Aspire Academy Trust - Provision of HR and Payroll System

What the buyer is asking for

This tender opportunity has been issued by Aspire Academy Trust (the Trust), and Tenderers are invited to tender for the provision of an integrated Human Resources and Payroll system, with the capability to support a fully managed payroll service. Full details of all contract requirements are set out in Document 2: Specification of Requirements. The Trust comprises multiple academies operating under a unified governance structure and workforce framework. To support effective workforce management, regulatory compliance, and strategic oversight, the Trust requires a fully integrated HR and Payroll platform operating from a single, authoritative dataset. The solution must enable compliant payroll and workforce administration in accordance with relevant legislation, HMRC requirements, Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) regulations, statutory employment obligations, and sector best practice. It must also provide the transparency, reporting capability, and internal controls necessary to support efficient Trust-wide operations.

How this is scored

Published by the buyer. A winning response is written to these weightings, not to the question.

• 60%qualityStage 2 - Quality Assessment(Software Functionality) 35% (Quality Questions) 25%
• 40%pricePrice Assessment

What you must already have

Conditions of participation. These are pass or fail, so check them before writing anything.

• economic

  To constitute a pass, Tenderers must demonstrate their economic and financial standing in accordance with the following: Due diligence checks will be undertaken on the preferred Tenderer’s accounts to determine a Tenderer’s financial standing. This will incorporate credit checks and a financial appraisal. To constitute a pass, tenderers must: a) Complete a credit check & financial appraisal. No outstanding CCJs or bankruptcy must be shown. A financial appraisal will be based upon the organisation’s gearing ratio, with an acceptable target ratio of approximately 2:1 Any answers which lead the Trust, acting reasonably, to conclude, considering the risk that the relevant answer suggests about the Tenderer’s ability to properly perform the specification, the Tenderer may be rejected. Insurance requirements - can commit to obtain, prior to the award of the contract, the levels of insurance cover indicated below a. Employer’s (Compulsory) Liability Insurance* = £5m b. Public Liability Insurance = £5m c. Professional Indemnity Insurance = £1m d. Product Liability Insurance = £1m e. Cyber and Data Protection Insurance = £1m

• technical

  Relevant Experience & Contract Examples Provide details of up to three contracts to meet conditions of participation relating to technical ability set out in the relevant notice or procurement documents, in any combination from the education sector. To constitute a pass, the contract examples provided shall be relevant to the requirement, with a sufficient level of detail that provides confidence in the Tenderer’s established past experience in similar and relevant projects/contracts. If you cannot provide at least one example of previous contracts, please provide an explanation for this and how you meet the conditions of participation relating to technical ability. Organisational Standards Please provide details of the Quality Management and Information, Security standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 27001, or equivalent internationally recognised certifications. You must confirm that the scope of these certifications explicitly covers the services proposed within this procurement or will commit they will be in place for the start of the contract. Where equivalent standards are offered, please explain how they meet or exceed the requirements of the specified ISO standards.

How contested is this?

Buyers publish how many bids they received. Across 290 comparable procurements we can tell you the typical field size, how often one of these goes uncontested, and whether the buyer awards on price or on quality.

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London

1. Tender notice published16 days ago

   21 Oct 2026, 16:30 BST
2. Clarification questions byin 7 days

   13 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
3. Submission deadlinein 21 days

   27 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
4. Award decision expected byin 59 days

   4 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT

Commercial outcome and contract awards

Nothing awarded yet

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender

1. Tender notice21 Oct 2026, 16:30 BST099665-2026

Payment terms

The Trust requires the following payment profile: a. Implementation Costs • 25% invoiced upon Contract Signature • 25% invoiced upon completion of the build • 25% following completion of testing • 25% following go live plus 1 month b. Table B All Inclusive Cost • Monthly invoice in arrears where it has been identified, and agreed, that adjustments are required (in respect of service credits, additional works, errors or missions), these will be taken account of within the next invoice.

Documents

• Tender notice on Find a Tender