a wide range of transformation drivers, including:

  • Moving SAP landscapes to hyperscalers
  • Migrating to SAP HANA or SAP S/4HANA
  • Consolidating systems after mergers
  • Addressing performance challenges
  • Meeting GDPR and data-protection obligations
  • Managing divestments where data must be separated

Each project begins with a clear assessment and business case, supported by proven processes and tools designed to make delivery efficient, predictable and compliant.

Looking ahead

With a growing team, a maturing suite of software tools and rising demand for its services, Proceed’s vision is to remain the worldwide partner of choice for SAP archiving, decommissioning and content management. Via our thin-prime business model, Bramble Hub can supply their SAP expertise and products to organisations across the UK public sector.

For more information about Proceed Group, please see their partner page.

AI growth zones: accelerating regional innovation across the UK

Posted on 27 November 2025 - 13:48 by

The UK government has confirmed the creation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) growth zones – new innovation clusters designed to accelerate digital infrastructure, stimulate regional investment, and help position the UK as a global leader in AI. Among the first announced locations, North Wales has been highlighted as a flagship site, with government projections indicating the potential for 3,400 new jobs if planned developments proceed as intended.

What the zones are expected to deliver

Each zone is being designed to provide a supportive environment for AI infrastructure and innovation, with the government outlining several intended benefits:

  • Faster delivery of AI infrastructure: Proposed planning reforms, specialist support, and efforts to reduce legal and planning barriers aim to help datacentres and related projects progress more quickly through approval stages.
  • Improved access to affordable power: The government has announced plans for priority or accelerated grid connections and the potential for site-specific energy solutions, particularly for high-demand AI and datacentre developments.
  • Local investment, skills, and job creation: Up to £5 million per zone has been earmarked to support AI adoption, research and development, and workforce training – intended to attract additional private investment and equip local organisations to make practical use of emerging technologies.

These measures are part of a broader ambition to unlock up to £100 billion of public and private investment across all growth zones nationwide, though the scale and timing of delivery remain dependent on future investment partnerships.

Powering new regional tech hubs

AI growth zones are intended to operate as collaborative regional ecosystems, encouraging interaction between research institutions, technology providers, public services, and local businesses. With the promise of accelerated planning approvals, enhanced power infrastructure and dedicated funding for adoption and skills, the zones are expected to stimulate innovation in areas that have historically seen lower levels of digital investment.

The proposed North Wales zone spans sites including Prosperity Parc on Anglesey and the Trawsfynydd area of Gwynedd, locations that feature prominently in government plans for modern industrial renewal. Other zones include Culham in Oxfordshire, where the concept was initially piloted, as well as two new zones in the north-east of England.

Opportunities for public sector technology suppliers

For organisations delivering digital solutions to the public sector, the AI growth zones present a potential expansion in demand for AI-enabled services. NHS organisations, local authorities, and education providers could gain more direct access to emerging AI capabilities, supporting developments such as automated triage tools, advanced analytics for planning, and improved data-driven decision-making.

A key part of the government’s strategy is the creation of regional adoption hubs within the growth zones, which are expected to direct funding towards the practical use of AI in critical public services. As planning processes are streamlined and infrastructure barriers are addressed, suppliers experienced in public sector procurement may see increased opportunities for scalable AI solutions, consultancy work, and managed services; although the pace of demand will depend on how quickly individual zones progress from planning to delivery.

Supporting a national transformation

The AI growth zone programme is supported by a cross-government taskforce intended to accelerate planning decisions, coordinate investor engagement, and support local delivery. While many elements of the programme remain dependent on securing private investment and specialist infrastructure, the initiative reflects a national commitment to strengthening the UK’s position in global AI development.

For technology organisations, including many Bramble Hub partners, the rollout of growth zones signals a growing landscape for collaboration, digital transformation, and innovation. As regional capacity builds and government frameworks continue to prioritise home-grown technology, the UK public sector is entering an increasingly dynamic phase of AI-driven opportunity.

