Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department for the Economy - Invest Norther Ireland
Bedford Square
BELFAST
BT2 7ES
Contact
SSD Admin
ssdadmin.cpd@finance-ni.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKN - Northern Ireland
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Buyer's address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
one.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
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 electronically via
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at
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 - Invest NI - Trade Advisory Services in India
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
Invest NI wish to appoint a Contractor to provide a Trade Advisory Service for India. The TAS service is managed by Invest NI’s International Trade Advisory team in Belfast and our Invest NI Regional Manager based in Mumbai, India. As required, the TAS shall respond to Invest NI customer needs for access to strategic market research as well as practical advice and guidance from an experienced trade adviser based in the market. The TAS shall also provide Invest NI access to specific market intelligence reports. The success of the TAS service will be measured by a range of performance criteria and ultimately the increase in export sales to India of Invest NI customers utilising the service. This service forms part of Invest NI’s strategy to assist NI based companies to grow in export markets.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £155,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79400000 - Business and management consultancy and related services
- 79410000 - Business and management consultancy services
- 77000000 - Agricultural, forestry, horticultural, aquacultural and apicultural services
- 71300000 - Engineering services
- 71314000 - Energy and related services
- 72222300 - Information technology services
- 79930000 - Specialty design services
- 71500000 - Construction-related services
- 72600000 - Computer support and consultancy services
- 73200000 - Research and development consultancy services
- 79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
- 73400000 - Research and Development services on security and defence materials
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Invest NI wish to appoint a Contractor to provide a Trade Advisory Service for India. The TAS service is managed by Invest NI’s International Trade Advisory team in Belfast and our Invest NI Regional Manager based in Mumbai, India. As required, the TAS shall respond to Invest NI customer needs for access to strategic market research as well as practical advice and guidance from an experienced trade adviser based in the market. The TAS shall also provide Invest NI access to specific market intelligence reports. The success of the TAS service will be measured by a range of performance criteria and ultimately the increase in export sales to India of Invest NI customers utilising the service. This service forms part of Invest NI’s strategy to assist NI based companies to grow in export markets.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Qualitative / Weighting: 70
Cost criterion - Name: Quantitative / Weighting: 30
two.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: £155,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
24
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
The initial contract period is for 24 months, with an option to extend for a further 24 months and an option to extend for a further 12 months.
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 three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information
three.1) Conditions for participation
three.1.3) Technical and professional ability
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
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
9 January 2023
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: 9 April 2023
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
9 January 2023
Local time
3:30pm
Information about authorised persons and opening procedure
Authorised Construction and Procurement Delivery personnel
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.2) Information about electronic workflows
Electronic ordering will be used
Electronic invoicing will be accepted
Electronic payment will be used
six.3) Additional information
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. No legally binding contract shall arise (and an Economic Operator shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the Contracting Authority. Economic Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified in this notice and the procurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them. The figure indicated in II.1.5 represents an estimated contract value £155,000 and may increase during the life of the contract to accommodate changes. Any increases/modifications will be managed in accordance with the relevant public procurement regulations. The pricing strategy applied and the setting of cost/profit margins are a commercial decision for Economic Operators when submitting a bid for this competition. In addition, neither CPD nor the Contracting Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. 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 Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated. The issue of a Notice 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 Notice.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The UK does not have any special review body with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures in public procurement competitions. 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.
UK
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 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.