Award

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

ERP System

Shropshire Council

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

28 Jul 2026 at 11:39

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

03 Jul 2026 at 15:48

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
AwardUpdate

19 Jun 2026 at 16:22

UK5 - Transparency Notice
AwardUpdate

19 Jun 2026 at 15:04

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Award

19 Jun 2026 at 12:41

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Shropshire Council procured continued provision and support for Unit4, an integrated cloud-based enterprise resource planning system. The service covers financial management, including general ledger, budgeting, accounting and sales-to-cash functions; procurement and purchase-to-pay workflows, including requisitions, purchase orders and invoice reconciliation; and people management, including human resources, payroll, expenses and timesheets. This is a business software and support service for the council’s corporate operations, rather than a new-build implementation. The system supports established finance, HR, payroll and procurement processes, integrations, data structures, reporting configurations and bespoke customisations. The buying organisation is Shropshire Council, based in Shrewsbury, and the service is for its organisational operations.

The procurement is complete and the contract was awarded to Softcat Plc on 19 June 2026. It was a single-lot direct award above the relevant threshold, justified under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 and Schedule 5 because the incumbent supplier was considered the only provider able to maintain the existing platform for technical reasons. The award and contract value is £3,229,260 gross, including VAT, in GBP. The contract was signed on 15 July 2026 and runs from 16 July 2026 to 30 June 2029. A voluntary eight-day standstill period was used before signature. The award basis was continuity of the existing service, avoiding disproportionate disruption, cost, duplication of technical effort and implementation risk during the council’s digital transformation exercise.

This award indicates demand from Shropshire Council for suppliers able to provide and support a mature, integrated Unit4 ERP environment across finance, procurement, HR, payroll, expenses and timesheets. A credible competitor for a future requirement would need strong enterprise resource planning software capability, software supply and programming or consultancy expertise, and the capacity to support critical corporate services without disrupting established operations. Relevant experience would include maintaining complex integrations, migrated or inherited data structures, configured reporting, bespoke customisations and standardised purchase-to-pay workflows. Suppliers should also be able to demonstrate dependable technical support, continuity planning and the ability to work within an organisation undertaking digital transformation. The incumbent’s position shows the importance of platform knowledge and low-risk transition planning.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

ERP System

Notice Description

The contract covers the provision of the Unit 4 ERP system, a fully integrated cloud-based software solution. The primary modules include: Financial Management: General ledger, budgeting, accounting, sales-to-cash. Procurement & Purchase-to-Pay: Standardised workflows for supplier requisitions, purchase order fulfilment, invoice reconciliation. People Management: HR, payroll, expenses, and timesheets.

Procurement Information

The Council is enacting a voluntary standstill period of 8 days under this Transparency Notice. This will conclude on the 30th June 2026. The Direct Award is in accordance with Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 and the applicable justification within Schedule 5, on the basis that the services can only be supplied by the incumbent provider for technical reasons. The requirement is for the continued provision and support of the Council's existing ERP platform rather than the implementation of a new system. The Council's current enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is supporting core finance, HR, payroll and procurement functions and is embedded across the organisation, with established integrations, data structures, reporting configurations and bespoke customisations developed to meet the Council's specific operational requirements. The Council is undertaking a digital transformation exercise that will determine the extent of its long-term ERP use. The duration of this direct award has been identified as the minimum period to avoid the disproportionate cost, technical complexity and risk to the continuity of critical corporate services that earlier competition would present. Accordingly, only the incumbent supplier can provide the required services without disproportionate disruption, cost and risk, and a direct award is therefore justified in order to ensure continuity of service and avoid unnecessary duplication of technical effort and implementation risk.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b905
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/071140-2026
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

48 - Software package and information systems

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

CPV Codes

48451000 - Enterprise resource planning software package

72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services

72268000 - Software supply services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£3,229,260 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£3,229,260 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Jul 20264 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
19 Jun 20262 months ago
Contract Period
16 Jul 2026 - 30 Jun 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Shropshire 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
SHREWSBURY
Postcode
SY3 8HQ
Postcode Area
Shrewsbury
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLG West Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLG2 Shropshire and Staffordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLG22 Shropshire
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Shropshire
Electoral Ward
Porthill
Westminster Constituency
Shrewsbury

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Softcat Plc

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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.

Loading OCDS record...