DBT Employer Skills Investment contract awarded to ASTON UNIVERSITY

Tender information last checkedLast checked 8 Oct 2026, 13:31.

Opportunity overview

This contract was awarded back in February 2026 and is being published for transparency purposes. The Industrial Strategy Advisory Council Secretariat (ISAC) needs to build a more robust understanding of the employer-skills investment landscape, specifically on the determinants of it, and how these may vary across the Industrial Strategy 8 sectors (IS-8). Understanding the current baseline/state of play is a critical step needed to provide recommendations and ideas for targeted interventions that will improve the UK’ skills system. The work is predominantly analysis and producing findings.

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

Aston University

Matched by exact name

Contract value: £29.8k
Awarded: Not supplied
Contract signed: 20 Feb 2026
Including VAT: £35.7k
Award ID: 1
Status: active
Identifier: GB-PPON PTLB-7496-TPTR
Location: Birmingham, UKG31, B4 7ET, United Kingdom

Classification

No classification was supplied.

Lots

Lot 1Value not stated

Documents and notices

Contract details notice on Find a TenderOpen source ↗

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id: PR_5165
Status: complete
Procurement Method: direct
Procurement Method Details: Below threshold - without competition

Legal basis

Id: 2023/54
Scheme: UKPGA
Uri: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ↗

Lots and requirements

Entry 1

Id: 1
Status: complete

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1

Name: Department for Business & Trade
Id: GB-PPON-PZZJ-6312-QTTD

Identifier

Scheme: GB-PPON
Id: PZZJ-6312-QTTD

Address

Street Address: Old Admiralty Building
Locality: London
Postal Code: SW1A 2DY
Country: GB
Country Name: United Kingdom
Region: UKI32

Contact

Email: BuyingConsultancy@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1

Scheme: UK_CA_TYPE
Id: publicAuthorityCentralGovernment
Description: Public authority - central government

Organisation 2

Name: Aston University
Id: GB-PPON-PTLB-7496-TPTR

Identifier

Scheme: GB-PPON
Id: PTLB-7496-TPTR

Address

Street Address: Economics and International Business Department, Aston Business School
Locality: Birmingham
Postal Code: B4 7ET
Country: GB
Country Name: United Kingdom
Region: UKG31

Contact

Email: info@aston.ac.uk

Roles

supplier

Details

Scale: large
Vcse: No

Award information

Award 1

Id: 1
Status: active
Main Procurement Category: services

Items

Item 1

Id: 1
Related Lot: 1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1

Scheme: CPV
Id: 73110000
Description: Research services

Delivery locations

Entry 1

Region: UK
Country: GB
Country Name: United Kingdom

Suppliers

Supplier 1

Id: GB-PPON-PTLB-7496-TPTR
Name: Aston University

Related lots

Contracts and changes

Entry 1

Id: 1
Award ID: 1
Title: CR_5551 Employer Skills Investment
Status: active
Above Threshold: No
Date Signed: 20 Feb 2026, 00:00

Period

Starts: 23 Feb 2026, 00:00
Ends: 31 Mar 2026, 23:59

Value

Including VAT: 35,730
Amount: 29,775
Currency: GBP

Documents

Entry 1

Id: 095147-2026
Document Type: contractNotice
Notice Type: UK7
Description: Contract details notice on Find a Tender
Url: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095147-2026 ↗
Published: 8 Oct 2026, 12:08
Format: text/html

Recorded locations

Buyer location · London · UKI32 · SW1A 2DY · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION

095147-2026Contract details notice on Find a Tender · 8 Oct 2026, 12:08

PROCURAAXIS AWARD ANALYSIS

Award outcome intelligence

Evidence-bound analysis of the published award appears below the official tender and award information.

ANALYSIS PREVIEW

Award intelligence at a glance

Department for Business & Trade awarded ASTON UNIVERSITY a research-services contract to analyse employer skills investment across the Industrial Strategy 8 sectors. The published contract record states it was signed on 20 February 2026, ran from 23 February to 31 March 2026, and had a gross value of £35,730 (£29,775 excluding VAT).