Whitespace partners with Birmingham City Council on environmental services platform

Posted on 25 November 2025 - 11:25 by

Bramble Hub, working in partnership with Whitespace Work Software, has been awarded a contract with Birmingham City Council.

Through this engagement, Whitespace will provide a modern, configurable platform to support the council’s environmental services operations. The focus is on improving service management and reporting while keeping operational details confidential.

Birmingham City Council is one of the UK’s largest local authorities, responsible for delivering a broad range of services to residents and businesses across the city, including waste and environmental services, housing, planning and community support.

Whitespace Work Software delivers proven software for local authorities and service providers, helping teams manage field operations, optimise routes and resources, and enhance customer experience through timely information and insights.

This award was made via the Crown Commercial Service RM6259 Vertical Application Solutions framework (Lot 3: Housing, Environmental & Planning Solutions).

Codex Software: full-cycle software development expertise and rapid delivery for the public sector

Posted on 25 November 2025 - 11:10 by

“Our strength is that we can adapt – small teams, large teams, high-bureaucracy environments or fast-moving innovation groups.”

Across the public sector, organisations are under intense pressure to modernise services, streamline operations and deliver better outcomes for citizens. In healthcare especially, digital transformation is no longer optional: it is essential. Codex Software, an international software development company founded in 2011, has positioned itself as a trusted partner for healthcare providers and innovators seeking agile, technically robust solutions.

With headquarters in Cheltenham and development hubs in Poland and Portugal, Codex – a new Bramble Hub partner – brings together more than 100 engineers specialising in full-cycle software development, cloud and DevOps engineering, and bespoke artificial intelligence solutions. Their breadth of technical expertise, combined with a track record of rapid and reliable delivery, makes them well placed to support public sector organisations working to modernise systems and improve patient outcomes.

Bramble Hub met up with Codex’s Denis Lazerev, Anton Zaleski and Matt Smith to explore the company’s success. On meeting the team, it rapidly became obvious obvious that Codex is a company steeped in technical capability, with a track record of delivering quality systems to tight timescales.

Full-cycle software development designed for complex environments

“We work like a start-up but deliver at enterprise scale – our priority is getting value live quickly.”

Codex’s core strength lies in its ability to deliver across the entire product lifecycle, from initial analysis and prototyping, through to full-scale development, integration and long-term support. Their teams work confidently across a range of technologies, including Java, .NET, JavaScript and Node.js, Python, relational and NoSQL databases, graph data models, and all major cloud platforms including AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.

This deep technical capability enables Codex to confidently support a wide variety of projects, from modern cloud-native applications to large-scale workflow automation. Crucially, their approach is grounded in flexibility: they are comfortable joining projects at any stage, collaborating with established internal teams or taking full ownership of delivery.

Proven experience delivering digital solutions for healthcare

“Healthcare is a major focus for us – during COVID we built a full appointment system for an NHS Trust in just one week.”

While Codex works across multiple sectors, healthcare has become one of their strongest and most strategically relevant ones. Their experience ranges from staff and rota management tools to patient-facing systems and clinical auditing platforms, all designed to improve efficiency, safety and patient care.

One of Codex’s standout solutions is Audit Angel, a clinical audit platform used to improve quality management, regulatory compliance and operational decision-making. The platform simplifies data collection and analysis for clinicians, reducing the administrative burden that often slows improvement initiatives. It also reflects Codex’s ability to design and build complete software products that scale effectively across NHS environments.

Codex has also demonstrated its capability to work at speed when it matters most. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the team developed and deployed a full appointment management system for an NHS Trust in just one week; helping staff coordinate patient flow at a time when rapid response and operational clarity were essential. This combination of urgency, quality and reliability is a hallmark of Codex’s approach.

Beyond individual products, the company supports healthcare providers in building digital workflows, improving patient engagement, and enabling data-driven decision-making. Their teams are well equipped to collaborate with integrated care boards, digital transformation teams and local innovation groups across the NHS, particularly where new pathways or systems require agile development and technical leadership.

