Official UK procurement notice
Apprenticeship Hotel Management and Support
Authority: Nottingham College (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionA system specifically designed to manage travel, accommodation, and scheduling for apprentices. Including features for safeguarding and compliance, which are critical for younger learners and auditing requirements (like Ofsted)
We will need tailored offerings for field-based training programs. Allowing us to secure block accommodation at discounted rates.
A streamlined version for general corporate travel management, focusing on hotel bookings and transport coordination for Apprentices.
The platform needs to maintain full audit trails and document storage, making it easier for us to prove we are meeting regulatory standards.
The provider will need to negotiate directly with hotels and venues to secure competitive "block" rates that are usually lower than standard public rates.
The provider will need to provide a mobile app for the Apprentices to access their training dates, joining instructions, and accommodation details.
The provider will need to ensure round-the-clock support for Apprentices who might encounter issues (like check-in problems) outside of standard business hours.
Key Deliverables
A hold at the hotels of 50 rooms per evening through the working week.
A discounted hotel rooms rate.
The ability to block book.
A system for tracking issues and ensuring a safeguarding culture and environment is maintained.
An account manager to support the relationship between us and the hotel.
Geographical Coverage
Nottingham
Slough
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 May 2026, 16:01 BST
- Last source update
- 12 May 2026, 16:01 BST
- Authority reference
NC/PROC/0438- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-043588- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0696edFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Unique Work Art Performance; Urgency
- Published justification
Following market assessment, it has been determined that only one supplier is capable of delivering the Authority's requirement for an integrated, cloud-based system to manage residential apprenticeship delivery end-to-end.
The Authority requires a specialist, fully integrated platform that combines multiple critical operational functions into a single system, including: accommodation booking, travel management, apprentice block scheduling, safeguarding and welfare tracking, real-time communications, reporting, and feedback collection. These functions must operate cohesively to support high-volume residential apprenticeship delivery, ensure safeguarding compliance, and meet Ofsted expectations.
Market engagement and research identified alternative suppliers; however, these suppliers were unable to meet the requirement for a single, unified, cloud-based platform. Available alternatives typically rely on disparate systems and/or manual processes, requiring multiple platforms or manual intervention to deliver the same outcomes. This creates significant operational inefficiencies, increased administrative burden, and heightened risks in relation to:
safeguarding and welfare oversight
accuracy of bookings and scheduling
real-time visibility of learner activity
auditability and reporting required for Ofsted and regulatory compliance
The Authority has determined that no reasonably available alternative solution can replicate this level of integration and functionality without substantial custom development, system integration, or manual workaround processes. Such approaches would introduce unacceptable delivery risk, additional cost, implementation delay, and potential non-compliance with safeguarding and inspection requirements.
Accordingly, competition is considered absent for technical reasons, and the ServAce platform is the only supplier currently capable of meeting the Authority's requirements in full.
The Authority is therefore satisfied that a direct award is justified on the basis that:
the requirement can only be fulfilled by one supplier due to its unique combination of technical capabilities and system integration, and
no reasonable substitute or alternative solution exists within the market that can meet the Authority's needs to the required standard.
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 12 May 2026- Transparency notice published12 May 2026, 16:01 BSTUK5
- Contract signature expected1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Servace Solutions LimitedApprenticeship Hotel Management1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2030 · up to 31 Jul 2032Extensions: Two optional 12 month extensions | £2,800,000 | — | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Servace Solutions LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender