Official UK procurement notice
Professional Corporate Sole Trustee (PCST) services for Aston University Pension Scheme (AUPS)
Authority: Aston University (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionProfessional Corporate Sole Trustee (PCST) services for the Aston University Pension Scheme (closed to future accrual). This will include Trustee services, pension administration, member communications, actuarial services, audit, governance, legal, covenant, investment management and monitoring advice.
Adopting a Professional Corporate Sole Trustee (PCST) model to administer the Aston University Pension Scheme has been determined to be the most efficient way to manage the legacy Defined Benefit pension scheme going forward while ensuring the integrity of the scheme, including funding position, ongoing administration and compliance with evolving TPR requirements is maintained. This is a relatively new approach in the market but it has been determined that minimising disruption and limiting risk during the current triennial valuation is the optimal outcome and that this was the only option whereby continuity of the current actuarial, investment and professional trustee services could be maintained while achieving efficiencies.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 18 Jun 2025, 10:29 BST
- Last source update
- 31 Jul 2025, 13:08 BST
- Authority reference
1137- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-044734- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-054ed2Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
Adopting a Professional Corporate Sole Trustee (PCST) model to administer the Aston University Pension Scheme has been determined to be the most efficient way to manage the legacy Defined Benefit pension scheme going forward while ensuring the integrity of the scheme, including funding position, ongoing administration and compliance with evolving TPR requirements is maintained. This is a relatively new approach in the market but it has been determined that minimising disruption and limiting risk during the current triennial valuation is the optimal outcome and that this was the only option whereby continuity of the current actuarial, investment and professional trustee services could be maintained while achieving efficiencies.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
27 Jun 2025 → 31 Jul 2025 · 2 dates- Standstill ends27 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
- Notice published31 Jul 2025, 13:08 BST
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 18 Jun 2025- Transparency notice published18 Jun 2025, 10:29 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published18 Jun 2025, 11:11 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected30 Jun 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published31 Jul 2025, 13:08 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ross Trustees Services LimitedSME1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2030 | £2,630,610 inc. VAT | 18 Jun 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Ross Trustees Services LimitedSME
- Signed
- 30 Jun 2025
- Value
- £2,630,610 inc. VAT
- Period
- 1 Jul 2025 – 30 May 2028 · up to 30 May 2031 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 3 year extension option
No agreed KPIs: Not above £5m
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- ROSS TRUSTEES SERVICES LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender