Award

LinkedIn Commercial Agreement

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

11 Dec 2025 at 14:41

Award

25 Nov 2025 at 16:58

Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Defence has recently completed the procurement process for a three-year contract, valued at £1,048,792.80 (including VAT), awarded to LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company. The agreement, identified as the LinkedIn Commercial Agreement, is centred around the Hiring Enterprise Programme and LinkedIn Talent Insights Leader services. The procurement was conducted via a direct award method, specifically justified under the Defence People - Civ HR section of the Ministry due to the unique services and global reach offered exclusively by LinkedIn. The contract commenced on 5th December 2025 and will run until 4th December 2028. Located in Glasgow, the Ministry aimed to leverage LinkedIn’s hiring solutions to enhance their recruitment processes across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, thus boosting their ability to attract diverse and high-quality talent.

This procurement represents a significant opportunity for businesses within the job search and hiring services industry, particularly those that specialise in large-scale, complex recruitment solutions. Although LinkedIn was identified as the sole provider due to its unmatched market presence and unique offerings, this sets a benchmark for other companies to innovate within niche aspects of recruitment technology and services. Large businesses with capabilities to expand their service offerings to include unique networking and hiring solutions could find opportunities for similar contracts in the future, provided they can offer comparable global reach and technical expertise. This contract also underscores the growing importance of digital hiring solutions in governmental staffing processes, encouraging businesses in this sector to explore unique value propositions.

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Notice Title

LinkedIn Commercial Agreement

Notice Description

Hiring Enterprise Programme & LinkedIn Talent Insights Leader

Procurement Information

The Defence People - Civ HR, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a three-year contract with a value of PS1,048,792.80 (incl VAT) to LinkedIn for licenses for the Hiring Enterprise Program and LinkedIn Talent Insights Leader. It is considered that this contract can be awarded under section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 because the direct award justification specified in paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 ( technical reasons) applies. This is because LinkedIn is the only provider (there is no alternative supplier offering their services) enabling business areas to showcase prospective candidates what it is like to work for them using a variety of content including adverts/featured content/testimonies before prospective candidates place an application for the advertised role. LinkedIn is the only company that provides hiring solutions services to customers within Europe, middle east & Africa. Its hiring and social networking solution is unique and as such, a direct competition process isn't viable. Other companies like, 'Facebook', 'Bark', 'Opportunity', and 'Xing', offer similar social networking platforms but with limited professional reach, unlike LinkedIn. There are clear differences in the services on offer and the scale of reach in terms of target audience. Of these four companies, none have a comparable level of professional and global presence and therefore this would not enable MOD to source quality talent and in turn build and sustain a more diverse workforce. This would detrimentally impact on MOD ability to fill our roles and deliver MOD key objectives. Given the above there are no other value-for-money alternatives to consider which will enable the Authority to promote MOD as an employer, advertise vacancies and additional products (recruiter directly reach out to prospective candidates).

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e8b4
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082067-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security


CPV Codes

79611000 - Job search services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£873,994 £500K-£1M
Contracts Value
£871,926 £500K-£1M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
11 Dec 20252 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
25 Nov 20252 months ago
Contract Period
5 Dec 2025 - 4 Dec 2028 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
example.example@mod.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
GLASGOW
Postcode
G2 8EX
Post Town
Glasgow
Country
Scotland

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM3 West Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM32 Glasgow City
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Glasgow City
Electoral Ward
Anderston/City/Yorkhill
Westminster Constituency
Glasgow North

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

LINKEDIN IRELAND

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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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