Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Ministry of Defence
MOD Abbey Wood, Stoke Gifford
Bristol
BS34 8JH
Contact
Harvey Webbber
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKK11 - Bristol, City of
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/defence-digital
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Defence
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
n/a
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 50660000 - Repair and maintenance services of military electronic systems
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The TacSys Service Executive (SE) within Defence Digital, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), intends to place with Marlborough Communications Ltd a 12-month contract for the provision of technical support services to Invisio Headsets.
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: £407,138.08
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKK11 - Bristol, City of
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The TacSys Service Executive (SE) within Defence Digital, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), intends to place with Marlborough Communications Ltd a 12-month contract for the provision of technical support services to Invisio Headsets.
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
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice
- The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development
- The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
- absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
A Single Source contract with Marlborough Communications Ltd (MCL) for the Invisio Headset is justified as competition is absent for the following reasons:
Design Support: INVISIO© A/S Denmark who own the Intellectual Property Rights of the INVISIO Headset system have appointed MCL as their UK partner and are not prepared to licence other suppliers to support or supply the equipment.
Repair: Due to the complexity of the equipment, MCL as the Co-ordinating designer, are the only contractor with the technical ability to undertake repair, maintenance and overhaul activities as they are the only company that supply this equipment. Any other contractor would require a licence from INVISIO®A/S to obtain the drawings and list of spare parts required to undertake design and manufacture activities which is unlikely to be approved by INVISIO due to the presence of MCL with whom they have an agreement.
Safety: To compete this requirement would introduce the possibility of contravention of the CNAWR and the Defence Safety Authority (DSA) regulations as it would not be possible to ensure that another contractor would be sufficiently qualified, within the requisite timeframes, to undertake design and manufacture activities without including an associated unacceptable level of risk. This would result in the Authority not being able to fulfil CNAWR safety requirements which must be fulfilled to ensure the safe functioning of the forces. To comply with the CNAWR the principles of As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) must be adhered to. Reasonably practicable involves weighing a risk against the trouble, time and money needed to control it. Thus, ALARP describes the level to which the Authority expect to see workplace risks controlled. d. The Law requires that Safety and Risk to Life are managed to an ALARP status. This requires evidence of speed of response and that the costs are not disproportionate to the benefit achieved. To compete this requirement would introduce the possibility of contravention of the CNAWR and the DSA regulations as it would not be possible to ensure that another contractor could be sufficiently qualified within the requisite timeframes to undertake design and manufacture activities without including an associated unacceptable level of risk. This would result in the Authority not being able to fulfil CNAWR safety requirements which must be fulfilled to ensure the safe functioning of the forces.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Contract No
708083450
Title
Invisio Headset Support
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
2 June 2023
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Marlborough Communications Limited (MCL)
Perrywood Business Park, Honeycrock Lane
Redhill
RH1 5DZ
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKJ2 - Surrey, East and West Sussex
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: £407,138.08
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £407,138.08
five.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
TacSys Commercial
MoD Abbey Wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
MOD Abbey Wood
MOD Abbey Wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
Country
United Kingdom