We consider noncommutative GUT inspired field theories formulated within the enveloping-algebra formalism for anomaly safe compact simple gauge groups. Our theories have only gauge fields and fermions, and we compute the UV divergent part of the one-loop background-field effective action involving two fermionic fields at first order in the noncommutativity parameter θ. We show that, if the second-degree Casimir has the same value for all the irreducible group representations furnished by the fermionic multiplets of the model, then, that UV divergent part can be renormalised by carrying out multiplicative renormalisations of the coupling constant, θ and the fields, along with the inclusion of θ-dependent counterterms which vanish upon imposing the equations of motion. These θ-dependent counterterms have no physical effect since they vanish on-shell. This result along with the vanishing of the UV divergent part of the fermionic four-point functions leads to the unexpected conclusion that the one-loop matter sector of the background-field effective action of these theories is one-loop multiplicatively renormalisable on-shell. We also show that the background-field effective action of the gauge sector of the theories considered here receives no θ-dependent UV divergent contributions at one-loop. We thus conclude that these theories are on-shell one-loop multiplicatively renormalisable at first order in θ.