Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department of Finance
303 Airport Road West
BELFAST
BT3 9ED
SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/
Buyer's address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address
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 4090650 - DoF - Search Engine Advertising for the NI Direct Website
Reference number
ID 4090650
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72414000 - Web search engine providers
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Client wishes to appoint a Contractor to provide a service which allows the Client to advertise specific pages and services on the NI Direct website on Google. The Contractor would also be required to provide support and advice to the Client in developing its online advertising strategy. Tenderers should refer to the Specification Schedule for further details.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £240,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 79340000 - Advertising and marketing services
- 79341000 - Advertising services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN0 - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Client wishes to appoint a Contractor to provide a service which allows the Client to advertise specific pages and services on the NI Direct website on Google. The Contractor would also be required to provide support and advice to the Client in developing its online advertising strategy. Tenderers should refer to the Specification Schedule for further details.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: £240,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
36
This contract is subject to renewal
No
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
After the initial contract period of three years, there are three options to extend the contract by up to one year 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.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
22 August 2022
Local time
3:00pm
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
four.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Tender must be valid until: 20 November 2022
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
22 August 2022
Local time
3:30pm
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: Yes
six.3) Additional information
Contract Monitoring. The successful contractor’s performance on the contract will be 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 regarded as an act of grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated. The issue of a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance will 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 twelve months from the date of issue of the certificate.
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 will comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) and, where appropriate, will incorporate a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. This provides time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.