Award

HR and Payroll Systems VEAT Notice

EAST LOTHIAN COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

30 Apr 2025 at 00:00

OJEU - F15 - Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

East Lothian Council has completed a procurement process for the provision of HR and Payroll systems through a limited procedure involving a voluntary ex ante transparency (VEAT) notice. The contract, valued at £646,609 and lasting five years, has been awarded to MHR International. Located in Haddington, East Lothian, the buyer, East Lothian Council, operates under the general public services category. This procurement process was conducted under the award stage without prior publication, justified by technical reasonings and cost implications associated with changing systems. The contract was signed on 27th March 2025, focusing on services within the UKM73 region.

This procurement presents significant opportunities for firms specialising in HR and Payroll systems, particularly those capable of offering competitive solutions under complex procurement regulations. Large-scale suppliers with exclusive rights to proprietary software, like MHR International with iTrent products, are especially well-suited for this tender due to technical and administrative requirements identified by East Lothian Council. Businesses with capabilities in seamless data migration and system integration, alongside effective organisation-wide training, will find this type of contract beneficial for growth and establishing long-term partnerships with local government entities.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

HR and Payroll Systems VEAT Notice

Notice Description

This is a voluntary ex ante transparency(VEAT) notice. East Lothian Council intends to award of contract for it's HR and Payroll System to MHR International for 5 years.

Lot Information

Lot 1

This is a voluntary ex ante transparency(VEAT) notice. East Lothian Council intends to award of contract for it's HR and Payroll System to MHR International for 5 years.

Procurement Information

East Lothian Council's HR and Payroll System is essential to organisational service delivery. In this instance, cost and resource implications of changing to a new platform would have significant cost of change implications. The business rationale for continuing with MHR International products links to the costs of change, which is not necessarily limited to the direct costs of licensing new software, but holistic costs pertaining to the migration of data, implementation of organisation wide training to embed a new system. The current system is embedded within processes and cross departmentally. Given the costs outlined above, an alternative system would need to be a consolidation of software systems to deliver efficiencies which provide the most economically advantageous solution. It was not judged that this could be achieved in this contractual cycle. For these reasons, there are no financially, administratively reasonable, viable alternative, substitute systems, or products other than the iTrent software that can meet East Lothian Council's needs during the period of the proposed contract. The required licensing and support of this product can only be provided by MHR International for technical reasons and due to the supplier's exclusive rights in and to the proprietary [iTrent products. Accordingly, it is considered that the proposed award of contract to MHR International meets with the requirements Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, Regulation 33(1)(b)(ii) and (iii). The Council will continue, during the life of the contract, to carry out market testing for tendering opportunities beyond this contract.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-r6ebe6-0000797518
Publication Source
Public Contracts Scotland
Latest Notice
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=APR529270
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
OJEU - F15 - Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

79631000 - Personnel and payroll services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£646,609 £500K-£1M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
30 Apr 20259 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
27 Mar 202511 months ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
EAST LOTHIAN COUNCIL
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
procurement@eastlothian.gov.uk
Contact Phone
+44 620827827

Buyer Location

Locality
HADDINGTON, EAST LOTHIAN
Postcode
EH41 3HA
Post Town
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM11 East Lothian and Midlothian
Delivery Location
TLM73 East Lothian and Midlothian
Local Authority
East Lothian
Electoral Ward
Haddington and Lammermuir
Westminster Constituency
Lothian East

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

MHR

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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