Official UK procurement notice
Award of fully bilingual (Welsh and English) HR Information System (HRIS)
Authority: Social Care Wales (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe purpose of this procurement was to select and implement a modern, secure, fully bilingual (Welsh and English) Human Resources Information System (HRIS) that will replace Social Care Wales’s current HR platform (Ciphr). The new system must improve and streamline HR processes, support efficient workforce management, ensure legal compliance with Welsh language standards, and provide better user experience for employees, managers, and HR teams. It aims to deliver a solution that enables a smooth, well‑managed implementation ready for Day‑1 operation on 1 September 2026.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 31 Jan 2031, 23:59 GMT.
- How the procedure runs: Social Care Wales will run this procurement using a three‑stage Competitive Flexible Procedure, structured as follows: Stage 1 — Conditions of Participation: Suppliers will submit responses to Welsh procurement specific questionnaire's (WPSQ). These will be assessed on a pass/fail basis to confirm minimum capability, relevance, and suitability to deliver the HRIS solution. Stage 2 — Invitation to Submit a Tender: All suppliers who pass Stage 1 will be invited to submit a full tender response, comprising of Quality, Social Value and Cost. Tenders will be evaluated on a most advantageous tender (MAT) basis, in accordance with the published criteria and weightings. Stage 3 — Product Demonstrations: The top three scoring suppliers from the tender evaluation will be shortlisted and invited to deliver a structured product demonstration. Demonstrations will assess system capability, bilingual functionality, usability, and alignment with Social Care Wales’ requirements. A final moderated score will be applied following demonstrations to determine the preferred bidder.
CPV: Software implementation services · Time accounting or human resources software package
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£125,000
- Economic & financial standing
See Appendix 1 - WPSQ
- Technical & professional ability
See Appendix 1 - WPSQ
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Suppliers will be selected to proceed to tender based on their responses to the Welsh Procurement Specific Questionnaire (WPSQs). The purpose of this first stage is to confirm that suppliers have the minimum capability, experience, and organisational capacity required to deliver the HRIS solution.
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 (4)
- Quality: 45%
- Product Demonstrations: 35%
- Price: 15%
- Social Value: 5%
Published award criteria (4)
- Quality: Assessment of technical ability to fulfil requirements
- Social Value : Assessment of value adding services beyond the scope of the requirements
- Price: Evaluation of costs to fulfil the requirements
- Product Demonstrations : This stage will enable each shortlisted Supplier to demonstrate to Social Care Wales that their proposed solution is capable of meeting the requirements of the Contract.
- Economic & financial standing
See Appendix 1 - WPSQ
- Technical & professional ability
See Appendix 1 - WPSQ
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Suppliers will be selected to proceed to tender based on their responses to the Welsh Procurement Specific Questionnaire (WPSQs). The purpose of this first stage is to confirm that suppliers have the minimum capability, experience, and organisational capacity required to deliver the HRIS solution.
- Price carries 15 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 1.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 31 Jan 2031
- First published
- 4 Dec 2025, 08:28 GMT
- Last source update
- 21 Apr 2026, 16:55 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 22 Apr 2026
- Authority reference
HRIS- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-005456- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05ee64Find a Tender
- How it runs
Social Care Wales will run this procurement using a three‑stage Competitive Flexible Procedure, structured as follows:
Stage 1 — Conditions of Participation: Suppliers will submit responses to Welsh procurement specific questionnaire's (WPSQ). These will be assessed on a pass/fail basis to confirm minimum capability, relevance, and suitability to deliver the HRIS solution.
Stage 2 — Invitation to Submit a Tender: All suppliers who pass Stage 1 will be invited to submit a full tender response, comprising of Quality, Social Value and Cost. Tenders will be evaluated on a most advantageous tender (MAT) basis, in accordance with the published criteria and weightings.
Stage 3 — Product Demonstrations: The top three scoring suppliers from the tender evaluation will be shortlisted and invited to deliver a structured product demonstration. Demonstrations will assess system capability, bilingual functionality, usability, and alignment with Social Care Wales’ requirements.
A final moderated score will be applied following demonstrations to determine the preferred bidder.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 16 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline
- 16 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 10 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- cy, en
Timeline
4 Dec 2025 → 5 May 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published322 days ago4 Dec 2025, 08:28 GMT
- Market engagement282 days ago13 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
Social Care Wales is seeking market engagement to understand available solutions, indicative costs, and implementation timelines. Interested suppliers are invited to share information on suitable HRIS solutions that meet these requirements.
We will be holding two preliminary market engagement sessions via MS Teams on
14:30, Thursday 11 December 2025
13:30, Thursday 8 January 2026
The sessions will be hosted by project team:
Beth Ackland
Vivienne Richards
Ysabel Daly
Andrew Jones
Marianne Lewis
And a member of the procurement Team.
