Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Ministry of Defence
65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX
Contact
Jonathan McNiven
jonathan.mcniven101@mod.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Defence
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
LinkedIn Licence Award
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79611000 - Job search services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Award of LinkedIn Licence for MOD External Vacancies
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: £360,316
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Advertisement of MOD external vacancies on LinkedIN's platform
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
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:
The justification is as per PCR 2015, Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) as follows:
The Defence People - Civ HR, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a two-year contract with a value of £360,316 to LinkedIn for LinkedIn License for MOD external vacancies.
In accordance with the provisions of The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 SI No. 2020/1319, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) as amended (in particular by SI 2020/1319). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the PCR 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons.
This is because LinkedIn is the only provider (there is no alternative supplier offering their services) enabling business areas to showcase prospective candidates what it is like to work for them using a variety of content including adverts/featured content/testimonies before prospective candidates place an application for the advertised role.
LinkedIn is the only company that provides hiring solutions services to customers within Europe, middle east & Africa. Its hiring and social networking solution is unique and as such, a direct competition process isn’t viable. Other companies like, ‘Facebook’, ‘Bark’, ‘Opportunity’, and ‘Xing’, offer similar social networking platforms but with limited professional reach, unlike LinkedIn. There are clear differences in the services on offer and the scale of reach in terms of target audience. Of these four companies, none have a comparable level of professional and global presence and therefore this would not enable MOD to source quality talent and in turn build and sustain a more diverse workforce. This would detrimentally impact on MOD ability to fill our roles and deliver MOD key objectives.
Given the above there are no other value-for-money alternatives to consider which will enable the Authority to promote MOD as an employer, advertise vacancies and additional products (recruiter directly reach out to prospective candidates).
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Contract No
705772452
Title
LinkedIn Licence Renewal
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
3 November 2022
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
Gardner House, Wilton Place
Dublin
Country
Ireland
NUTS code
- IE - Ireland
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £360,316
five.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
MOD
65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX
Country
United Kingdom