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HR and Payroll

Oxford City Council

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

TenderUpdate

04 Sep 2026 at 13:23

UK4 - Tender Notice
TenderUpdate

04 Sep 2026 at 12:10

UK4 - Tender Notice
Tender

19 Aug 2026 at 15:03

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

16 Feb 2026 at 16:23

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Oxford City Council is procuring a cloud-hosted software-as-a-service HR and payroll system, together with implementation and ongoing support. The solution must support the Council’s human resources, payroll, recruitment, workforce management and employee self-service requirements. Related work includes configuring the system, migrating data, integrating it with corporate systems, testing, training and providing continuing SaaS support. The procurement is for services covering the Council’s operations in the United Kingdom, with Oxford City Council as the buying organisation. The scope also covers personnel and payroll services and human resources software development and support. Suppliers should be prepared to provide an integrated platform rather than a standalone payroll product, with the implementation and service-management capability needed to move the Council onto the new system and maintain it thereafter.

The procurement has reached tender: Oxford City Council invited offers through an open competitive flexible procedure. The process has four stages: preliminary assessment; evaluation against the award criteria, with the top three bidders selected; supplier demonstrations; and a preferred-supplier stage before award. Enquiries had to be submitted by 4 September 2026 at 14:00, and tenders are due by 22 September 2026 at 14:00 through the Council’s Intend portal. Award is scheduled by 10 December 2026. The contract is planned from 1 February 2027 to 31 January 2032, with two two-year renewal periods and one further one-year renewal, potentially extending to 31 January 2037. The estimated value is £1,833,333 excluding VAT and £2,199,997 including VAT. Evaluation is 45% specification response, 40% price and 15% demonstration.

This opportunity suits established HR and payroll software suppliers able to deliver a full cloud SaaS service and take responsibility for implementation as well as continuing support. Relevant capability includes HR, payroll, recruitment, workforce management and employee self-service functionality, supported by reliable data migration, configuration, testing, integration with HR and finance systems, training and consultancy. Suppliers should be able to demonstrate that their platform can handle changing organisational requirements, including additional schools, trusts or organisational units, increased employee numbers and payroll volumes, further modules or system features, and additional integration or implementation work. The staged competition favours businesses that can pass an initial assessment, produce a strong response to a detailed specification, demonstrate their product clearly and provide a credible delivery and support model. Providers with experience implementing integrated public-sector HR and payroll systems will be well placed.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

HR and Payroll

Notice Description

A cloud-hosted SaaS HR and Payroll solution that supports the Council's HR, payroll, recruitment, workforce management and employee self service elements, together with all implementation and ongoing support services set out within the Specification.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: 2 periods of 2 years and 1 further period of 1 year, on the same terms and conditions

Planning Information

The Authority intends to engage with the market in advance of a future procurement for a modern HR and Payroll Management System. The purpose of this Market Engagement is to obtain supplier insight and feedback to help shape the forthcoming procurement strategy, commercial approach and output‑based specification. The Authority seeks supplier input on implementation approaches, data migration, integration with corporate systems, configuration, testing, training, and ongoing SaaS support models, to inform the design of a robust, deliverable and outcome‑focused specification. Participation in this Market Engagement will not form part of any future evaluation process. Oxford City Council is hosting a Market Engagement Day to inform the forthcoming procurement of a new HR and Payroll system, expected to be delivered as a cloud‑based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. The purpose of this market engagement is to: • share the Council's objectives, scope and anticipated requirements; • obtain supplier views on feasibility, innovation, delivery approaches and potential challenges; and • help shape a proportionate, effective and outcome‑focused procurement process. The event will be held at Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1BX, on 24 March 2026 at 10:00am. Agenda • 10:00 - 11:00 - Oxford City Council Presentations • 11:00 - 11:30 - Q&A Session • 11:45 - 13:45 - 1:1 Supplier Meetings (15 minutes each) • 14:00 - Event Close The 1:1 session will provide suppliers with an opportunity to offer insight regarding delivery approaches, implementation considerations, integration capability, innovation, pricing models, and any early risks or dependencies. These sessions are not product demonstrations. Due to capacity limitations, suppliers must register to attend by Wednesday 18 March. Suppliers will also be able to request a 1:1 session. Please note, each supplier should submit one registration, listing all attendees. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=OQ89nyteiE-dQ-k0T5qgLSBzzjlhThRHk5Y7IsYriKJUNUZQODlWNVc4UEVPWkxQV05NVEo4VUQ4Ry4u Participation in this Market Engagement Day does not constitute any commitment to take part in a future procurement, nor does attendance confer any advantage. Any subsequent procurement will be advertised separately, and all interested organisations will be required to respond in line with that formal process. Suppliers who do not attend this Market Engagement Day will still be able to participate in the tender. Information shared during the event will be made available to all bidders at the point the tender documents are published. Suppliers wishing to tender for this or other opportunities should register on the Council's e‑tendering portal: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/oxfordcc/aspx/Home Local Government Reorganisation Oxford City Council, along with all local authorities in Oxfordshire is involved in the process of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) as set out in the Government's English Devolution White Paper published in December 2024. This sets out an ambition for remaining two-tier areas to be restructured into single-tier unitary authorities. The future shape of unitary local government in Oxfordshire will be decided by Government in the summer. Ahead of that decision, Oxford City Council is working collaboratively with neighbouring councils to compile data on all contracts and will collectively start to consider how these might be consolidated within the new unitary council(s) that will vest in April 2028. Oxford City Council at the point of publishing this Market Engagement Notice can provide details of the current scope of requirements to interested suppliers. It is however anticipated, that during the delivery of the contract, the LGR decision on future structure of local government in Oxfordshire will be made by Government, which will lead to the replacement of Oxford City Council and may impact the delivery and scope of this contract.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06554b
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083900-2026
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
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
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

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

CPV Codes

48450000 - Time accounting or human resources software package

72212450 - Time accounting or human resources software development services

79211110 - Payroll management services

79631000 - Personnel and payroll services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,833,333 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£1,833,333 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
4 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
22 Sep 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
1 Aug 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Feb 2027 - 31 Jan 2032 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Oxford City Council
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
OXFORD
Postcode
OX1 1BX
Postcode Area
Oxford
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ14 Oxfordshire CC
Delivery Location
TLJ14 Oxfordshire CC
Local Authority
Oxford
Electoral Ward
Holywell
Westminster Constituency
Oxford West and Abingdon

Further Information

Notice Documents

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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