Notice Information
Notice Title
Procurement of an HR and Payroll System
Notice Description
The scope of the tender is to identify a suitable supplier for the implementation and ongoing support of a replacement HR system and managed UK payroll service for Look Ahead Care, Support & Housing. The required solution must support the full employee lifecycle, workforce administration, managed payroll and pensions administration, recruitment, onboarding, compliance, employee relations, reporting, integrations, data migration, implementation and transition to business as usual. Unless expressly identified as a separately priced option or Phase 2 requirement, Tenderers should assume that all items listed in this section form part of the core day-one scope and must be included within the tendered solution and commercial response. * Core HR and workforce administration: employee records, organisational structure, position and employee references, contracts and terms, multiple concurrent engagements per individual, establishment management and post control, including budgeted posts, position management, organisational hierarchy, approval workflows and reporting-line management. * Payroll and pensions: fully managed UK payroll service, including statutory filing, year-end activity, managed pensions administration, auto-enrolment, opt-outs, contribution submissions, provider returns, pension query support, statutory payments, salary sacrifice, attachment of earnings, off-cycle or emergency payments, payroll queries, Average Holiday Pay and NMW/NLW compliance calculations. * Absence management: sickness, annual leave, family leave, sabbaticals, AWOL, authorised absence, return-to-work processes and associated workflow, reporting and audit requirements. Fully customisable T&Cs in line with either Organisation policy or TUPE-in policy * Recruitment, onboarding, compliance and learning: recruitment and applicant tracking, candidate portal, document upload, job board integration or linking to the Look Ahead website, regulatory and safer-recruitment compliance records, dedicated DBS integration and tracking, expiry alerting, evidence capture, employee document management, retention and deletion rules, onboarding, pre-employment compliance, offboarding and leaver workflows. DBS functionality should support integration with a third-party DBS checking provider where required, including application status tracking, outcome recording, renewal monitoring, expiry reporting and audit history. * Employee, manager and workforce development: employee and manager self-service, performance and supervision recording, talent, succession and workforce development management, including talent profiles, succession planning, career development, skills and competency tracking, performance and appraisal linkage, succession risk reporting, development plans and management reporting. * Learning Pool: Learning Pool will remain in use during Phase 1. Integration with Learning Pool is core scope at HRIS go-live, while replacement of Learning Pool or the Learning Management System is a Phase 2 priced option and is not part of the day-one core replacement. * Employee relations and HR case management: case creation, categorisation, allocation, workflow, task management, document storage, confidentiality controls, restricted access, audit trail, key date tracking, outcome recording, reporting and the ability to manage multiple case types such as disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, capability, probation and flexible working. * Reporting, governance and security: reporting, analytics, statutory reporting including Gender Pay Gap reporting, audit trails, data retention, GDPR reporting, information governance reporting, Subject Access Request and IG request support, workflow and authorisation, role-based access control, user security administration, permission management and auditable security access reporting. * Integrations and interfaces: key systems and data flows required to support HR, payroll, recruitment, compliance, learning, finance and reporting, including Unit4, Neuven bank and agency portal, identity provider, Active Directory and single sign-on, pension providers, Learning Pool, Access Group compliance portal, Cardinus, DBS checking providers or other third-party pre-employment compliance services, the Look Ahead website and reporting, data warehouse or Power BI feeds. * Data migration, implementation and transition: data migration from the incumbent iTrent system, cleansing, reconciliation, testing, training, cutover, hypercare, knowledge transfer and transition to business as usual, including system administration handover, support model definition and retained configuration documentation. * Separately priced options: Tenderers must provide separately priced options where requested in the Cost Schedule, including integrated or natively supported rostering and any Phase 2 replacement of Learning Pool or the Learning Management System. Such options are not part of the core day-one HR system and managed payroll replacement unless expressly confirmed by Look Ahead following evaluation and contract award. The list above is not exhaustive and is intended to summarise the principal areas included within the scope of the tender.
Lot Information
Lot 1
Options: 1. Integrated or natively supported rostering - Must be priced separately in Annex 4. - It is not part of the core day-one solution unless Look Ahead elects to take it up. 2. Phase 2 replacement of Learning Pool / the Learning Management System - Must be offered as a separately priced option. - For Phase 1, integration with the existing Learning Pool remains a core requirement. 3. Contract extension - Initial term: 3 years - Optional extension: up to 24 months. - Maximum potential term: 5 years. 4. Usage-based or pay-as-you-go services - Allowed only where Annex 4 expressly provides for them. - Unit rates, charging basis, assumptions, and minimum or maximum volumes must be stated. Charges apply only where Look Ahead authorises the service in advance. 5. Ad hoc services and consultancy - A separate rate card is required in Annex 4. - The rate card is for information and is not scored. 6. Other optional, additional, or out-of-scope services - These may be offered if they are clearly separated from the core service. - The submission must explain the charging basis and when the charges would apply. 7. Proposed contract variances - Suppliers may submit requested changes to the draft terms in a separate evaluation matrix. - Look Ahead is not obliged to accept them, and material qualifications could make the tender non-compliant.
Renewal: The HR and Payroll System supports essential services that are fundamental to the operation of the organisation. Any disruption could result in: Failure to process payroll accurately and on time. Errors in pension, tax and statutory deductions. Loss of access to workforce and employment data. Increased risk of non-compliance with employment and payroll legislation. Significant reputational and employee relations impacts. A contract extension will ensure stability and continuity whilst future arrangements are established.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-078481
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095598-2026
- 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
72222300 - Information technology services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £1,500,000 £1M-£10M
- Lots Value
- £1,500,000 £1M-£10M
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 9 Oct 20264 days ago
- Submission Deadline
- 20 Nov 20262 months to go
- Future Notice Date
- Not specified
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 10 Mar 2027 - 9 Mar 2030 3-4 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
- Look Ahead Care and Support
- Contact Name
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
- Contact Email
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
- Contact Phone
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Buyer Location
- Locality
- LONDON
- Postcode
- N7 9BG
- Postcode Area
- North London
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLI London
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLI4 Inner London - East
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLI43 Haringey and Islington
- Delivery Location
- TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England)
-
- Local Authority
- Islington
- Electoral Ward
- Laycock
- Westminster Constituency
- Islington South and Finsbury
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095598-2026
9th October 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095559-2026
9th October 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
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.