Leading capabilities in artificial intelligence

“AI has become a core part of what we do, from call-centre support systems with human-in-the-loop design to virtual tutoring for higher education.”

AI is another area in which Codex brings substantial expertise, helping organisations introduce intelligent automation, enhance customer interaction and gain greater insight from their data. Their work includes building AI chatbots for customer support, automated agents for workflow optimisation, and decision-support tools tailored to organisational needs.

Codex also supports research-driven innovation through platforms such as RAISE, an advanced deep learning framework based on neuro-evolution techniques. Developed with leading AI researchers, RAISE enables the generation and optimisation of sophisticated AI models. For healthcare, where accuracy, adaptability and trustworthiness are paramount, this capability opens the door to solutions such as improved triage tools, patient communication systems and intelligent operational dashboards.

By building bespoke AI systems rather than relying solely on generic models, Codex helps ensure that solutions align with real-world clinical and operational requirements.

Enterprise-grade integration and workflow expertise

In addition to healthcare and AI, Codex is well known for its enterprise workflow and integration capabilities. Their long-standing work with HP, supporting more than 200 print service providers around the world, demonstrates their capacity to build high-availability platforms and integrate them seamlessly with third-party systems. This experience is highly transferable to public sector contexts, where interoperability, resilience and long-term maintainability are essential.

A trusted technology partner for the public sector

“We’re interested in working with innovators within the public sector, especially healthcare and integrated care boards.”

Codex’s success is reinforced by strong client feedback. Senior leaders at organisations such as HP, Macmillan and Axiell praise the company’s technical depth, reliability and collaborative approach. Their ability to provide high-quality engineering talent – combined with a clear focus on outcomes – has helped them build lasting partnerships across multiple sectors.

For public sector organisations, Codex offers the right blend of skills, scale and experience to support both immediate digital needs and long-term transformation. Whether building new clinical systems, modernising legacy workflows, or deploying AI to improve efficiency, Codex delivers technology that is both innovative and dependable.

Through our thin-prime model, Bramble Hub is proud to offer Codex’s systems development prowess to public sector customers via our presence on public sector frameworks. For more information about them, see their partner page.

Bramble Hub appointed as supplier on new CCS transport technology framework

Posted on 18 November 2025 - 13:02 by

We are happy to announce that we have been appointed as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) new Transport Technology framework.

This appointment enables Bramble Hub to supply specialist solutions and services across three of the framework’s eight lots, supporting public sector organisations in the planning, delivery, and optimisation of modern transport systems. Through our network of expert technology partners, we are able to help customers access innovative, cost-effective, and future-ready transport technologies.

CCS’s new framework is designed to support the continued transformation of the UK’s transport infrastructure, providing buyers with access to suppliers who can deliver high-quality, compliant, and scalable solutions. Bramble Hub is proud to continue enabling public sector organisations to procure with confidence through established and trusted routes.

Integrated Skills to deliver regional GIS solution for North East councils

Posted on 11 November 2025 - 13:25 by

Bramble Hub and our partner Integrated Skills have been awarded a contract with Northumberland County Council to deliver a shared RouteSmart and GIS solution for the North East Region RouteSmart Partnership.

The project will provide regional access to advanced mapping and route optimisation software, hosted securely and supported through a managed service. This collaborative approach will enable participating councils to improve the efficiency and coordination of essential local services.

Northumberland County Council leads the partnership, which brings together seven local authorities across the region: Durham, Northumberland, Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Hartlepool. The shared arrangement allows the councils to benefit from a consistent, cost-effective platform that supports data-driven decision-making.

Integrated Skills, Bramble Hub’s delivery partner, specialises in route optimisation and GIS technologies that help local authorities enhance operational performance and service delivery.

The contract was awarded through the Crown Commercial Service RM6259 Vertical Application Solutions framework, Lot 3 (Housing, Environment and Planning Solutions).

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