Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Invest Northern Ireland
Bedford Square 1 Bedford Street
BELFAST
BT2 7ES
SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKN - Northern Ireland
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Buyer's address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
ID 5448827 Invest NI - Development and Delivery of the Invest NI Going Dutch Programme
Reference number
ID 5448827
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79413000 - Marketing management consultancy services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Invest NI in recognising the challenge for SME’s and in particular Early-Stage Exporters to grow outside Northern Ireland, wish to appoint a Contractor for the design and development of the “Going Dutch Programme” that will support and develop the capability of our companies, giving them the confidence, ambition, knowledge and skills required to develop new external and export markets for the first time. As a result, Invest NI is seeking to appoint a Supplier for the development, delivery and management of the programme for an initial period of 24 months from the date of appointment, with the option to extend for two further periods of 24 months and 12 months respectively, with an anticipated launch date in financial quarter 4, 2024/25. Please see the Specification Schedule for further information.
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: £924,000
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79400000 - Business and management consultancy and related services
- 79410000 - Business and management consultancy services
- 79310000 - Market research services
- 80532000 - Management training services
- 73210000 - Research consultancy services
- 73220000 - Development consultancy services
- 75110000 - General public services
- 75120000 - Administrative services of agencies
- 75200000 - Provision of services to the community
- 66150000 - Financial markets administration services
- 73200000 - Research and development consultancy services
- 75000000 - Administration, defence and social security services
- 75111100 - Executive services
- 75130000 - Supporting services for the government
- 75210000 - Foreign affairs and other services
- 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
- 75111200 - Legislative services
- 66100000 - Banking and investment services
- 73100000 - Research and experimental development services
- 73400000 - Research and Development services on security and defence materials
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Invest NI in recognising the challenge for SME’s and in particular Early-Stage Exporters to grow outside Northern Ireland, wish to appoint a Contractor for the design and development of the “Going Dutch Programme” that will support and develop the capability of our companies, giving them the confidence, ambition, knowledge and skills required to develop new external and export markets for the first time. As a result, Invest NI is seeking to appoint a Supplier for the development, delivery and management of the programme for an initial period of 24 months from the date of appointment, with the option to extend for two further periods of 24 months and 12 months respectively, with an anticipated launch date in financial quarter 4, 2024/25. Please see the Specification Schedule for further information.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: AC1 Lead Programme Trainers and/or Trade Advisers Experience: Delivering an Export Development Programme / Weighting: 30
Quality criterion - Name: AC2 Lead Programme Trainers and/or Trade Advisers Experience: Market Research / Export Projects / Weighting: 25.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC3 Learning Objectives, Content and Methodology / Weighting: 9
Quality criterion - Name: AC4 Social Value / Weighting: 10.5
Cost criterion - Name: AC5 Total Contract Price / Weighting: 25
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
The initial contract period will run for a period of up to 24 months with a first option to extend for up to 24 months and a second optional extension period of up to 12 months.
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: 2024/S 000-038591
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
1
Title
Contract
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
3 April 2025
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 2
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 1
Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 2
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Northern Ireland Trade Consultants B.V.
Beethovenstraat 176
Amsterdam
1077 JX
Telephone
+31 204217400
Country
Netherlands
NUTS code
- NL - Netherlands
Internet address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: £924,000
Total value of the contract/lot: £85,585
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
The successful contractor’s performance on the contract will be regularly monitored in line with the tender documentation. Contractors not delivering on contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a contractor fails to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time, they still fail to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance, the matter will be escalated to senior management in CPD for further action. If this occurs and their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as an act of grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated.. The issue of a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance can result in the Contractor being excluded from all procurement competitions being undertaken by Centres of Procurement Expertise on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Procurement Policy for a period of three years from the date of issue.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended.
Belfast
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
CPD complied with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and incorporated a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract was communicated to tenderers.. That notification provided full information on the award decision. This provided time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract was entered into.