HR and Payroll · Oxford City Council (Feb 2026)

The Authority intends to engage with the market in advance of a future procurement for a modern HR and Payroll Management System. The purpose of this Market Engagement is to obtain supplier insight and feedback to help shape the forthcoming procurement strategy, commercial approach and output‑based specification.

The Authority seeks supplier input on implementation approaches, data migration, integration with corporate systems, configuration, testing, training, and ongoing SaaS support models, to inform the design of a robust, deliverable and outcome‑focused specification. Participation in this Market Engagement will not form part of any future evaluation process.

Oxford City Council is hosting a Market Engagement Day to inform the forthcoming procurement of a new HR and Payroll system, expected to be delivered as a cloud‑based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform.

The purpose of this market engagement is to:

• share the Council's objectives, scope and anticipated requirements;
• obtain supplier views on feasibility, innovation, delivery approaches and potential challenges; and
• help shape a proportionate, effective and outcome‑focused procurement process.

The event will be held at Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1BX, on 24 March 2026 at 10:00am.

Agenda

• 10:00 - 11:00 - Oxford City Council Presentations
• 11:00 - 11:30 - Q&A Session
• 11:45 - 13:45 - 1:1 Supplier Meetings (15 minutes each)
• 14:00 - Event Close

The 1:1 session will provide suppliers with an opportunity to offer insight regarding delivery approaches, implementation considerations, integration capability, innovation, pricing models, and any early risks or dependencies. These sessions are not product demonstrations.

Due to capacity limitations, suppliers must register to attend by Wednesday 18 March. Suppliers will also be able to request a 1:1 session. Please note, each supplier should submit one registration, listing all attendees.

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Participation in this Market Engagement Day does not constitute any commitment to take part in a future procurement, nor does attendance confer any advantage. Any subsequent procurement will be advertised separately, and all interested organisations will be required to respond in line with that formal process. Suppliers who do not attend this Market Engagement Day will still be able to participate in the tender. Information shared during the event will be made available to all bidders at the point the tender documents are published.

Suppliers wishing to tender for this or other opportunities should register on the Council's e‑tendering portal: in-tendhost.co.uk/oxfordcc/aspx/Home ↗

Local Government Reorganisation

Oxford City Council, along with all local authorities in Oxfordshire is involved in the process of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) as set out in the Government's English Devolution White Paper published in December 2024. This sets out an ambition for remaining two-tier areas to be restructured into single-tier unitary authorities. The future shape of unitary local government in Oxfordshire will be decided by Government in the summer. Ahead of that decision, Oxford City Council is working collaboratively with neighbouring councils to compile data on all contracts and will collectively start to consider how these might be consolidated within the new unitary council(s) that will vest in April 2028.

Oxford City Council at the point of publishing this Market Engagement Notice can provide details of the current scope of requirements to interested suppliers. It is however anticipated, that during the delivery of the contract, the LGR decision on future structure of local government in Oxfordshire will be made by Government, which will lead to the replacement of Oxford City Council and may impact the delivery and scope of this contract.