Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
The City of Edinburgh Council
Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street
Edinburgh
EH8 8BG
Telephone
+44 1315296432
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKM75 - Edinburgh, City of
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00290
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Public Relations (PR) Support for Destination Edinburgh’s Marketing and Promotions Activity
Reference number
CT2942
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79416000 - Public relations services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The City of Edinburgh Council (the Council) requires a knowledgeable and experienced PR agency (Provider) to support 'Forever Edinburgh activities' for two initial campaigns and any future campaigns over a four year contract period. The initial budget available for the two initial campaigns in 2023/24 and 2024/25 is GBP60,000 - GBP80,000.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £370,000
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79416100 - Public relations management services
- 79416200 - Public relations consultancy services
- 79416000 - Public relations services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKM75 - Edinburgh, City of
Main site or place of performance
The City of Edinburgh
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Forever Edinburgh is The Official Visitor Guide to Edinburgh, promoting Edinburgh and providing inspiration and useful planning information to prospective inbound leisure visitors and residents.
While organic activity maintains a level of daily engagement with existing audiences, Forever Edinburgh run paid campaigns to target specific audiences and segments that have the highest propensity to travel and from the higher visitor-value markets.
The City of Edinburgh Council requires a knowledgeable and experienced PR agency to support initially two of these paid campaigns for 23/24 and 24/25. This contract may also be used to support future campaigns over the period of 2023 – 2027.
The Provider will be required to plan, develop, and deliver complementary consumer and corporate PR campaigns for two destination-led campaigns: (1) Resident Rewards Edinburgh and (2) Inbound Leisure Tourism Campaign. Over the life of this Contract, other campaigns and activity projects may be identified.
As the two campaigns have different target audiences, the Provider must have a strong understanding and awareness of the Edinburgh leisure visitor product offering; know what is happening in the city at any given time to ensure the campaigns remains relevant; have experience working with the tourism sector; have relationships with tourism businesses in Edinburgh, and strong media relationships and connections in both Edinburgh and with national gold and silver tier media titles and lifestyle publications as so to be able to support a resident focused campaign and a nationally targeted visitor campaign.
Forever Edinburgh has secured funding to deliver the first two campaigns mentioned in this Contract Notice: Resident Rewards Edinburgh and the Inbound Visitor campaign. The combined
value of funding allocated to PR activity for these two campaigns in 2023/24 and 2024/25 is 60,000 GBP to 80,000 GBP. (between 30,000 GBP and 40,000 GBP per annum). The remainder of the Contract value as advertised is subject to Forever Edinburgh securing additional external funding over the lifetime of the Contract. There is no guarantee that additional funding will be secured.
The full scope of services is contained within the Invitation to Tender package.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 70
Price - Weighting: 30
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2023/S 000-019760
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
CT2942
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
29 January 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 7
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 7
Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 7
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 7
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
BIG Partnership
4th Floor, Venue Studios, 21 Calton Road
Edinburgh
EH8 8DL
Telephone
+44 7593548488
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £370,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
CONTRACT SPECIFIC MANDATORY CRITERIA
Part IV: Selection criteria - C: Technical and Professional Ability – Prompt Payment – Question 4C.4 - It is a mandatory requirement of
this Framework that a prompt payment clause is present in all Contracts used in the delivery of the requirements. This ensures payment of sub-contractors at all stages of the supply chain within 30 days and includes an obligation to provide a point of contact for sub-contractors to refer to in the case of payment difficulties. This will require active monitoring of payment performance as well as the provision of evidence and reports to the Council on request or as contractually scheduled. Bidders should confirm that this condition will be met within the response to this question.
Part IV: Selection criteria - C: Technical and Professional Ability – Living Wage Payment – Question 4C.4
Tenderers are asked to confirm that they will pay staff that are involved in the delivery of the [framework agreement / contract, and/or any subsequent call off contract] (including any agency or sub-contractor staff) directly involved in the delivery of the [framework agreement / contract, and/or any subsequent call off contract]), at least the real Living Wage.
Part IV: Selection criteria - C: Environmental Management Measures – Question 4C.7 - Bidders will be required to provide evidence that
their organisation has taken steps to build their awareness of the climate change emergency and how they will respond. Accepted evidence
includes but is not limited to the provision of a carbon reduction plan Where a Tenderer’s response is of a less than the acceptable standard, the Council may exclude the Tenderer from the competition or may apply discretion seeking supporting evidence to determine the Tenderer’s suitability to proceed in the competition.
Part IV: Selection criteria - D: Quality Assurance Schemes & Environmental Management – Question 4D.1 - It is a mandatory requirement that Tendering Organisations with more than 5 employees have in place a Health & Safety Policy which is approved at a senior level within the Organisation and is reviewed regularly. Bidders should confirm that this condition has been met within the response to this question. Where a Bidder does not have a Health & Safety Policy and is required to do so, the Council may exclude the Bidder from the competition
(SC Ref:757599)
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Sheriff Court
Sheriff Court House, 27 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LB
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
An economic operator that suffers or risks suffering loss or damage attributable to a breach of duty under Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 may bring proceedings in the Sheriff Court or Court of Session. . A claim for an ineffectiveness order must be made within 30 days of the Contract Award Notice being published in the Find a Tender Service /OJEU or within 30 days of the date those who expressed an interest in or otherwise bid for the contract were informed of the conclusion of the contract or in any other case within 6 months from the date on which the contract was entered into.