Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
British Business Bank
Steel City House, Steel City House, 2 West Street
Sheffield
S1 2GQ
Contact
Procurement
procurement@british-business-bank.co.uk
Telephone
+44 1142127877
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKE32 - Sheffield
Internet address(es)
Main address
www.british-business-bank.co.uk
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Economic and financial affairs
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Investment Management System ("IMS")
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Authority has awarded an investment management system (“IMS”) contract ("Contract") to BlackRock, relying on the exemption in Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to use the negotiated procedure without prior publication, on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons. The IMS will allow the Authority to manage the full investment administration cycle of its debt and equity portfolio (“Portfolio”). The Contract covers implementation, migration support, professional services, licensing, and maintenance.
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: £890,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
Main site or place of performance
UNITED KINGDOM
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Authority has awarded an investment management system (“IMS”) contract ("Contract") to BlackRock, relying on the exemption in Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to use the negotiated procedure without prior publication, on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons. The IMS will allow the Authority to manage the full investment administration cycle of its debt and equity portfolio (“Portfolio”). The Contract covers implementation, migration support, professional services, licensing, and maintenance. The Authority considered that the Contract can be supplied only by BlackRock through its eFront Invest solution, as BlackRock is uniquely able to provide certain mandatory requirements of the Authority's specification. The Authority reached that conclusion after the following due diligence process: •Engagement of an external consultancy with expertise in this area to prepare a market analysis of options available against the Authority’s service requirements and technical specification •An “RFI” was undertaken with a shortlist of suppliers identified by the external consultancy (“Suppliers”) to understand the technical capability and compatibility of the systems with the Authority’s mandatory requirements and the unique breadth of its Portfolio both in its current and future state •An options report was prepared by the external consultancy which identified eFront Invest as the only solution able to meet the Authority’s mandatory requirements, specifically in relation to fee and waterfall modelling, API connectivity to ensure effective data ingestion and system integration and the level of coverage required to support the Portfolio •The Authority’s business architect completed a comparative analysis of the Suppliers’ sample offerings. This analysis concluded that eFront Invest offers a solution that can support the Portfolio, and that it has inbuilt functionality to support fee and waterfall modelling, flagging that these are mandatory requirements This due diligence established that alternative suppliers could not meet the Authority’s mandatory requirements. Specifically, BlackRock is uniquely able to provide fee and waterfall modelling, API connectivity to ensure effective data ingestion and system integration, and the level of coverage required to support the Portfolio. Moreover, the only available alternatives to eFront Invest would have incurred unacceptable operational and accuracy risks including: •incurring operational and data accuracy risks due to managing multiple software solutions and using manual data entry input •A disaggregated solution increasing the risk of error •Inability to deliver on reporting and wider obligations to UK Government •The incompatibility of the alternative solutions to the Authority’s underlying infrastructure could have impacted the traceability and transparency levels required to meet audit and reporting requirements which could also have incurred reputational risk •The lack of a full-service solution across all current and future requirements would have created the need to maintain and potentially increase manual steps and End User Computing Solutions outside operational risk tolerance The Authority is confident that for the outlined reasons no reasonable alternative or substitute exists to eFront Invest. The Authority is also confident that its specification is reasonable and was not been artificially narrowed or constructed in such a way that only eFront Invest would be able to meet its requirements.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price
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
two.2.14) Additional information
A VEAT notice 2023/S 000-008087 was previously published in relation to this contract
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- The services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
- absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
The Authority has awarded an investment management system (“IMS”) contract ("Contract") to BlackRock, relying on the exemption in Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to use the negotiated procedure without prior publication, on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons. The IMS will allow the Authority to manage the full investment administration cycle of its debt and equity portfolio (“Portfolio”). The Contract covers implementation, migration support, professional services, licensing, and maintenance. The Authority considered that the Contract can be supplied only by BlackRock through its eFront Invest solution, as BlackRock is uniquely able to provide certain mandatory requirements of the Authority's specification. The Authority reached that conclusion after the following due diligence process: •Engagement of an external consultancy with expertise in this area to prepare a market analysis of options available against the Authority’s service requirements and technical specification •An “RFI” was undertaken with a shortlist of suppliers identified by the external consultancy (“Suppliers”) to understand the technical capability and compatibility of the systems with the Authority’s mandatory requirements and the unique breadth of its Portfolio both in its current and future state •An options report was prepared by the external consultancy which identified eFront Invest as the only solution able to meet the Authority’s mandatory requirements, specifically in relation to fee and waterfall modelling, API connectivity to ensure effective data ingestion and system integration and the level of coverage required to support the Portfolio •The Authority’s business architect completed a comparative analysis of the Suppliers’ sample offerings. This analysis concluded that eFront Invest offers a solution that can support the Portfolio, and that it has inbuilt functionality to support fee and waterfall modelling, flagging that these are mandatory requirements This due diligence established that alternative suppliers could not meet the Authority’s mandatory requirements. Specifically, BlackRock is uniquely able to provide fee and waterfall modelling, API connectivity to ensure effective data ingestion and system integration, and the level of coverage required to support the Portfolio. Moreover, the only available alternatives to eFront Invest would have incurred unacceptable operational and accuracy risks including: •incurring operational and data accuracy risks due to managing multiple software solutions and using manual data entry input •A disaggregated solution increasing the risk of error •Inability to deliver on reporting and wider obligations to UK Government •The incompatibility of the alternative solutions to the Authority’s underlying infrastructure could have impacted the traceability and transparency levels required to meet audit and reporting requirements which could also have incurred reputational risk •The lack of a full-service solution across all current and future requirements would have created the need to maintain and potentially increase manual steps and End User Computing Solutions outside operational risk tolerance The Authority is confident that for the outlined reasons no reasonable alternative or substitute exists to eFront Invest. The Authority is also confident that its specification is reasonable and was not been artificially narrowed or constructed in such a way that only eFront Invest would be able to meet its requirements.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2023/S 000-008087
Section five. Award of contract
Title
Investment Management System ("IMS")
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
31 March 2023
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
eFront Limited
12 Throgmorton Avenue
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
National registration number
03650489
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £890,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
A VEAT notice 2023/S 000-008087 was previously published in relation to this contract
To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=773905003" target="_blank">https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=773905003
GO Reference: GO-202345-PRO-22471372
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
High Court of Justice
London
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
N/A
N/A
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
N/A
N/A
Country
United Kingdom