Official UK procurement notice
Apprentice Worker Agency — UK public procurement notice
Authority: NORTHUMBRIAN WATER LIMITED (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNorthumbrian Water Group (NWL) is committed to developing future talent through a high-quality apprenticeship programme which supports workforce planning, succession management and skills development across the organisation.
We require a supplier to provide Apprenticeship Agency Services across both Northumbrian Water and Essex & Suffolk Water. The supplier will act as the employer of apprentices on behalf of NWL and provide employment, payroll, HR administration, compliance and apprentice support services throughout the duration of the apprenticeship programme.
The successful supplier will work collaboratively with NWL's Early Careers Team, hiring managers and training providers to ensure apprentices receive a positive experience and are supported to successfully complete their programmes.
Service Requirements
The supplier will be required to:
• Employ apprentices on behalf of NWL through an apprenticeship agency model.
• Issue and maintain employment contracts and associated employment documentation.
• Undertake payroll administration and statutory payments.
• Manage apprentice employment records.
• Provide HR guidance and employee relations support relating to apprentices.
• Ensure compliance with apprenticeship funding rules and employment legislation.
Read the full description (2,009 more characters)
• Support apprentice wellbeing and welfare.
• Conduct regular reviews and progress monitoring with apprentices.
• Liaise with apprenticeship training providers where required.
• Provide management information and performance reporting.
• Support mobilisation and onboarding of new apprentices.
• Deliver services across both the Northeast and Essex & Suffolk operating areas.
The supplier must demonstrate excellent customer service, strong apprenticeship sector knowledge and the ability to support the continued growth of NWL's apprenticeship programme.
Objectives
The objectives of this contract are to:
• Provide a compliant and effective apprenticeship employment service.
• Deliver a positive apprentice experience.
• Support apprentice retention and successful completion rates.
• Ensure consistent support for apprentices and managers.
• Provide accurate and timely payroll and administration services.
• Deliver robust reporting and management information.
• Support NWL's commitment to early careers and future talent development.
INDICATIVE APPRENTICE NUMBERS FROM 2027
The indicative apprentice numbers set out in the table below are based on the workforce planning volumes agreed for 2026 and are provided to give potential suppliers an indication of the anticipated scale of apprenticeship delivery. These figures are estimates only and do not represent a commitment or guarantee of recruitment. The actual number of apprentices employed and enrolled onto apprenticeship programmes will be determined by organisational requirements, workforce planning priorities, budget availability and prevailing business needs. Consequently, the final volumes may be higher or lower than those indicated.
yr 1 1st June 27 - 31st May 28 72-77
yr2 1st June 28 - 31st May 29 77
yr3 1st June 29 - 31st May 30 77
yr4 1st June 30 - 31st May 31 77
yr5 1st June 31 - 31st May 32 77
yr6 1st June 32 - 31st May 33 77
yr7 1st June 33 - 31st May 34 77
yr8 1st June 34 - 31st May 35 77
A full scope document has been made available within this FTS
- Two-stage procedure: up to 4 candidates will be invited to tender.
How the procedure runs: Issue advert to find a tender - 25th September 2026 Conditions of Participation Opens - 28th September 2026 Advert Closed to the Market - 26th October 2026 Conditions of Participation Closes - 2nd November 2026 Request for Proposal Opens - 26th November 2026 Request for proposal Closes - 17th December 2026 Supplier Interviews - more…
19/20 January 2027 Best and Final Offer Opens - 27th January 2027 Best and Final Offer Closes - 3rd February 2026 Assessment Summary and Contract Award notice issued- 23rd February 2027 Standstill observed until - 4th March 2027 Contract Award to successful supplier(s) - 5th March 2027 Contracts issued and signed March 2027 Framework starts 1st June 2027
CPV: Human resources management consultancy services · Supply services of personnel including temporary staff
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Lot 1RenewalPublished value£24,479,975
- Value
- £24,479,975 exc. VAT · £29,375,970 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- If SLA's are maintained and vendor performance sufficient then extensions will be offered
- Second stage
- up to 4 candidates invited to tender
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published — the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Quality — 40%
- Price - Commission/Charge Rates — 60%
Published award criteria (2)
- Price - Commission/Charge Rates — This will be weighted 60% 55% on commission 5% on apprentice landing fee
- Quality — A range of quality questions will be asked to assess suitability
- Condition of participationThe top ranked 4 vendors at COP stage will pass through to RFP as long as they have scored a minimum of 60% shortlisting
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How NORTHUMBRIAN WATER LIMITED buys Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941) — and who usually turns up
NORTHUMBRIAN WATER LIMITED’s own published record, next to the East of England market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941) →
How the contest usually goes
Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.
NORTHUMBRIAN WATER LIMITED
contract notices in 36 months: 1 in CPV 7941 · 3 in division 79 · 20 in all categories (2 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 1 lots. All 1 lots are from older notices, which count bids received. Small sample.
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 1 lots. Small sample.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no comparable estimate → award pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 5 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.
Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 28 notices.
i
How often this buyer awards without a competition.
Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 79), last 36 months: 3 notices.
East of England · Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941)
contract notices delivered in East of England in 36 months: 98 in CPV 7941 (70 competed, 9 route not published) · 699 in division 79 (472 competed, 111 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 34 lots. 28 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 6 from older notices (bids received, middle 4).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 34 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 25 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 22 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.
SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 32 lots.
i
How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.
Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 61 awards.
Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.
i
Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.
We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.
Based on the East of England market’s usual movement over 25 lots (CPV 7941), applied to the £24,479,975 estimate on this notice. The range comes from the region’s middle half.
A benchmark, not a price to bid.
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
- “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for expressions of interest
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 25 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
- Last source update
- 25 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 27 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Authority reference
NW3207- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077ab6Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
- 45 days
- How it runs
Issue advert to find a tender - 25th September 2026 Conditions of Participation Opens - 28th September 2026 Advert Closed to the Market - 26th October 2026 Conditions of Participation Closes - 2nd November 2026 Request for Proposal Opens - 26th November 2026 Request for proposal Closes - 17th December 2026 Supplier Interviews - 19/20 January 2027 Best and Final Offer Opens - 27th January 2027 Best and Final Offer more…
Closes - 3rd February 2026 Assessment Summary and Contract Award notice issued- 23rd February 2027 Standstill observed until - 4th March 2027 Contract Award to successful supplier(s) - 5th March 2027 Contracts issued and signed March 2027 Framework starts 1st June 2027
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via SAP Ariba- Expression of interest (EOI)
- 28 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Tender submission deadline
- 28 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 28 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Not allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
- Shortlist
- up to 4 candidates invited to tender
Timeline
6 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice publishedjust passed25 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
- Clarification questions byin 33 days28 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Expressions of interest byin 33 days28 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 33 days28 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 155 days27 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 248 days1 Jun 2027, 00:00 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published25 Sept 2026, 14:34 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
- Bidding documents and specifications
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender