Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
DfE Tourism Northern Ireland
Linum CHambers, Bedford Square, Bedford Street
BELFAST
BT2 7ES
SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
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
ID 1678809 - DFE TOURISM NI BUSINESS SUPPORT
Reference number
ID 1678809
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79411000 - General management consultancy services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Following a competition advertised in the Official Journal of the EU on 30/11/18 the Department for the Economy Tourism NI entered into a Business Support Programme contract but due to the impact of Covid-19 the level of support required by tourism businesses has been unprecedented and unforeseen at the time of securing the contract. In continuing to support the sector recover via the roll out of the Tourism Recovery Action Plan, it is anticipated that the 8 months remaining will require an ongoing high level of support for the tourism sector businesses therefore Tourism NI requires a variation to the value of the contract to ensure it is able to deliver the required level of support to the industry. Tourism NI wishes to increase the value of the contract by £2,250,000 ex VAT (50% of the original contract value), to cover requirements until the end of the contract (18/02/2022). Tourism NI is relying on the Regulation 72(1)(c) provision as the need for change could not have been foreseen by a “diligent” contracting authority. This is on the basis that the level of support required by tourism businesses has increased dramatically due to the impact of the pandemic which could not have been predicted and these increased requirements could not have been foreseen or accounted for when estimating the contract value at the time of tender. This additional funding will continue to support the sector recover via the roll out of the Tourism Recovery Action Plan. The changes required do not affect the overall nature 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: £4,500,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN0 - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Northern Ireland Tourist Board trading as Tourism Northern Ireland appointed a Contractor to
provide a Managed Business Support Service to the Tourism Industry. The Contractor was required to ensure a full supply of Industry experts to act as business support personnel to meet the requirements of the
specification.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: AC1 Project Manager Experience / Weighting: 17.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC2 Proposed Methodology for Resourcing Industry Support Experts / Weighting: 17.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC3 Contract Management / Weighting: 10.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC4 Evaluation of Support / Weighting: 10.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC5 Contingency Arrangements / Weighting: 10.5
Quality criterion - Name: AC6Buy Social/Social Consideration / Weighting: 3.5
Cost criterion - Name: Total Daily Rate / Weighting: 30
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
This contract commenced on 19 February 2019 for one year. The Client took up both annual options to extend until expiry of contract on18 February 2022.
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
This voluntary transparency notice has been published to alert economic operators of the Department. for Economy intention to further modify the DFE Tourism NI Business Support Programme contract under Regulation 72(1)(c) of the Public Contract Regulations (as amended). The modification will take the form of an increase in spend over the last 8 months of the contract at a cost of £2.25 million. A modification notice will be published after the modification has been formalised.
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 procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations
Explanation:
Regulation 72(1)(c) provision ‘the need for change could not have been foreseen by a “diligent” contracting authority’ based on the level of support required by tourism businesses increasing dramatically due to the impact of the pandemic which was unprecedented and unforeseen at the time of contract award. This additional funding will continue to support the sector recover via the roll out of the Tourism Recovery Action Plan. The changes required do not affect the overall nature of the contract.
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: 2019/S 039-088605
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Contract No
ID 1678809
Title
ID 1678809 DfE Tourism NI - Business Support Programme
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
19 February 2019
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
Wholeschool Software Ltd.
Glenwood Business Centre, Springbank Industrial Estate
BELFAST
BT17 0QL
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKN0 - Northern Ireland
Internet address
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: £4,500,000
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £6,750,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
The value of the modification is a cost of £2,250,000 for the last 8 months of the contract. The orignal award value in Feruary 2019 was £4,500,000.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
UK Contracting Authorities do not have a review procedure in place. Economic Operators have access to the NI Courts and
BELFAST
Country
United Kingdom