---
title: "Finance System"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078f6a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078f6a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f6a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f6a.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "CANTERBURY CHRIST CHURCH UNIVERSITY"
published: "2026-10-23"
---

# Finance System

Buyer: CANTERBURY CHRIST CHURCH UNIVERSITY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078f6a

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[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f6a.json)

## Summary

Canterbury Christ Church University is continuing its core finance management system, Unit4 ERP (Agresso). The requirement covers the finance software and associated licences, assurance, maintenance, user support, upgrades and professional services. The system supports the university’s general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, procurement integration and management information. This is business finance software and related support, rather than a standalone software purchase. The award information places delivery across England, with locations spanning the North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West. The buyer is Canterbury Christ Church University, based in Canterbury.

The procurement is complete and has been awarded to Unit4 Business Software Ltd by direct award. The university’s stated reason was to continue using its existing Unit4 platform: its finance processes, reporting, data and integrations depend on it, and a supplier change was judged to create significant technical and operational challenges, cost, risk and disruption. The award value is £1.4 million excluding VAT (£1.75 million including VAT). The awarded contract period runs from 1 May 2027 to 30 April 2032. A contract signature was scheduled for 20 December 2026. The procurement has one lot. The stated evaluation basis is the technical case for a single supplier and compatibility with the university’s existing systems; no separate scoring criteria are set out.

For suppliers competing when this requirement next reaches the market, the award shows demand for a university-wide finance platform that can support core accounting, budgeting, forecasting, reporting and procurement integration, together with ongoing software assurance, maintenance, support and upgrades. Credibility will depend on demonstrating that the platform can meet those needs while integrating with established internal and third-party applications and handling historical financial data. Suppliers should be prepared to explain migration, redesign, testing and implementation risks, and how disruption to finance operations can be controlled. The buyer’s decision reflects the operational importance of existing processes and integrations, so a credible alternative would need evidence of technical compatibility and a practical transition approach, alongside the capacity to provide sustained professional and product support.

## Notice

Provision of the University's core finance management system, including software licences, software assurance, maintenance, support, upgrades and associated professional services. The system supports key financial processes including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, procurement integration and associated management information requirements.

### Procurement Information

The University intends to award a contract directly to Unit4 Business Software Limited for the continued provision of its Unit4 ERP (Agresso) finance management system. The University's finance operations, business processes, reporting structures, integrations and associated data are built around the existing Unit4 platform. The system is integrated with a range of internal and third-party applications and supports critical financial management activities across the institution. The University has concluded that changing supplier at this time would result in significant technical and operational challenges. Replacing the current platform would require extensive system redesign, migration of historical financial data, redevelopment of integrations, business process reconfiguration, testing and user retraining. The resulting incompatibility with existing systems and processes would create substantial implementation risk, cost and disruption to the delivery of important services. The University therefore considers that the circumstances satisfy the direct award justification relating to the absence of competition for technical reasons and the need to maintain compatibility with existing systems, as described in Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023. Paragraph 27 of the statutory guidance recognises that incompatibility between existing systems and replacement solutions may justify direct award where it would lead to significant cost, delay or complex redesign activities.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100664-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 May 2027 - 30 Apr 2032 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £1,400,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | CANTERBURY CHRIST CHURCH UNIVERSITY |
| Locality | CANTERBURY |
| Postcode area | Canterbury |
| Postcode | CT1 1QU |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ4 Kent |
| ITL 3 | TLJ44 East Kent |
| Local authority | Canterbury |
| Electoral ward | Barton |
| Westminster constituency | Canterbury |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Unit4 Business Software Limited |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 48 - Software package and information systems

### Codes

- 48000000 - Software package and information systems

## Release History

- 23 Oct 2026 at 15:37 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100664-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100664-2026
  23rd October 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.canterbury.ac.uk
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078f6a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f6a.json.