E-Tendering Portal · UK public procurement notice

Manchester City Council is conducting a Preliminary Market Engagement exercise to assess the capabilities of the e-Tendering solutions marketplace. The Council is seeking a digital platform to manage the full tender and quotes lifecycle, from planning and publishing notices to bid evaluation and contract award.

This exercise will help the Council gather insights in advance of a potential future procurement. Please note that this is not a call for competition, and the Council reserves the right not to proceed to procurement.

Please note start and end dates of any future contract are only illustrative at this present time.

The solution must:

• Be compliant with UK procurement regulations.
• Support transparency, auditability, and accessibility.
• Integrate with internal systems and external systems (e.g., Find a Tender, Contracts Finder).
• Offer user-friendly interfaces for both buyers and suppliers.
• Support the full range of public procurement options available to contracting authorities, including functionality for:
• Quotes exercises for low-value procurements
• Open procedure procurements
• Competitive flexible procedure procurements, with flexibility for the stages involved
• Frameworks, open frameworks, dynamic markets
• Direct Awards
• Provider Selection Regime procurements (Direct Award A, Direct Award B, Direct Award C, Most Suitable Provider, Competitive processes)
• Legacy arrangements under Public Contracts Regulations (e.g. call-offs under a framework agreement let under Public Contracts Regulations 2015

The purpose of this engagement is to:

• Understand the current capabilities of e-Tendering solutions.
• Assess how suppliers meet the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023 and Provider Selection Regime and related regulations.
• Explore innovations and best practices in digital tendering.
• Inform the development of a potential specification and procurement strategy.

Key Features of Interest

Suppliers are encouraged to describe or demonstrate their capabilities in the following areas. These features reflect the Council's priorities for a modern, compliant, and user-friendly e-Tendering solution:

1. Tender Lifecycle Management

• Ability to manage the full procurement process from project planning, market engagement, and tender publication through to evaluation, award, and contract initiation.
• Support for multiple procurement routes (open, restricted, competitive dialogue, etc.).
• Workflow automation and task tracking for procurement teams.

2. Supplier Portal

• Secure, self-service portal for suppliers to register, view opportunities, download documents, submit clarifications, and upload responses.
• Support for supplier onboarding, profile management, and alerts for new opportunities.
• Multi-language support and mobile-friendly access.

3. Notice Publication

• Automated generation and publication of notices to Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, and other relevant platforms.
• Templates and validation tools to ensure notices meet regulatory requirements.
• Scheduling and version control for notice updates.

4. Evaluation Tools

• Configurable scoring matrices, weighted criteria, and moderation workflows.
• Role-based access for evaluators and audit trails of all scoring activity.
• Support for qualitative and quantitative evaluation, including consensus scoring.

5. Accessibility & Compliance

• Full compliance with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards.
• GDPR-compliant data handling and user consent management.
• Alignment with the Procurement Act 2023, including transparency and auditability features.

6. Integration

• APIs or connectors for integration with internal systems such as:
• Finance and ERP systems (e.g., Oracle, SAP, Civica).
• Contract management platforms.
• Document management systems (e.g., SharePoint).
• Single sign-on (SSO) and user provisioning via Active Directory or similar.

7. Reporting & Dashboards

• Real-time dashboards for procurement activity, supplier engagement, and compliance tracking.
• Customisable reports for internal and external stakeholders.
• Exportable data for audit, FOI, and performance monitoring purposes.