Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 18 Jun 2026, 09:14 BST

Official UK procurement notice

HR and Payroll System · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Loughborough University (Education)

ServicesAbove threshold
Planned pipeline value£2,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 5 yrsends 30 Sept 2033 · starts 1 Oct 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The primary aim of the project is to deliver a reliable, sustainable HRM solution which will meet the long-term needs of the university. The project will provide a system that supports and improves operational efficiency and user experience – including through the step change in the self service functionality for both managers and employees. Our objectives are to deliver a meaningful evolution in HR business processes, refining them as appropriate, and to ensure that our systems are future-fit, whilst ensuring continuity of essential services such as payroll through any change or transition.

User facing services such as leave or absence requests need to be efficient and effective, with effective workflows for compliance and approval that reduce the administrative effort required. All self service functionality used by either employees or managers is expected to be intuitive, consistent and accessible for all such staff.

The following employee lifecycle activities are within the scope for consideration:

Organisation structure, establishment control, recruitment, onboarding, workforce relations, case management, timesheet, casual management, employee changes, payroll management, offboarding

The university currently uses 3 separate systems to manage the casual, adhoc and rostered workforce in the university, and one aim of the project is to simplify and improve the user experience for such employees and managers for such by implementing rationalised processes, using the HRM system functionality wherever possible.

For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:

www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Loughb… ↗

To respond to this opportunity, please click here:

www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/FU4935739Z ↗

CPV: Personnel and payroll services · Time accounting or human resources software package

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Loughborough University buys Time accounting or human resources software package (CPV 4845), and who usually turns up

Loughborough University’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Time accounting or human resources software package (CPV 4845) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerLoughborough University · all categories
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 7 of 15 known-size awards · market: CPV 4845 · UK-wide, n=42
47%21%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in East Midlands.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 14 known-location awards · market: CPV 4845 · East Midlands, n=5
21%60%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside East Midlands.

How long to a decision?
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.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 7 decided notices · market: CPV 4845 · UK-wide, n=19
54 days62 days

Half of these awards were announced within 54 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 8 of 22 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4845 · East Midlands, n=5
36%80%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer14 lots with bid counts · all categories
7% had one bid
The market21 lots with bid counts · CPV 4845 · UK-wide
14% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid7% / 14%
Buyer: 1 of 14 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 21 lots with published bid counts.
2–336% / 29%
Buyer: 5 of 14 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 21 lots with published bid counts.
4–621% / 24%
Buyer: 3 of 14 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 21 lots with published bid counts.
7+36% / 33%
Buyer: 5 of 14 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 21 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer13 lots with estimate and award · all categories
23% below estimate
The market18 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4845 · UK-wide
56% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate23% / 56%
Buyer: 3 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 10 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%38% / 28%
Buyer: 5 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate38% / 17%
Buyer: 5 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 484560 monthsPublished estimate£2.0m
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 41 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet10% single-bid risk
Past bids on 41 similar lots
1 bid10%
4 of 41 similar past lots received 1 bid (10%).
2–346%
19 of 41 similar past lots received 2–3 (46%).
4–634%
14 of 41 similar past lots received 4–6 (34%).
7+10%
4 of 41 similar past lots received 7+ (10%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £2.0m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
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
Unspecified in notice
First published
18 Jun 2026, 09:14 BST
Last source update
18 Jun 2026, 09:14 BST
Authority reference
LU01046
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-057376
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Personnel and payroll servicesTime accounting or human resources software package
Delivery area
East Midlands (UKF2)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b79a Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

18 Jun 2026 → 1 Oct 2028 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published125 days ago
    18 Jun 2026, 09:14 BST
  2. Market engagement104 days ago
    8 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST

    How to Participate:

    1. Access the Pre-Market Engagement Document:

    The full Pre-Market Engagement (PME) document, including detailed background, scope, questions for providers, and submission requirements, is available via the Delta eSourcing platform.

    To access:

    •Visit the Delta eSourcing portal : www.delta-esourcing.com ↗

    •Register as a supplier if you have not already done so

    •Search for this opportunity using the access code: FU4935739Z

    •Download the PME document and associated materials

    1. Review and Respond:

    Please review the PME document carefully and provide comprehensive written responses to all questions.

    1. Submit Your Response:

    Deadline: 17:00 BST on 08 July 2026

    Submission method: Via the Delta eSourcing portal only.

    Following the closure of the PME period:

    Analysis:

    •We will analyse all responses received to assess market appetite, viability, and optimal procurement approach

    •We may contact some, or all, respondents for follow-up discussions or clarifications (but are under no obligation to do so)

    Decision:

    •We will decide whether to proceed with a formal procurement, and if so, what procurement route and structure to adopt

    •The intelligence gathered through PME will inform the development of formal tender documentation (if we proceed)

    Participation in, or non-participation in, the engagement does not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement, and is not a condition of participation in the future tender.

  3. Today
    21 Oct 2026
  4. Contract starts
    1 Oct 2028, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Jun 2026, 09:14 BST
    UK2

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Loughborough University

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PRGT-9932-PLJN Epinal Way, At the back of SM Building., Loughborough University, Epinal Way, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, Loughborough, East Midlands, LE11 3TUContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure