Official UK procurement notice
Provision of an Integrated HR and Payroll System
Authority: Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (Local council)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionFollowing the publication of the required UK5 and UK6 Notices, This UK7 notice is placed on behalf of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and Torfaen County Borough Council, together referred to as the Contracting Authorities.
The Contracting Authorities have entered into a joint contract with MHR International UK Limited for the provision, hosting, maintenance, support and ongoing development of the iTrent integrated human resources, payroll and workforce management platform.
The contract includes:
software licensing;
hosted software services;
payroll processing functionality;
workforce management functionality;
recruitment and onboarding modules;
learning and development modules;
employee and manager self-service functionality;
document management functionality;
maintenance and support services;
implementation, migration and configuration services; and
ongoing system development and enhancement services.
The contract supports the delivery of critical human resources, payroll, recruitment, Organisational development, workforce management and associated services across Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and Torfaen County Borough Council.
The joint arrangement establishes a common platform supporting the Federated Councils’ operating model and the delivery of collaborative services, while maintaining the political, financial and democratic sovereignty of each authority.
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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 23 Jul 2026, 14:33 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Sept 2026, 09:30 BST
- Authority reference
ECM_BG/T/HRP_2026- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-089426- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d21aFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
The direct award followed an options appraisal covering amendment of the existing arrangements, separate renewal of the existing contracts, a competitive procurement for an alternative solution and a new joint contractual arrangement with the incumbent supplier. The appraisal concluded that replacing the existing platform would require substantial migration, implementation, retraining and redevelopment activity and would create significant technical, operational and service-continuity risks. The joint contract was considered the most economically advantageous and operationally effective option.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
5 Aug 2026 → 22 Sept 2026 · 2 dates- Standstill ends80 days ago5 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Notice published32 days ago22 Sept 2026, 09:30 BST
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Jul 2026- Transparency notice published23 Jul 2026, 14:33 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published24 Jul 2026, 17:06 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected17 Aug 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published22 Sept 2026, 09:30 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| MHR International UK LimitedProvision, hosting, maintenance, support and development of the iTrent HR, payroll and workforce management platform.1 Sept 2026 – 31 Jul 2031 | £2,088,103 | 24 Jul 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Provision, hosting, maintenance, support and development of the iTrent HR, payroll and workforce management platform · MHR International UK Limited
- Signed
- 1 Sept 2026
- Value
- £2,088,103
- Period
- 14 Feb 2027 – 13 Feb 2032
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- Torfaen County Borough CouncilContracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentWelsh devolved regulations apply
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- MHR International UK 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