Official UK procurement notice
APX058 - Framework for the Provision of Agency Nursing, Care, Support and Ancillary Staff
Authority: Apex Housing Association (Housing)
What is being bought2 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionThe Contracting Authority intends to establish a multi-supplier Framework Agreement for the provision of suitably qualified, experienced and compliant Agency Workers to meet temporary staffing requirements across a range of services and schemes operated by Apex Housing.
The Framework Agreement for each Lot shall commence on the Commencement Date and shall continue for an initial period of two (2) years.
The Contracting Authority shall have the option to extend the Framework Agreement by up to two (2) further periods of twelve (12) months (2+1+1).
The Framework Agreement will facilitate the provision of Agency Workers for ad hoc, emergency and short-term assignments on an as-required basis.
The requirements have been divided into the following Lots:
• Lot 1 – Provision of Agency Nursing Staff
• Lot 2 – Provision of Agency Care, Support and Ancillary Staff
Each Lot will be assessed and awarded independently and will result in a separate Framework Agreement. Apex intends to appoint a maximum of three Suppliers to each Lot, based on their final ranking.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 9 Sept 2030, 23:59 BST.
How the procedure runs: The Framework Agreements will be procured using the Competitive Flexible Procedure in accordance with section 20(2)(b) of the Procurement Act 2023 (“the Act”). The procedure will comprise: (i) a Conditions of Participation Stage, assessed on a Pass/Fail basis (ii) an Award Stage, at which quality and price submissions will be more…
evaluated in accordance with the published award criteria, assessment methodology and weightings. Responses to both the Conditions of Participation and Award Stage requirements must be submitted together through eTendersNI by the Closing Date and Time. Each Lot will be assessed and awarded independently and will result in a separate Framework Agreement. Apex intends to appoint a maximum of three Suppliers to each Lot based on their final ranking. The Contracting Authority may progress and conclude the award of one Lot independently of the other. Following assessment of the final Tenders, the Contracting Authority may undertake an Optional Preferred Supplier Stage in accordance with section 5.3.12 of Document 01 – Instructions to Suppliers before concluding the award and entering into the relevant Framework Agreement. Suppliers will be notified through eTendersNI of the outcome of each stage of the procurement process, including whether their Tender has been successful or unsuccessful. Tenders received after the Closing Date and Time may not be considered.
CPV: Social work and related services · Supply services of domestic help personnel · Supply services of nursing personnel · Supply services of personnel including temporary staff
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
- Framework period
- 2 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 4 Jan 2027
Published description of the framework
The Framework Agreement will operate as a ranked multi-supplier framework. Up to three suppliers will be appointed to each Lot and ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd based on the outcome of the tender evaluation. Where the Contracting Authority requires Agency Workers, assignments will be offered to the highest-ranked supplier in the first instance. If that supplier is unable to meet the requirement within the timescales specified in the Framework Agreement, the Contracting Authority may offer the assignment to the next-ranked supplier, and thereafter to the third-ranked supplier where necessary. No guarantee is given as to the volume or value of Services to be procured under the Framework Agreement.
Lots and requirements (2)Procurement structure
2 lots · all with a published value · same evaluation weights on every lotLot #1Provision of Agency Nursing StaffRenewalPublished value£2,500,000
- Value
- £2,500,000 exc. VAT · £2,500,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- Framework may be extended for two additional 12 month periods.
- Economic & financial standingAt the Tender Submission Deadline, the Supplier must either be registered with RQIA as a Nursing Agency or have submitted an application for that registration.
Lot #2Agency Care, Support and Ancillary StaffRenewalPublished value£14,500,000
- Value
- £14,500,000 exc. VAT · £14,500,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- Framework may be extended for two additional 12 month periods.
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 (3)
- Proposed Methodology for the Provision of Agency Staff — 25%
- Staff Training, Compliance & Safeguarding — 15%
- Tender Evaluation Sum — 60%
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Apex Housing Association buys Supply services of personnel including temporary staff (CPV 7962) — and who usually turns up
Apex Housing Association’s own published record, next to the Northern Ireland market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Supply services of personnel including temporary staff (CPV 7962) →
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 frameworks and DPS 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.
Apex Housing Association
framework/DPS notices in 36 months: 1 in CPV 7962 · 1 in division 79 · 1 in all categories
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 24 months: 7 lots.
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 24 months: 7 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 buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 4 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 24 months: 7 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: 16 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.
Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no notices in this market.
Northern Ireland · Supply services of personnel including temporary staff (CPV 7962)
framework/DPS notices delivered in Northern Ireland in 36 months: 9 in CPV 7962 (7 competed, 2 route not published) · 132 in division 79 (108 competed, 17 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 7962), last 36 months: 22 lots. 4 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 30.5) and 18 from older notices (bids received, middle 15).
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 7962), last 36 months: 22 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.
Nothing published for this region in this sector: not measured on frameworks — a panel award is a ceiling, not a price.
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 industry (CPV 79), 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 7962), last 36 months: 22 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 7962), last 36 months: 15 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.
This notice gives one total for several lots, so we show the percentage but do not turn it into pounds.
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 admission
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 9 Sept 2030
- First published
- 5 Oct 2026, 14:03 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Oct 2026, 14:03 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 1 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0780d5Find a Tender
- How it runs
The Framework Agreements will be procured using the Competitive Flexible Procedure in accordance with section 20(2)(b) of the Procurement Act 2023 (“the Act”). The procedure will comprise: (i) a Conditions of Participation Stage, assessed on a Pass/Fail basis (ii) an Award Stage, at which quality and price submissions will be evaluated in accordance with the published award criteria, assessment methodology and more…
weightings. Responses to both the Conditions of Participation and Award Stage requirements must be submitted together through eTendersNI by the Closing Date and Time. Each Lot will be assessed and awarded independently and will result in a separate Framework Agreement. Apex intends to appoint a maximum of three Suppliers to each Lot based on their final ranking. The Contracting Authority may progress and conclude the award of one Lot independently of the other. Following assessment of the final Tenders, the Contracting Authority may undertake an Optional Preferred Supplier Stage in accordance with section 5.3.12 of Document 01 – Instructions to Suppliers before concluding the award and entering into the relevant Framework Agreement. Suppliers will be notified through eTendersNI of the outcome of each stage of the procurement process, including whether their Tender has been successful or unsuccessful. Tenders received after the Closing Date and Time may not be considered.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Apply via eTendersNI- Expression of interest (EOI)
- —
- Appointment period ends
- 30 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
4 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice publishedearlier today5 Oct 2026, 14:03 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsin 25 days · period end, not a bid countdown30 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 57 days1 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 90 days4 Jan 2027, 00:00 GMT
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 published5 Oct 2026, 14:03 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender