Award

National Recruitment Software System

NHS ENGLAND

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

11 Jun 2025 at 20:08

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process undertaken by NHS England involved the direct award of a National Recruitment Software System contract to Hicom Technology Limited. This initiative, crucial for managing recruitment across NHS staffing groups in the UK, was classified under the "Software package and information systems" category (CPV code: 48000000). The process reached the award stage on 11th June 2025, following a decision to proceed without prior competition due to unique technical requirements. The procurement method was limited and carefully justified, underscoring the necessity for a consistent, interoperable system. The contract, valued at £12,360,000, was signed on 28th May 2025. The system will support recruitment activities locally, regionally, and nationally, thereby ensuring continuity and addressing the administrative challenges faced by NHS recruitment teams.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in healthcare technology solutions, particularly those capable of providing specialised, integrated recruitment platforms with robust interoperability. Companies with expertise in designing and maintaining bespoke software solutions that meet stringent technical and functional specifications could find alignment with such procurement needs. Despite the competitive limitations cited, innovative enterprises poised to enhance or develop similar systems stand to benefit from this growing sector's demands, especially those that offer technical solutions supporting large-scale, multifaceted recruitment processes within the healthcare industry.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

National Recruitment Software System

Notice Description

Provision of a software platform for use by the Four Nations to facilitate local, regional and national recruitment across the following NHS staffing groups:<br/>- Foundation<br/>- Medical<br/>- Dental<br/>- Pharmacy<br/>- Healthcare Science

Lot Information

Lot 1

Direct Award for the provision of a software platform for use by the Four Nations to facilitate local, regional and national recruitment.

Procurement Information

NHS England (NHSE) is required to maintain the provision of a National Recruitment Platform to support Local, Regional and National recruitment across the Four Nations. This platform specialises in the recruitment of the following staffing groups:<br/>- Foundation<br/>- Medical<br/>- Dental<br/>- Pharmacy<br/>- Healthcare Science<br/><br/>There is a clear clinical risk should the national recruitment platform not be maintained and service continuity is of paramount importance. A stable recruitment system is required to ensure delivery of business as usual recruitment processes across the four nations. The wider landscape across national recruitment is changing and with annual increases in application numbers this has created an administrative burden for NHSE England's regional recruitment teams. <br/><br/>NHSE has commissioned industry leaders to undertake assessments of the market, through discovery exercises, to understand whether there is competition in the market capable of meeting NHSE's Technical requirements. The assessments have considered product disaggregation and wider market analysis. NHSE is currently undertaking an Alpha project to assess options that might allow for the development of alternative products or pre-built systems that will meet all the technical requirements (in Lots or otherwise) that NHSE believes does not exist currently . <br/>Additionally, previously competed procurements have only resulted in one bidder or one bidder with support from a partner supplier.<br/><br/>At this stage, NHSE has concluded that competition in the market does not exist in the form of a customisable Commercial Off the Shelf product. This is primarily due to the specialist nature of the technical requirements and in particular the need for interoperable functionality with other clinical government recruitment platforms. <br/>NHSE remains committed to keeping this position under regular review to ensure that the best value for money is delivered.<br/><br/>NHS England commenced negotiations for the direct award of the services with Hicom Technology Limited in December 2024 and is satisfied that the tests permitting the use of the Negotiated Procedure without prior publication (Reg 32(2)(b)(ii) and (iii) PCR 2015) and the Government Commercial Function's Procurement Act 2023 Guidance: Transitional and Saving Arrangements have been met.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-054722
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031711-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£12,360,000 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
11 Jun 20258 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
27 May 20259 months ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Cancelled
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NHS ENGLAND
Contact Name
NHSE DDAT Contract Management Team
Contact Email
england.commercialqueries@nhs.net
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SE1 8UG
Post Town
South East London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI4 Inner London - East
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI45 Lambeth
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Lambeth
Electoral Ward
Waterloo & South Bank
Westminster Constituency
Vauxhall and Camberwell Green

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

HICOM TECHNOLOGY

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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