Notice Information
Notice Title
External Audit Services
Notice Description
Southern Housing are seeking to procure External Audit Services to undertake an independent audit of Southern Housing and its related subsidiaries to be carried out in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)). Southern Housing published a Preliminary Market Engagement notice related to this procurement (Ref 2025/S 000-075860 on 20 November 2025 and have undertaken Preliminary Market Engagement which has included: a) submission of questionnaire responses b) use of the questionnaire responses to understand the market, capability and inform the procurement strategy Please note the estimated contract value stated excludes inflation. The contract will be for a maximum term of 5 years and will be subject to the annual re-appointment of the external auditors by the Southern Housing Board. The Client is targeting the following strategic objectives and added value benefits: a. Deliver work requirements in line with the scope and specified instructions b. Deliver works within the required timelines c. Proactive communication - working in partnership d. Act as a professional and informed sounding board e. Provide proactive support to the Audit & Risk Committee f. Being kept informed of forthcoming / potential changes in financial reporting requirements g. Ideas for how the external audit process could be delivered more efficiently by SH / audit firm each year. The Client reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to update, modify or replace its strategic objectives or policies after the date of this Invitation to Tender by notification to the Bidders in writing. In accordance with section 52 of the Procurement Act 2023, wherever the Client enters into a public contract with an estimated value of more than PS5 million, the Client must set and publish at least three key performance indicators in respect of the Contract. In light of the estimated value of the Contract, the Client has set the following indicative key performance indicators for the purposes of this procurement: KPI 1 - Audits completed within agreed timelines KPI 2 - Number of audit findings requiring rework/clarification or that are inaccurate/incomplete KPI 3 - Average number of days between audit completion and report submission KPI 4 - Average response time on technical accounting queries The Client will enter into Contract with the with the successful Supplier which shall be based on the Client's Standard form of Services Contract (including a Schedule of Amendments).
Lot Information
Lot 1
Options: Adhoc related services within the scope of the contract, arising from day to day financial services requirements may be instructed.
Planning Information
This notice is not an invitation for formal expressions of interest. The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice and the questionnaire that we are asking you to complete is to gain some early insight and feedback from the market in relation to this exciting opportunity. Potential future bidders will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to this Pre Market Engagement Notice. The procurement of the contracts by Southern Housing will be carried out strictly in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. This process is being undertaken to share some headline information about the opportunity and also gather knowledge, feedback and insight in the following areas: • Capacity and resources • Interest and possible barriers • Scope and requirements • Pricing and commercial considerations • Procurement process and timelines • Compliance or regulatory factors. The information gathered will be used: • to inform the procurement process • to inform and influence the structure and content of the tender documents and • to provide feedback in relation to the appetite of the market together with information that will allow the exercise to be shaped to elicit a positive response from providers. The benefits to your organisation in participating in this process include: - the chance to assess whether the opportunity will be suitable and of interest to you - ensuring that the approach is realistic and market-focused - the chance to raise any risks, concerns or issues regarding the potential opportunity Your responses will assist us in creating a process which is well-framed, focused, feasible and likely to be of interest to the market. There is no commercial advantage or disadvantage to your organisation as a result of being involved in this exercise. This process focuses on the market as a whole, rather than on the merits of individual suppliers. It involves no element of supplier selection or bid evaluation. Finally, please be assured that any commercially sensitive information provided to us as part of this process will be treated in confidence, used only for the purposes of this market engagement exercise, and will not be disclosed to any other organisation, subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Interested companies are to complete the online questionnaire at https://forms.office.com/e/3CQ1y8SJ1q by the engagement deadline.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-05e5ee
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002875-2026
- Current Stage
- Tender
- All Stages
- Planning, Tender
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK4 - Tender Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Open
- Procurement Method Details
- Open procedure
- Tender Suitability
- SME
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
-
- CPV Codes
79212000 - Auditing services
79212100 - Financial auditing services
79212300 - Statutory audit services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £5,000,000 £1M-£10M
- Lots Value
- £5,000,000 £1M-£10M
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 13 Jan 20266 days ago
- Submission Deadline
- 23 Feb 20262 months to go
- Future Notice Date
- 16 Dec 2025Expired
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 30 Sep 2026 - 30 Sep 2031 Over 5 years
- Recurrence
- 2030-01-11
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Active
- Lots Status
- Active
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- SOUTHERN HOUSING
- Contact Name
- Kim Newman
- Contact Email
- procurement@pmlgroup.com
- Contact Phone
- Not specified
Buyer Location
- Locality
- LONDON
- Postcode
- EC1M 5LA
- Post Town
- Central London
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLI London
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLI4 Inner London - East
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLI43 Haringey and Islington
- Delivery Location
- TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England)
-
- Local Authority
- Islington
- Electoral Ward
- Clerkenwell
- Westminster Constituency
- Islington South and Finsbury
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002875-2026
13th January 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075860-2025
20th November 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.mytenders.co.uk/Authority/NoticeBuilder/NoticeBuilder_FileDownload.aspx?id=628814
Appendix 1 - External Audit Services - Tender Certificate and Appendices -
https://www.mytenders.co.uk/Authority/NoticeBuilder/NoticeBuilder_FileDownload.aspx?id=628815
Volume 2 - External Audit Services - Contract for Services v1 -
https://www.mytenders.co.uk/Authority/NoticeBuilder/NoticeBuilder_FileDownload.aspx?id=628816
Volume 3- External Audit Services - Specification -
https://www.mytenders.co.uk/Authority/NoticeBuilder/NoticeBuilder_FileDownload.aspx?id=628818
Volume 1 - External Audit Services Price Framework -
https://www.mytenders.co.uk/Authority/NoticeBuilder/NoticeBuilder_FileDownload.aspx?id=628819
Volume 4 - External Audit Services - KPI Framework -
https://www.mytenders.co.uk/Authority/NoticeBuilder/NoticeBuilder_FileDownload.aspx?id=628820
Volume 5 - External Audit Services - Quality Submission Response Document
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
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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