Harris Federation is to establish a preferred supplier list (PSL) to secure the provision of specialist recruitment services that support the staffing requirements of all existing and future, academies within the Federation. As one of the largest multi academy trusts in the country, with a pipeline of future academy projects planned, the Harris Federation has a high volume recruitment demand focused on academy/class based staffing. We are seeking the services of established recruitment agencies with a proven track record of delivering mandates in education, or appropriate sectors and have the means to deliver compliant, high-quality staffing solutions for our growing number of primary and secondary academies.
The PSL will comprise of suppliers who can service both temporary and permanent recruitment solutions, delivered through 1
The PSL will be set up as a dynamic purchasing system for a period of 4 years that refreshes at least 3 times a year to review the current composition and suppliers’ placement on Tier 1 and Tier 2. This ‘refreshing’ will also allow the Federation to consider new entrants for inclusion as well as review existing suppliers to ensure they are still meeting the standards detailed in the selection questionnaire and in terms of their performance.
The purpose of the PSL is to provide qualitative assurances that enable Harris academies to partner with quality driven suppliers that offer a range of recruitment services under a central Federation framework, underpinned by a common set of terms of business and bespoke pricing agreements. The central Talent Resourcing and Attraction Team will be responsible for coordinating the PSL as part of the wider Federation resourcing strategy and will support individual academies who engage directly with preferred suppliers through mandatory systems and processes. The level of input required by the central Talent Resourcing and Attraction Team when engaging the PSL will be determined by the type of employment and assignment duration, but the PSL will be mandated across the Federation with all recruitment services drawn from the PSL only.
To achieve a PSL that provides academies a depth and breadth of supplier service and offers both flexibility and transparency, we anticipate that no more than 10 suppliers will be awarded Tier 1 status per job category and that Tier 1 suppliers only service that category. However, suppliers could hold Tier 1 status for both job categories, or hold Tier 1 and Tier 2 status in each job category based on their capability and specialisms. We therefore expect Tier 2 suppliers to service work across both job categories and all employment types for any academy within the Federation. The Federation reserves the right to vary this based on the outcomes of the tendering process. We anticipate that no more than 20 suppliers will be awarded Tier 2 status per job category.
The objective in creating a PSL with Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier status is to encourage academy/supplier partnerships based on quality of service, whilst offering periods of exclusivity and driving higher volumes of work to suppliers based on their specialisms, capabilities, market coverage and quality of industry experience. An academy may by exception award supply status to 1 supplier on Tier 1 for a particular role in a job category.