Description
Westminster City Council (WCC) is undertaking a Pre-Market Engagement (PME) exercise to test interest and feasibility for a proposed procurement exercise to secure specialist Human Resources and Organisational Development (HR & OD) support.
This engagement is intended solely to:
• Gauge initial supplier interest and experience
• Sense checks the feasibility of the proposed delivery and commercial model
• Identify market risks, opportunities and areas requiring clarification
This notice does not constitute a call for competition, does not form part of any procurement process, and does not create any commitment on the part of WCC to proceed.
1. Context
WCC is delivering a major organisational transformation programme (Fit for the Future 2030) involving changes to operating models, structures and ways of working at pace and scale. This includes service redesign, organisational restructuring, and the implementation of new operating models across multiple departments.
The programme is characterised by:
• Multiple concurrent transformation initiatives across services
• Complex organisational design activity, often with interdependencies across functions
• High levels of stakeholder engagement, including Members, Trade Unions and senior leadership
• A requirement to deliver at pace, while maintaining strong employee relations and adherence to organisational values.
HR & OD activity sits on the critical path to delivery, particularly in relation to organisational design, consultation, and implementation. While WCC has strong in-house capability, there is a need for time-limited, specialist surge capacity to support peak periods of design and delivery activity.
WCC is therefore seeking to understand how external partners best support delivery of this work in a way could that complements in-house capability and maintains clear accountability within the organisation.
Delivery Expectations
While specific requirements will vary by commission, WCC anticipates that external HR & OD support would typically be required to deliver a combination of the following activities:
a) Organisational Design & Restructuring
• Supporting the design of target operating models and organisational structures
• Developing role profiles, spans and layers, and grading approaches
• Ensuring alignment between service design, workforce requirements and financial constraints
b) Consultation & Implementation Support
• Preparing consultation materials, documentation and timelines
• Supporting managers through formal consultation processes
• Advising on employee relations matters in complex and unionised environments
• Tracking and managing implementation risks and dependencies
Programme & Delivery Support
• Managing discrete workstreams within broader transformation programmes
• Providing delivery assurance and maintaining pace against milestones
• Coordinating inputs across HR, OD, finance and service teams
c) Specialist HR / OD Expertise
• Providing subject matter expertise in areas such as workforce planning, job evaluation, and change management
• Embedding best practice approaches to equality, diversity and inclusion throughout design and delivery
Capability Transfer
• Working alongside WCC teams to build internal capability and ensure sustainability of approach
External providers would be expected to operate as an extension of WCC teams, working within established governance structures and maintaining clear alignment with organisational values and ways of working.
External providers are asked to consider the proposed delivery model in the context of the typical activities and expectations outlined above, including the nature of organisational design, consultation and implementation support required.
2. Outline of the Proposed Model (for Market Testing)
The emerging model being tested through this engagement is characterised by:
• Call off only engagement via an existing compliant procurement framework or a service provision secured via Open tender
• No guaranteed volume of work
• Typical commissions of up to 3 months
• Small, specialist pods (typically 3–4 FTE) deployed for defined purposes
• External resources providing capacity, assurance and technical expertise only
• All organisational design, decision making and consultation ownership retained by WCC.
In additiona, there is strong, explicit expectations around:
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Values led practice (Our Westminster Way)
- Operating effectively in unionised, high scrutiny environments
An indicative cost envelope for a typical commission is expected to fall in the range of £190k–£275k, subject to scope and approval.
3. How to Participate
External providers are invited to complete a short survey via a Request for Information (RFI) to provide their initial views (hosted on our procurement system ’Jaggaer’).
Please visit this link: https://wcc.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/94430116019E8DCCF12C
• Completion time: approximately 10 minutes
• Responses will be treated in confidence and used only to inform WCC’s thinking
• Participation is voluntary and will not confer any advantage in any future procurement
4. Next Steps
Subject to information received, WCC may:
• Refine the proposed model and specification
• Undertake further structured market engagement – i.e. a further invitation to a Market Engagement ‘Teams’ discussion
• Proceed to a formal procurement via a compliant framework, or release an ‘Open tender
All suppliers responding will be kept informed of next steps via ‘Jaggaer’.
TIMETABLE
Completed questionnaires must be submitted by Friday 19th June 2026, 1pm.