Both sessions will begin with the same presentation outlining the requirements, following which an opportunity for questions and answers will follow. The sessions will be recorded and uploaded against this notice on Sell2Wales.
If you are interested in joining a preliminary market engagement session, please email [email protected] advising the tender title and desired session date/time.
The Sell2Wales question and answer portal will be live against this PME notice until 17:00 Tuesday 13 January 2026.
Mae Gofal Cymdeithasol Cymru’n ceisio ymgysylltu â'r farchnad i ddeall yr atebion, costau, ac amserlenni gweithredu sydd ar gael. Gwahoddir cyflenwyr sydd â diddordeb i rannu gwybodaeth am atebion HRIS addas sy'n bodloni'r gofynion hyn.
Byddwn yn cynnal dwy sesiwn ymgysylltu ragarweiniol â'r farchnad trwy MS Teams ar
14:30, Dydd Iau 11 Rhagfyr 2025
13:30, Dydd Iau 8 Ionawr 2026
Bydd y sesiynau yn cael eu cynnal gan dîm y prosiect:
Beth Ackland
Vivienne Richards
Ysabel Daly
Andrew Jones
Marianne Lewis
Aelod o'r Tîm caffael.
Bydd y ddwy sesiwn yn dechrau gyda'r un cyflwyniad yn amlinellu'r gofynion, ac yna bydd cyfle i gwestiynau ac atebion i ddilyn. Bydd y sesiynau'n cael eu recordio a'u llwytho i fyny yn erbyn yr hysbysiad hwn ar Sell2Wales.
Os oes gennych ddiddordeb mewn ymuno â sesiwn ymgysylltu rhagarweiniol â'r farchnad, anfonwch e-bost at [email protected] gan roi teitl y tendr a'r dyddiad/amser delfrydol yn y sesiwn a ddymunir.
Bydd porth cwestiynau ac atebion Sell2Wales yn fyw yn erbyn yr hysbysiad PME hwn tan 17:00 Dydd Mawrth 13 Ionawr 2026
- Tender notice published274 days ago21 Jan 2026, 16:02 GMT
- Clarification questions by254 days ago10 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Submission deadline248 days ago16 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent185 days ago21 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published184 days ago21 Apr 2026, 16:55 BST
- Award decision expected by183 days ago22 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Standstill ends175 days ago30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Next notice expected175 days ago30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts171 days ago5 May 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
10 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Dec 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published4 Dec 2025, 08:28 GMTUK2
- Tender notice published21 Jan 2026, 16:02 GMTUK4
- Published value updated to £125,00021 Jan 2026, 16:02 GMTwas £141,667
- Status changed to active21 Jan 2026, 16:02 GMT
- Procurement method changed21 Jan 2026, 16:02 GMT
- Tender notice published10 Feb 2026, 16:41 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published21 Apr 2026, 16:55 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete21 Apr 2026, 16:55 BST
- Procurement method changed21 Apr 2026, 16:55 BST
- Contract signature expected1 May 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-12: 1 release · 4 Dec 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| HBHRFully bilingual (Welsh and English) HR Information System (HRIS) 5 May 2026 – 30 Apr 2029 · up to 30 Apr 2031Extensions: The contract will run initially from 5 May 2026 – 30 April 2029 with a possibility of being extended for a further 24 months until 30 April 2031, up to a total period of 5 years. | £79,400 | 21 Apr 2026standstill to 30 Apr 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2final-stage tenders · 3 at stage one | 1 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- HealthBoxHR LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (19)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Appendix 2 – Specification
- Bidding documents and specifications Appendix 3 – Social Care Wales’s tone of voice guidelines
- Bidding documents and specifications Atodiad 3 - Canllaw ein llais Gofal Cymdeithasol Cymru
- Bidding documents and specifications Appendix 4 – Social Care Wales’s branding guidelines
- Bidding documents and specifications Atodiad 4 - Canllawiau brand Gofal Cymdeithasol Cymru
- Bidding documents and specifications Appendix 5 - Form of Tender
- Bidding documents and specifications Atodiad 1 - WPSQ
- Bidding documents and specifications Appendix 6 - Social Care Wales Contractual Terms
Show 7 more documents
- Bidding documents and specifications Atodiad 2 - Manyleb
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: Stage 2 - The Invitation to Tender (ITT) and all associated tender documents will be issued via Sell2Wales to all Suppliers that successfully pass Stage 1. Stage 3 - Will commence with the issuing of a formal letter (via email) inviting the shortlisted Suppliers to participate in product demonstrations.
- Bidding documents and specifications Supplier questions re contract clauses
- Bidding documents and specifications Atodiad 5 - Ffurflen Tendro
- Bidding documents and specifications Competitive Flexible Procedure Invitation to Tender - HRIS
- Bidding documents and specifications Gwahoddiad i Dendro Gweithdrefn Hyblyg Gystadleuol - HRIS
- Bidding documents and specifications Appendix 1 - WPSQ
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender