Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name, addresses and contact point(s)
Ministry of Defence
MoD Abbey Wood
Bristol
Bs34 8JH
Contact
Ash, 0A
For the attention of
Webber Harvey
Email(s)
Country
United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
General address of the contracting authority/entity
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/defence-digital
one.2) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
one.3) Main activity
Defence
one.4) Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities:
No
Section two: Object of the contract
two.1) Description
two.1.1) Title attributed to the contract
The Provision of In-Service Support for INVISIO headsets
two.1.2) Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance
Services
Service category No 1: Maintenance and repair services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance
Rehill, Surrey
NUTS code
- UKJ2 - Surrey, East and West Sussex
two.1.4) Short description of the contract or purchase(s)
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.1.5) Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
- 50660000 - Repair and maintenance services of military electronic systems
two.2) Total final value of contract(s)
two.2.1) Total final value of contract(s)
Value: £606,476.63
Excluding VAT
Section four: Procedure
Type of procedure
Negotiated without publication of a contract notice
Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice
1) Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice
No tenders or no suitable tenders in response to: negotiated procedure competition
All tenders submitted in reply to an open procedure, a restricted procedure or competitive dialogue were irregular or inacceptable. Only those tenderers were included in the negotiations which have satisfied the qualitative selection criteria: no
The periods for the restricted procedure and the negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice are incompatible with the urgency resulting from a crisis: no
Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority/entity: no
The works/goods/services can be provided only by a particular tenderer for reasons that are:
technical
The contract concerns research and development services other than those referred to in the regulations: no
The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development: no
Additional works/deliveries/services are ordered under strict conditions: no
For supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market: no
New works/services, constituting a repetition of existing works/services: no
Contract related to the provision of air and maritime transport services for the armed forces deployed or to be deployed abroad: no
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.2) Award criteria
four.2.1) Award criteria
Lowest price
four.2.2) Information about electronic auction
An electronic auction has been used: no
four.3) Administrative information
four.3.1) File reference number attributed by the contracting authority
708083450
four.3.2) Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Notice number: 2023/S 000-015765 of 2 June 2023
Section five: Award of contract
Contract No
708083450
five.1) Date of contract award decision
28 July 2023
five.2) Information about offers
Number of offers received
1
Number of offers received by electronic means
1
five.3) Name and address of economic operator in favour of whom the contract award decision has been taken
Marlborough Communications Limited (MCL)
Perrywood Business Park, Honeycrock Lane
Redhill
RH1 5DZ
Country
United Kingdom
five.4) Information on value of contract
Total final value of the contract
Value: £606,476.63
Excluding VAT
If annual or monthly value
Number of months: 16
five.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract is likely to be sub-contracted: No
Section six: Complementary information
six.1) Information about European Union funds
The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
six.3) Procedures for appeal
six.3.1) Body responsible for appeal procedures
TacSys Commercial
MoD Abbey Wood, Ash 0A
Bristol
BS34 8JH
Email(s)
Country
United Kingdom
Body responsible for mediation procedures
TacSys Commercial
MoD Abbey Wood, Ash 0a
Bristol
BS34 8JH
Email(s)
Country
United Kingdom
six.3.3) Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained
TacSys Commercial
MoD Abbey Wood, Ash 0a
Bristol
BS34 8JH
Email(s)
Country
United Kingdom