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PS25034 - Legal Services to Support Employment Tribunals and Complex Casework - Framework

UK RESEARCH & INNOVATION

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

16 Sep 2026 at 14:22

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

23 Jun 2026 at 11:49

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

16 Apr 2026 at 15:51

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

09 Feb 2026 at 12:00

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), with UK Shared Business Services managing the procurement, established a framework for legal services supporting employment tribunals and complex casework. The requirement covers legal advice and representation for litigation and complex case matters, with services delivered across the United Kingdom. It is a professional services opportunity for law firms able to support a central government research and innovation organisation. The framework is intended to provide a route for UKRI to commission individual pieces of work from ranked legal service providers. Call-off requirements are offered first to the highest-ranked provider, then passed to the next provider if the work cannot be accepted or the proposal is rejected. The framework is suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises.

This procurement is complete and has been awarded, with contracts signed. It used an open procedure for one lot. Bids closed on 18 May 2026 at 11:00, the award date was 23 June 2026, and the framework contracts were signed by Burges Salmon LLP on 18 August 2026, Doyle Clayton Solicitors Limited on 20 July 2026, and Gowling WLG (UK) LLP on 9 September 2026. Each supplier was awarded £1,600,000 excluding VAT (£1,920,000 including VAT), reported separately. The framework contracts run to 5 July 2028, with optional extensions to 5 July 2030; their individual starts were 18 August, 20 July and 9 September 2026 respectively. Evaluation weighted technical quality at 80% and commercial price at 20%. Thirteen bids were received, including four from SMEs.

For a law firm considering future work with UKRI, this award shows demand for employment tribunal advice and representation alongside complex casework, delivered through a ranked framework rather than repeated full competitions. A credible competitor would need demonstrable capability in both employment litigation and complex legal advice, with enough experienced resource to respond quickly when a requirement is referred. The call-off model expects the first-ranked provider to respond within 24 hours for litigation matters or 48 hours for complex case advice, subject to longer periods for more complex requirements, so reliable capacity and responsive project management would matter. Suppliers must also be able to work within framework terms, provide clear commercial rates and demonstrate strong technical quality, which carried substantially more weight than price in the evaluation.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

PS25034 - Legal Services to Support Employment Tribunals and Complex Casework - Framework

Notice Description

The final date and time for the submission of bids is Monday 18th May 2026 at 11.00am DO NOT apply directly to the buyer. All tender information MUST be submitted through the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal. Framework Overview UKSBS on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (The Contracting Authority), wishes to establish a framework to procure Legal Services to Support Employment Tribunals and Complex Casework. UKSBS is managing this procurement process in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2023 (as may be amended from time to time) (the "Regulations"). It is intended that this Framework will be awarded to 3 Suppliers. Supplier will be ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd based off the total final evaluation scores from this procurement. Call of Contracts will be awarded based on the ranked position with work being offered on for first refusal through the ranked positions. Bidders are advised that there is no commitment of Services to be awarded as Call of Contracts under this Framework Agreement. Please ensure you review all attached information to ensure a full understanding of this requirement. All attachments can be found with the Supplier Attachments tab within the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal. This contract will be awarded based on the evaluation criteria as set out in the ITQ document. How to Apply UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) will be using the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal for this procurement. To register on the Jaggaer eSourcing portal please use the link https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ and follow the instructions to register as a supplier. If you are already registered on the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal and wish to participate in this procurement, please use the link: https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/. Once you are logged into the system you will be able to locate the Procurement you wish to leave a bid on by clicking the ITTs Open to All Suppliers and searching for the reference number itt_2586

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: The Contract duration shall be for a period of 4 years with optional extensions for years 3 and 4 (2+1+1) from commencement of the Contract.

Planning Information

A Bidders’ Conference will not be held in conjunction with this procurement. UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) will be using the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal for this procurement. To register on the Jaggaer eSourcing portal please use the link https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ and follow the instructions to register as a supplier. If you have any questions at this stage please email professionalservices@uksbs.co.uk

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-064afd
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/087805-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

79100000 - Legal services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£800,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
£800,000 £500K-£1M
Awards Value
£1,600,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£1,600,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
16 Sep 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
18 May 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
23 Feb 2026Expired
Award Date
23 Jun 20263 months ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
UK RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
SWINDON
Postcode
SN2 1FL
Postcode Area
Swindon
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK71 Swindon
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Swindon
Electoral Ward
Rodbourne Cheney
Westminster Constituency
Swindon North

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
3
Supplier Names

Burges Salmon LLP

Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

DOYLE CLAYTON SOLICITORS

Further Information

Notice Documents

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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