Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Tourism Northern Ireland Tourism NI
Floors 10-12, Linum Chambers, Bedford Square, Bedford Street
BELFAST
BT2 7ES
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.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
DfE - Tourism NI - Northern Ireland Tourism Industry Research
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
Tourism NI wish to appoint a Supplier to carry out a programme of industry research. As a core requirement Tourism NI envisage a minimum of one tourism barometer survey each year with a broadly representative sample of Northern Ireland’s tourism industry to provide an insight into year-to-date tourism performance and outlook for the remainder of the year. Additional be-spoke ad hoc industry surveys and research projects on a range of industry wide or sector specific topics may also be required including for example; evaluation surveys for industry support programmes and key Business to Business trade events, including business conferences surveys, These additional surveys and other projects, such as quick turnaround surveys and qualitative in-depth interviews/ industry focus groups will be ad-hoc, demand-led and budget dependent. The contract period will be fixed for 3 years with no optional extension. Please refer to tender documents for full details.
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: £155,000
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79311000 - Survey services
- 79342310 - Customer survey services
- 79320000 - Public-opinion polling services
- 79311100 - Survey design services
- 79310000 - Market research services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Tourism NI wish to appoint a Supplier to carry out a programme of industry research. As a core requirement Tourism NI envisage a minimum of one tourism barometer survey each year with a broadly representative sample of Northern Ireland’s tourism industry to provide an insight into year-to-date tourism performance and outlook for the remainder of the year. Additional be-spoke ad hoc industry surveys and research projects on a range of industry wide or sector specific topics may also be required including for example; evaluation surveys for industry support programmes and key Business to Business trade events, including business conferences surveys, These additional surveys and other projects, such as quick turnaround surveys and qualitative in-depth interviews/ industry focus groups will be ad-hoc, demand-led and budget dependent. The contract period will be fixed for 3 years with no optional extension. Please refer to tender documents for full details.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Proposed Consumer Quantitative Research Methodology / Weighting: 29.4
Quality criterion - Name: Proposed Consumer Qualitative Research Methodology / Weighting: 10.5
Quality criterion - Name: Key Personnel Experience / Weighting: 14
Quality criterion - Name: Contract Management and Contingency / Weighting: 5.6
Quality criterion - Name: Social Value / Weighting: 10.5
Cost criterion - Name: Total Contract Price / Weighting: 30
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
two.2.14) Additional information
The figure indicated in Section II 1.7 represents an estimated contract value. This value reflects the potential scale of the contract. Neither CPD nor the Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Contracting Authority at any time.
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: 2025/S 000-006845
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
1
Title
DfE - Tourism NI - Northern Ireland Tourism Industry Research
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
14 May 2025
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
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: £155,000
Total value of the contract/lot: £155,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
Contract Monitoring. The successful Supplier’s performance on the contract will be. regularly. monitored in line with the tender documentation. Supplier's not delivering on. contract. requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is. paying for.. If a Supplier 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 Supplier 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.
UK
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.