Official UK procurement notice
Payroll Services Contract for St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust
Authority: ST THOMAS CATHOLIC ACADEMIES TRUST (Education)·On behalf of: PANACHE CREATIVE LIMITED
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSt Thomas Catholic Academies Trust is undertaking this procurement process to source a suitable provider that can operate all aspects of the Trust's payroll and pension administration for all their schools and any schools that may join the Trust in the future.
Over the past few years the Trust has changed significantly by growing to 17 schools and as such the requirements of the payroll and personnel services have evolved, and now the Trust is moving to re-tender the contract to meet new demands.
Each school is responsible for managing their workforce and checking payroll data, with top-level oversight coming from the Trust.
STCAT schools are based within varying areas which means that the support staff workforce is enrolled in various pension schemes with differing local authorities. A provider who can understand these nuanced differences and ensure that the service is flexible yet remaining consistent, will be paramount to the success of the contract.
Amongst current frustrations is the lack of easily accessible and interrogable workforce data and a lack of interoperability between the HR/Payroll service and other core systemssuch as the school MIS, or financial management software. Although not a firm requirement, it would be beneficial if the new service could offer such functionality.
The number of schools is due to increase shortly from 17 to 20, plus the Central Team, and the Trust requires a system to manage that change.
- How the procedure runs: The procurement process follows a two stage 'Competitive Flexible' approach, beginning with a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) stage followed by an Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage after shortlisting. This process is managed under the Light Touch Regime, and the Trust reserves the right to refine the award criteria throughout.
CPV: Payroll management services · Personnel and payroll services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£550,000
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 (2)
- Quality: 70%
- Cost: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality
- Cost
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 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
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 3 Dec 2025, 10:16 GMT
- Last source update
- 29 Jun 2026, 11:13 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 31 Mar 2026
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-079210- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05eda3Find a Tender
- How it runs
The procurement process follows a two stage 'Competitive Flexible' approach, beginning with a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) stage followed by an Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage after shortlisting.
This process is managed under the Light Touch Regime, and the Trust reserves the right to refine the award criteria throughout.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 7 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline
- 7 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 5 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Submission instructions are included in the PSQ; all completed PSQ submissions are to be sent to [email protected]
by the deadline stipulated.
Timeline
3 Dec 2025 → 1 Sept 2026 · 7 dates- Tender notice published322 days ago3 Dec 2025, 10:16 GMT
- Clarification questions by289 days ago5 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline287 days ago7 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by204 days ago31 Mar 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent157 days ago18 May 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published114 days ago29 Jun 2026, 11:13 BST
- Contract starts51 days ago1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
7 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 3 Dec 2025- Tender notice published3 Dec 2025, 10:16 GMTUK4
- Tender notice published10 Dec 2025, 17:04 GMTUK4
- Published value updated10 Dec 2025, 17:04 GMT
- Contract award notice published18 May 2026, 17:56 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete18 May 2026, 17:56 BST
- Contract details notice published29 Jun 2026, 11:13 BSTUK7
- Contract signature expected30 Jun 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-12: 1 release · 3 Dec 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDUCATION PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT LIMITEDSME1 Sept 2026 – 31 Aug 2029 · up to 31 Aug 2031Extensions: 2 years on a +1year, +1year basis. | £465,777 | 18 May 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · EDUCATION PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT LIMITEDSME
- Signed
- 2 Jun 2026
- Value
- £465,777
- Period
- 1 Sept 2026 – 31 Aug 2029 · up to 31 Aug 2031 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 3 year contract with possible 2 year extension on a +1 year, + 1year basis.
- Options
- Bolt on schools joining the Trust
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6final-stage tenders | 3 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- PANACHE CREATIVE LIMITEDProcess contact pointProcuring entityPanache are assisting St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust with the facilitation of this tender exercise, in a supporting role only.
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- EDUCATION PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Interested parties are to complete a Procurement Specific Questionnaire, which can be accessed via the dropbox link provided. If you have any queries, please contact [email protected]
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- 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