Innovation Chain North (ICN) is a framework for construction and associated professional services. It is designed to support the delivery of new homes and associated social infrastructure across the North of England. The ICN framework is currently valued at £1.5bn over a four year period, geographically covering the North of England and beyond, creating a compliant procurement route for new build and refurbishment projects across the North West, North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. Membership of ICN is open to Clients seeking to deliver mixed use housing and associated social infrastructure schemes, including local authority and housing associations. ICN aims to place a greater emphasis on social value, so that every call off from the framework positively impacts local communities.

Procurement Act 2023

Great Places intends to undertake a programme of preliminary market engagement (PME) activities with suppliers, consultants and sector stakeholders to inform the development of the future framework and associated procurement strategy. The objectives are of PME activity are to: 1: Validate market capacity and interest in the future ICN 2: Inform future requirements, commercial arrangements and framework design 3: Promote consistency of approach for framework delivery The engagement process has been designed to promote transparency, encourage early market participation and obtain market insight. It is not a call for competition. The Market Engagement Plan: MARKET ENGAGEMENT SURVEYS (from 15th October) Consultants and Contractors are invited to complete the PME survey - Contractor link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/iztJiVkW9q Consultant link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/CAQ0Z8DcsT The surveys will be live for a minimum of 6-weeks from publication of the PME Notice, and closed at our discretion. OPEN SUPPLIER ENGAGEMENT EVENT (date to be confirmed - Nov/Dec) Great Places intends to host a webinar open to interested suppliers identified through the PME survey process. The webinar will provide an overview of the proposed framework and facilitate further discussion to support the market engagement objectives. All firms can register their interest via the Contractor or Consultant form above. YORKSHIRE SUPPLIER AND CLIENT ENGAGEMENT EVENT (date to be confirmed Nov) Regionally focused in-person event will be held for contractors, consultants, potential Client and future Clients based within the Yorkshire region. Feedback from the PME survey and Notice will be used to identify additional suppliers who may be invited to participate. The event will support discussion on region specific requirements and delivery considerations. Due to room constraints, this will be strictly on an invitation only basis. Yorkshire firms can register their interest via the Contractor or Consultant links above. Potential Clients from the region should contact [email protected] to register. CLIENT ENGAGEMENT EVENT (26th November) Engagement will be undertaken remotely with other housing associations and framework users to gather lessons learned, understand operational challenges and obtain feedback on framework management and delivery approaches. Current or future framework users can register by contacting [email protected]. All timings are indicative. Great Places reserves the right to conduct additional preliminary market engagement notice not described in this notice to help meet the objectives of the PME. This notice is issued in accordance with Sections 16 and 17 of the Procurement Act 2023 and is for preliminary market engagement only.