Published outcome signals

Notice publication8 October 2026Evidence: Contract details notice published_at: 2026-10-08T12:08:07+01:00.
Award statusActiveEvidence: Award 1 status is recorded as active.
Contract signature20 February 2026Evidence: Contract 1 dateSigned: 2026-02-20.

97% approved-analysis confidence1 supplier record analysed3 source limitations

SOURCE AND FRESHNESS

Traceable procurement data

Source: Find a Tender
Notice reference: 095147-2026
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-07839d
First published: 8 Oct 2026
Last checked: 8 Oct 2026, 13:31
Notice versions reviewed: 1

View Find a Tender notice ↗

HOW THIS WAS PREPARED

Approved, evidence-bound analysis

ProcuraAxis structures information found in published procurement records, checks the result for consistency and publishes only approved analysis. Confidence describes the completeness and consistency of the available source information; it is not a guarantee of eligibility or contract award.

Analysis status: Approved for publication
Analysed: 11 Oct 2026

Read the analysis methodology →

AWARD OUTCOME

What happened

Published outcome

One award, covering lot 1, was made to ASTON UNIVERSITY through a below-threshold direct procurement without competition.

Market significance

This is a small, short-duration central-government research commission focused on evidence and analysis for UK skills-policy development.

AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS

1 supplier record analysed

ASTON UNIVERSITY

99% confidence

Award 1 · Lots 1 · £35,730 gross; £29,775 excluding VAT GBP · verified; award active

View supporting evidence

Verified supplier identity: ASTON UNIVERSITY (company number RC000904); award 1 names Aston University as sole supplier. Contract 1 is linked to award 1 and states the contract value.

LIFECYCLE

Award or contract stage

Notice publication

99% confidence

8 October 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract details notice published_at: 2026-10-08T12:08:07+01:00.

Award status

94% confidence

Active

View supporting evidence

Award 1 status is recorded as active.

Contract signature

99% confidence

20 February 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 dateSigned: 2026-02-20.

Contract period

99% confidence

23 February 2026 to 31 March 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 period.startDate and period.endDate.

VALUES

Published values explained

Contract value excluding VAT

99% confidence

£29,775

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 value.amount: 29775 GBP.

Contract value including VAT

99% confidence

£35,730

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 value.amountGross: 35730 GBP.

TIMELINE

Procurement timeline

Contract signed

99% confidence

20 February 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 dateSigned: 2026-02-20.

Contract start

99% confidence

23 February 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 period.startDate: 2026-02-23.

Contract end

99% confidence

31 March 2026

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 period.endDate: 2026-03-31T23:59:59+01:00.

Contract details notice published

99% confidence

8 October 2026

View supporting evidence

Notice datePublished: 2026-10-08T12:08:07+01:00.

SCOPE

What was awarded

Requirement

97% confidence

Analysis of the employer-skills investment landscape, its determinants and variation across the Industrial Strategy 8 sectors, producing findings to inform recommendations and potential targeted interventions.

View supporting evidence

Tender description.

Service category

99% confidence

Research services

View supporting evidence

Award item additional classification CPV 73110000, Research services.

Delivery location

94% confidence

United Kingdom

View supporting evidence

Award item delivery address region: UK.

Lot structure

98% confidence

Single lot (lot 1)

View supporting evidence

Tender and award records reference only lot 1.

PROCEDURE

Procedure and competition

Procurement method

99% confidence

Direct procurement

View supporting evidence

Tender procurementMethod: direct.

Procurement detail

99% confidence

Below threshold – without competition

View supporting evidence

Tender procurementMethodDetails: Below threshold - without competition.

Competition information

98% confidence

No competition was used according to the published procurement-method detail.

View supporting evidence

Tender procurementMethodDetails states below threshold without competition.

Number of bids

99% confidence

Unknown

View supporting evidence

Information not supplied in the published notice.

CONTRACT TERMS

Published contract terms

Contract status

94% confidence

Active in the published record

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 status: active.

Contract duration

98% confidence

Approximately 37 days

View supporting evidence

Published period runs from 23 February 2026 to 31 March 2026.

Above-threshold status

99% confidence

View supporting evidence

Contract 1 aboveThreshold: false.

Extension or renewal provisions

99% confidence

Unknown

View supporting evidence

Information not supplied in the published notice.

