Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Consumer Council Northern Ireland
28-32 Alfred Street
BELFAST
BT2 8EN
SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Buyer's address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
one.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
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 4629334 DfE - Consumer Council - Market Research Support
Reference number
4629334
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79300000 - Market and economic research; polling and statistics
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Consumer Council is seeking to appoint a market research Contractor who can deliver insight on behalf of the Consumer Council that fully aligns to the organisation’s statutory powers and objectives regarding understanding consumers and undertaking best practice research. The contract period will be for an initial period of one year with two options to extend for any period, up to and including, twelve months each, starting from the award of the contract.
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: £2,000,000
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79310000 - Market research services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Consumer Council is seeking to appoint a market research Contractor who can deliver insight on behalf of the Consumer Council that fully aligns to the organisation’s statutory powers and objectives regarding understanding consumers and undertaking best practice research. The contract period will be for an initial period of one year with two options to extend for any period, up to and including, twelve months each, starting from the award of the contract.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: AC1 Proposed Methodology / Weighting: 24.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC2 Proposed Team Experience / Weighting: 24.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC3 Risk Management / Weighting: 10.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC4 Social Value / Weighting: 10.5
Cost criterion - Name: AC5 Total Scenario Price / Weighting: 30
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
There are two options to extend for any period, up to and including, twelve months each.
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 000-008240
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
30 June 2023
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 4
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 1
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: 4
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
COGNISENSE LTD
Adelaide House, 1 Falcon Rd
BELFAST
BT12 6SJ
Telephone
+44 2890387057
Fax
+44 2890387051
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
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: £2,000,000
Total value of the contract/lot: £2,000,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
The successful Contractor’s performance will be managed as per the specification. and regularly monitored. 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 grounds for termination... of the contract at the Contractor's expense. In lieu of termination they may be issued with a Notice of Written Warning or a Notice of.... Unsatisfactory Performance. A central register of such Notices for supplies and services Contracts will be maintained and published.... on the CPD website. Any Contractor in receipt of multiple Notices of Written Warning or Notices of Unsatisfactory Performance will be.... required to declare this in future tender submissions for a period of three years from the date of issue of the Notice. It may also result in.... the Contractor being excluded from all procurement competitions being undertaken by Centres of Procurement...
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The UK does not have any special review body with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures in public procurement competitions. 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.