Guidance

MoD RFI and PQQ Case Study

Published 30 September 2025

1. Summary

This document provides an overview of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) procurement process, focusing on Requests for Information (RFIs) and Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQs). It includes case studies from the SKYNET 6 programme and outlines the structure, purpose, and best practices for responding to RFIs and PQQs. The content is derived from a presentation by Sabrina Moussa-Hynam, Assistant Head Commercial – Space at Defence Digital.

2. Topics Covered

• 1 – Defence Digital Categories Overview

• 2 – SKYNET 6 RFI Case Study

• 3 – SKYNET 6 NSS PQQ Case Study

3. Defence Digital Categories Overview

Enabling organisation for the delivery of Digital services and capabilities.

• Provides direction and coherence in development and exploitation of Digital technologies for Defence.

• Primary delivery agent for Defence core digital systems and services (c.£2bn-£3bn annual spend).

Digital Categories

• Space

Defence Digital

SKYNET 6 (Military SATCOM)

• DE&S

PNT

ISR

• Networks

Fixed and Data Networks

Mobile and Voice Networks

Strategic Services

Next Generation Communication Networks

• Hardware & Services

Business Enterprise Services

IT Support Services

Workplace and Foundation Services

Hardware & Peripherals

TacSys

• Software

Applications

Enterprise Software Agreements

Crypto Services

Cloud & Hosting Services

AI

• Professional Services

Digital Professional Services

DIPS Framework

4. SKYNET 6 RFI Case Study

• Satellite Bus Design and Manufacturing

4.1 Requests for Information (RFIs)

RFIs are a key form of communication and information gathering between Departments and Industry.

• Some of the fundamental principles of public procurement are:

• Non-discrimination

• Equality of treatment

• Transparency

• This extends to activities such as:

• Requirements development

• Information analyses used to support decision-making.

• Procurers very often use formal, open and transparent methods to share information with industry, to help maintain equality of treatment in the market.

RFIs will often contain background and context to a capability requirement, along with specific questions to be answered.

• Pay attention to the types of questions being asked, as this will provide an insight into the Dept’s thought process and priorities.

• RFIs are often followed-up by one-to-one sessions with respondents. This is dependent on the quality of the written response.

• Participating in RFIs is a very important method for you to engage with Govt. procurement, and ensure that your company’s capabilities are known to relevant project teams.

4.2 SKEC Satellite Bus Design & Manufacturing RFI

• Basic Structure of the RFI

• There is an Introduction and Background section that describes the purpose of the information gathering exercise.

• There is also a brief description of a high-level requirement.

• Pay attention to any Disclaimers or similar wording

4.3 SKEC Satellite Bus Design & Manufacturing RFI

• Responses MUST be provided in the specific formats

• Pay very close attention to the response instructions and follow them to the letter.

• There will be a deadline for response submissions.

• Best practice for procurement teams will be to use a Multi-user email address. This is to prevent un-controlled contact with specific team members.

• Importance of Quality Responses

• Depts will use submissions to inform decision-making.

• Marketing material, or generic information about your company will almost certainly be disregarded if irrelevant.

• RFIs are very often used as a tool to facilitate conducting one-to-ones between procurement teams and individual companies (on the content of their responses). Only quality responses will result in one-to-ones!

• The Technical Questions can be very detailed

• This RFI had 16 main Questions, with a total of 60 sub-Questions.

• A response was not expected against every Question, but only where the respondent company had specific expertise.

4.4 SKYNET 6 PQQ Case Study

4.5 Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQs)

PQQs are used to pre-select which companies will be invited to compete for a requirement.

• Used in the following procedures (inter alia):

• Restricted

• Competitive Negotiated

• Competitive Dialogue

• Exempt competitions

• For a very wide range of requirements and contract values.

• Focuses on company capability and capacity (not on specific solutions to the requirement at this stage).

4.6 Case Study: Narrowband Satellite System (NSS) PQQ

• Consisted of:

• DSP Contract Notice;

• PQQ document on DSP;

• Instructions and Guidance Document;

• Financial Standing Evaluation Document;

• Supporting Information on the requirement.

4.7 SKEC NSS PQQ

• PQQs usually consist of two main “Envelopes”:

• The Qualification Envelope – Part 1

• The Technical Envelope – Part 2

• Section A1 covers basic Organisation details e.g.:

• Legal name

• Registered address

• Company registration number

• Parent company

• Sections B and C cover Mandatory and Discretionary Rejection e.g.:

• Convictions for fraud or similar crimes

• Bankruptcy and financial distress

• Failure to pay tax

• Use of CP&F for payment (MOD)

• Section D covers the evaluation of company finances.

• Sections E to G cover specific additional areas of qualification

• Compliance with Govt. Security Classification policy

• Cyber Essentials Plus

• Quality Standards

• Section H covers the specific technical capability questions.

4.8 SKEC NSS PQQ Financial Evaluation

• There will always be a Financial Standing assessment

• These will assess your latest available company accounts for (in this case):

• Turnover Ratio

• Liquidity Ratio

• Company Watch H-Score

4.9 SKEC NSS PQQ Applicant Groups

• This PQQ includes consideration of applications from consortia, or Applicant Groups.

• This is expected in cases where one company may not be able to deliver the whole scope on its own.

• We therefore seek to test the capability and capacity of all companies that form part of the group.

• In this case, separate PQQ responses were required from all group members for Part 1 entirely.

• A consolidated response was then provided by the Group Lead (Prime) for Part 2.

• Even if you are forming part of the supply chain under a Prime, you may still be expected to complete PQQ responses!