Find a TenderPlanned procurementPipeline notice
Published 13 Mar 2026, 12:30 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Preliminary Market Engagement - HR, Payroll and DBS Screening Services

Authority: Crescent Purchasing Consortium Limited (Public body)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£3,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 19 May 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 20 Nov 2029 · up to 20 Nov 2030 with extensions · starts 21 Nov 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This preliminary market engagement process precedes the retender of the HR, Payroll and Employee Screening Services which went live in 2022. This process will allow CPC to consider the changes enacted under the Procurement Act 2023 and how we may use that legislation to design a route to market which is modern and market relevant.

A suggested Lot structure have been included within this notice but will be determined through this preliminary market engagement process. Framework length and dates have also not been decided upon at this time. Please see the attached document "Preliminary Market Engagement HR, Payroll and DBS Screening Services" for more information.

CPV: Personnel and payroll services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 21 Nov 2026 – 20 Nov 2029 (3 yrs) · up to 20 Nov 2030 with extensions
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Crescent Purchasing Consortium Limited buys Personnel services except placement and supply services (CPV 7963), and who usually turns up

Crescent Purchasing Consortium Limited’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: Personnel services except placement and supply services (CPV 7963) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerCrescent Purchasing Consortium Limited · 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: 1 of 1 known-size awards · market: no supplier sizes published
1 of 1—

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.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: no winner locations published
——

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the delivery region.

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: 6 decided notices · market: no decision dates published
42 days—

Half of these awards were announced within 42 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.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 1 of 1 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: no bid counts or routes published
1 of 1—

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 buyer61 lots with bid counts · all categories
0% had one bid
The marketNo bid counts published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
1 bid0%
Buyer: 0 of 61 lots with published bid counts.
2–38%
Buyer: 5 of 61 lots with published bid counts.
4–631%
Buyer: 19 of 61 lots with published bid counts.
7+61%
Buyer: 37 of 61 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 buyerNo estimate-and-award pairs published
The marketNo estimate-and-award pairs published
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 796336 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£3.0m
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 35 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet14% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 35 similar lots
1 bid14%
5 of 35 similar past lots received 1 bid (14%).
2–323%
8 of 35 similar past lots received 2–3 (23%).
4–651%
18 of 35 similar past lots received 4–6 (51%).
7+11%
4 of 35 similar past lots received 7+ (11%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 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 £3.0m, 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
13 Mar 2026, 12:30 GMT
Last source update
13 Mar 2026, 12:30 GMT
Authority reference
CA17372
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-022951
Latest notice
Pipeline notice (UK1)
Classification (CPV)
Personnel and payroll services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0669bf Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

13 Mar 2026 → 21 Nov 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published223 days ago
    13 Mar 2026, 12:30 GMT
  2. Tender notice expected156 days ago
    19 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  3. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  4. Contract startsin 30 days
    21 Nov 2026

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Pipeline notice published
    13 Mar 2026, 12:30 GMT
    UK1

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

Crescent Purchasing Consortium Limited

Contracting authorityPublic undertaking GB-PPON: PZPR-8554-XHNX Procurement House, Leslie Hough Way, Salford, North West, M6 6AJContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender