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East Midlands Freeport - HR Services

Leicestershire County Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

28 Aug 2026 at 14:06

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

East Midlands Freeport is considering an outsourced, comprehensive human resources service as it moves away from HR provision currently hosted by Leicestershire County Council. The requirement would cover the full HR function, including strategic, operational and advisory services. The service is intended to support East Midlands Freeport as a lean, high-growth organisation operating within a complex governance and regulatory environment. This is a business services and HR consultancy requirement, with the relevant classification covering business, consulting and recruitment services. Leicestershire County Council is conducting the engagement on behalf of East Midlands Freeport. The work would support the Freeport organisation and its transition to an external HR provider.

This procurement is at the planning and preliminary market-engagement stage, not a call for competition or invitation to tender. The buyer is gathering information through a request for information, with responses expected by 25 September 2026. The future requirement is described as one lot and is identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises. An indicative contract period is shown as 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, but the buyer states that these dates are not accurate. The estimated value is approximately £99,000 excluding VAT, or £118,800 including VAT. The value is below the relevant threshold. Participation in the engagement would not create a commitment to procure or confer an advantage in any later competition.

The engagement will suit established outsourced HR providers, HR consultancies and specialist firms able to deliver a complete HR function rather than a single advisory service. Relevant capability is likely to include strategic workforce support, day-to-day operational HR, employee and management advice, and the ability to work within public-sector governance and regulatory requirements. Providers should be able to manage a transition from an existing council-hosted arrangement into an independent service, while supporting a lean, high-growth organisation. Experience of designing or operating flexible HR services for organisations with complex governance arrangements would be useful. The requirement is marked as suitable for SMEs, so smaller providers with sufficient breadth, resilience and capacity to cover the full service may prepare to engage when a procurement is developed.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

East Midlands Freeport - HR Services

Notice Description

East Midlands Freeport (EMF) is seeking to procure a comprehensive, outsourced Human Resources (HR) service to support the organisation as it transitions away from the current HR provision hosted by Leicestershire County Council. The outsourced service will be required to provide a full HR function, covering strategic, operational and advisory activity, aligned to EMF's ambitions as a lean, high growth organisation operating within a complex governance and regulatory context. *Please not contract start and end dates given in this notice are not accurate* *Contract value is an approximate value * Please note: This engagement is exploratory only. It does not constitute a procurement process, call for competition, invitation to tender, or commitment by East Midlands Freeport to undertake any future procurement activity. Participation in this engagement will not give any provider an advantage or disadvantage in relation to any future opportunity, should one arise.

Planning Information

Please note this is not an opportunity to tender but is an information gathering exercise to inform East Midlands Freeports (EMF) future requirement. LCC are running this process on EMFs behalf. Please respond to the questions within the RFI document which an be found on Providers wishing to take part can register their interest via the Council's e-tendering portal EastMidsTenders : https://www.eastmidstenders.org Providers should register/log-in to the East Midlands Tenders portal via the above link and search for the opportunity using the reference DN827815. Full event details, including information on how to register, are available under the opportunity listing.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ee96
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082204-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£99,000 Under £100K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Aug 20264 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
25 Sep 20264 weeks to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Oct 2026 - 30 Sep 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Leicestershire County 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
LEICESTER
Postcode
LE3 8RA
Postcode Area
Leicester
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLF East Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLF22 Leicestershire CC and Rutland
Delivery Location
TLF22 Leicestershire CC and Rutland
Local Authority
Blaby
Electoral Ward
Glenfield Faire
Westminster Constituency
Mid Leicestershire

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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