Planning

Freight Agency Services

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

21 Mar 2025 at 10:51

Planning Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The University of Edinburgh (UoE) is planning a procurement process titled "Freight Agency Services" within the Freight Transport Agency Services industry. The primary objective is to optimise UoE's entire supply chain, from domestic courier services to international import and export shipments. This procurement falls under the services category and has an estimated value of £750,000 over three years. It is intended to streamline various fragmented courier services across UoE's colleges and schools. This process is currently at the planning stage, with the future notice date set for 1st May 2025. The procurement is located in Edinburgh, Scotland (UKM75).

This tender presents a substantial opportunity for businesses specialising in 4PL logistics services, particularly those adept at integrating software solutions with large organisational systems like Oracle Fusion "People and Money." Companies capable of offering a comprehensive logistics service, facilitating improved freight rates and streamlined processes, would benefit greatly. The successful supplier will manage multiple transit options, centralising communications and billing, which is poised to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of UoE's freight operations. Businesses with experience in handling high volumes of shipments, ensuring compliance with procurement protocols, and those focused on sustainability in freight will find this particularly advantageous.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Freight Agency Services

Notice Description

Requirement to procure the services of a supplier to provide a 4PL service facilitating an optimisation of the entire supply chain for UoE - from courier services for UK domestic, to import and export shipments. Must include a software solution which ideally will be able to integrate with UoE's Oracle Fusion "People and Money" system and also comply with our "No PO No Pay" protocol.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Requirement to procure the services of a supplier to provide a 4PL service facilitating an optimisation of the entire supply chain for UoE - from courier services for UK domestic, to import and export shipments. Must include a software solution which ideally will be able to integrate with UoE's Oracle Fusion "People and Money" system and also comply with our "No PO No Pay" protocol. There is a significant level of fragmented spend with couriers from various colleges and schools at UoE. The new service will enable spend to be centralised through one service. The appointed freight agent would act on UoE's behalf as a 4PL logistics supplier and be responsible for sourcing multiple transit options and providers for each consignment. This would involve a software solution for UoE staff to book consignments on. All communication, billing and responsibility for delivering the service will reside with the supplier. This would provide 2 overarching benefits to UoE: (1) Improved freight rates; one provider understanding our requirement will be able to be active in the freight market in the most advantageous way for UoE. Truly centralising the requirement will avoid UoE being subject to high one-off freight rates. (2) Improved processes; a single stream of invoices and customs clearance instruction documents will simplify the paperwork process between stores, procurement operations and P&M system. Centralisation of the function will create efficiencies with existing teams and allow time to be redeployed into more effective areas to improve value streams elsewhere. As well as financial benefits this solution should make it easier to group together sustainability goals in freight which has traditionally had a high carbon cost.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04f72c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010603-2025
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Planning Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

63 - Supporting and auxiliary transport services; travel agencies services

64 - Postal and telecommunications services

CPV Codes

63521000 - Freight transport agency services

64120000 - Courier services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£750,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
21 Mar 202511 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
30 Apr 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Contact Name
Iain Davies
Contact Email
idavies@ed.ac.uk
Contact Phone
+44 1316502759

Buyer Location

Locality
EDINBURGH
Postcode
EH1 1HT
Post Town
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM13 City of Edinburgh
Delivery Location
TLM75 City of Edinburgh
Local Authority
City of Edinburgh
Electoral Ward
City Centre
Westminster Constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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