COMMERCIAL VIEW

Commercial observations

Commercial profile

96% confidence

A fixed, short research engagement with a published gross value of £35,730.

View supporting evidence

Contract scope describes research analysis; contract period and value are published.

Award timing

98% confidence

The notice says the contract was awarded in February 2026 and was published later for transparency.

View supporting evidence

Tender description; contract signature date is 20 February 2026 and notice was published on 8 October 2026.

ANALYSIS QUALITY

97%overall confidence

Confidence reflects the completeness and consistency of the published award data.

Reference: ocds-h6vhtk-07839d
Analysed: 11 Oct 2026

APPROVED AWARD ANALYSIS

BUYER CONTEXT

Buyer context

Buyer

99% confidence

Department for Business & Trade

View supporting evidence

Buyer party name.

Buyer type

99% confidence

Central government public authority

View supporting evidence

Buyer classification: publicAuthorityCentralGovernment.

Buyer location

98% confidence

London, United Kingdom

View supporting evidence

Buyer address lists Old Admiralty Building, London, SW1A 2DY.

SUPPLIER CONTEXT

Supplier context

Legal supplier identity

99% confidence

ASTON UNIVERSITY

View supporting evidence

Supplier verification identifies verified_company_name ASTON UNIVERSITY, matched by exact name to company number RC000904.

Supplier location

98% confidence

Birmingham, United Kingdom

View supporting evidence

Supplier party address lists Birmingham, B4 7ET.

Supplier scale

94% confidence

Large

View supporting evidence

Supplier party details.scale: large.

RENEWAL OUTLOOK

Renewal outlook

98% confidence

The stated contract end date was 31 March 2026; any renewal timing is unknown and no procurement forecast is indicated.

View supporting evidence

Contract period endDate is 2026-03-31; no extension or renewal terms are published.

DATA QUALITY

Gaps and source limitations

Status and end-date inconsistency

99% confidence

The contract is marked active, although its stated end date of 31 March 2026 precedes the 8 October 2026 notice publication date.

View supporting evidence

Contract status: active; period endDate: 2026-03-31; notice datePublished: 2026-10-08.

Unpublished evaluation detail

98% confidence

Information not supplied in the published notice: bid count, evaluation methodology, award rationale, pricing breakdown and individual lot value.

View supporting evidence

No such fields are present in the supplied notice data.

Supplier identity quality

99% confidence

Supplier identity is verified as ASTON UNIVERSITY; the source supplier name was Aston University and no mismatch was flagged.

View supporting evidence

supplierVerification status: verified; verifiedCompanyName: ASTON UNIVERSITY; nameMismatch: false.

SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS

Information not supplied in the published notice

The published record marks the contract active despite a stated end date of 31 March 2026, before the notice publication date; the analysis reports both fields without resolving the discrepancy.
Information not supplied in the published notice: bid count, evaluation or award rationale, scoring, pricing breakdown, extension terms, renewal terms and individual lot value.
The tender description says the contract was awarded in February 2026 but does not provide a separate award-decision date; the signed-contract date is 20 February 2026.

MARKET THEMES

Relevant award themes

COMMON QUESTIONS

About this award

Who won the Employer Skills Investment contract?

ASTON UNIVERSITY was the verified supplier named for award 1.

What was the contract value?

The published value is £29,775 excluding VAT and £35,730 including VAT.

When did the contract run?

The published contract period was 23 February 2026 to 31 March 2026.

Was the contract competitively tendered?

The notice describes the procurement as below threshold and without competition.

ProcuraAxis award analysis supplements, but does not replace, the official award notice, contract data or procurement documents. “Awarded” does not by itself prove that a contract has been signed.

CR_5551 Employer Skills Investment

Opportunity overview

Awarded to

Aston University

Classification

Lots

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Scope, procedure and submissions

Legal basis

Lots and requirements

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Identifier

Address

Contact

Roles

Details

Classifications

Identifier

Address

Contact

Roles

Details

Award information

Items

Additional Classifications

Delivery locations

Suppliers

Related lots

Contracts and changes

Period

Value

Documents

Recorded locations

Notice and amendment history

Award intelligence at a glance

Published outcome signals

Traceable procurement data

Approved, evidence-bound analysis

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