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Provision of a CRM Solution for Recruitment, Marketing and Admissions

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Tender

14 Jan 2026 at 16:17

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The University of Southampton is currently in the tender stage of procuring a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution aimed at transforming its Recruitment, Marketing, and Admissions processes. This open procedure tender seeks to implement an advanced, scalable CRM platform that will support the university's strategic goals, including organisational excellence and student growth across undergraduate, postgraduate taught, and research programmes. Key deadlines include an enquiry period ending on 6th February 2026, a tender submission deadline on 16th February 2026, and a planned contract award by 25th March 2026. The anticipated contract, valued at approximately £2.5 million, is set to commence from 27th March 2026 and will be carried out in Southampton, UK, under the industry category of IT services and software packages (CPV codes 48000000 and 72000000).

This procurement presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in CRM solutions, IT consultancy, and software development to partner with a prominent UK university. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) are encouraged to participate, given the University's commitment to fostering a fair and competitive procurement process. Businesses with strong capabilities in integrating complex IT systems, enhancing digital capabilities, and supporting organisational change will find this tender particularly well-suited to their expertise. The opportunity also includes potential contract extensions, allowing for up to five years of collaboration and growth with the University. Interested parties should register and submit their proposals via the In-Tend e-tendering portal to partake in this transformative project.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Provision of a CRM Solution for Recruitment, Marketing and Admissions

Notice Description

The University of Southampton is undertaking a major transformation programme centred on Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The focus is on delivering an end-to-end CRM solution covering Undergraduate (UG), Postgraduate Taught (PGT) and Postgraduate Research (PGR) Recruitment, Marketing and Admissions. This procurement seeks a modern, scalable CRM platform that supports the University's strategic aims for organisational excellence, student number growth and enhanced digital capability. Student recruitment is a core driver of University sustainability, providing a significant proportion of institutional funding. The University must grow UG, PGT and PGR enrolments across multiple geographies in an increasingly competitive and volatile market. Recruitment and conversion journeys are complex, long, multi-stage and personalised, involving prospective students and key influencers such as parents, teachers and agents. A robust CRM is required to manage this complexity and optimise conversion. The current CRM and admissions landscape is fragmented across multiple systems (e.g., UCAS, Banner ARC, Web-for-Admissions, Dynamics, Reach, Gecko, WPM, Business World, Room Service, IDM, PowerBI, QlikView). These systems lack integration, create inconsistent user experiences, limit personalisation, hinder reporting, and rely heavily on manual workarounds. Several systems are unstable, end-of-life or unable to evolve to meet future needs. The University therefore requires a single CRM solution that provides an end-to-end view of the student journey, supports seamless data flows, enables personalisation at scale, incorporates international compliance processes (CAS, Visa), improves operational efficiency, and delivers advanced reporting and analytics. The system must support process redesign, business change, integration with core platforms, and future scalability across the CRM programme. This procurement will deliver the technical platform and supporting implementation services required to realise these aims. PLEASE NOTE: The University of Southampton is not a 'body governed by public law' and is therefore not considered a contracting authority for the purposes of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) or the Procurement Regulations 2024 and/or any replacement legislation. This procurement process is not regulated by UK (or EU) public procurement law. For the purposes of this advertisement; "Regulations": means the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) or the Procurement Regulations 2024. Where the University advertises contracts, through any public sector tender portal, it does so on a voluntary basis by way of transparency and to encourage open competition, but it is not required to comply with the procurement legislation and this does not bind the University to publish additional notices in the future. For the purpose of procuring this Project, the University is acting in accordance with its internal financial regulations and the procedure detailed in the tender documents. Nothing which is done during the procurement process (including the publication of the contract notice, use of the SQ and use of terminology which may be defined by the Regulations) should be taken to imply that the University is voluntarily complying with the Regulations or intends to do so. Some of the stages, documentation and terminology adopted in the University's procurement process may have similarities to ones regulated by and defined under the Regulations, but they will not be regulated by the Regulations during this process and should not be taken as references to those things as defined by the Regulations. Interested parties are invited to express their interest and submit their proposals in accordance with the instructions provided in the tender documentation. The University aims to ensure a fair, transparent, and competitive procurement process to select the most suitable partner for this significant project.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: The University proposes to enter into a Contract for five years - this will be the maximum contract period, including any potential extensions with the successful tenderer. This will comprise of an initial contract period of three years with an option to extend by a further two lots of 12 months, subject to satisfactory performance and at the discretion of the University. The breakdown of the initial contract term and extension periods is detailed below: Initial Term: 27/03/2026 - 26/03/2029 Extension Period 1: 27/03/2029 - 26/03/2030 Extension Period 2: 27/03/2030 - 26/03/2031.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0605fd
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/003227-2026
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
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, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,500,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£2,500,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
14 Jan 20268 months ago
Submission Deadline
16 Feb 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
27 Mar 2026 - 26 Mar 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
2030-09-26

Notice Status

Tender Status
Active
Lots Status
Active
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
SOUTHAMPTON
Postcode
SO17 1BJ
Postcode Area
Southampton
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ32 Southampton
Delivery Location
TLJ South East (England)
Local Authority
Southampton
Electoral Ward
Portswood
Westminster Constituency
Southampton Test

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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