Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
UNIVERSITY OF YORK
Heslington
YORK
YO105DD
Contact
Donna Lyon
Telephone
+44 1904328207
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKE21 - York
Companies House
RC000679
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Education
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Digital Open Access Publishing Platform and Associated Publishing Services
Reference number
UY PROC 1037
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 48312000 - Electronic publishing software package
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
The White Rose University Press (WRUP) is a non-profit, open access digital publisher of peer-reviewed academic journals and books, publishing across a wide range of academic disciplines. WRUP has entered into a five-year contract with a single established service provider for the provision of technical and publishing services to support the operation of the press. This involves system provision (platform and infrastructure) as well as a full range of publishing services.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £490,000 / Highest offer: £790,000 taken into consideration
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79970000 - Publishing services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Main site or place of performance
White Rose Libraries (University of York, University of Leeds, University of Sheffield)
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The contract covers the provision of an established publishing platform, and all necessary infrastructure for the publishing of open access digital journals, books, research data and conference proceedings under the institution's own university press branding. Additional services will be provided to support editorial management, peer-review, anti-plagiarism checking, copyediting, typesetting, design and layout, long-term preservation, and indexing, alongside content promotion, an online portal for making publications available for free download, and capacity to support print-on-demand hardcopy distribution of books through a range of channels.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: 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 services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
- absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
While individual elements of the service are available from various suppliers, the University doesn't have the resource/capacity to implement and manage separate supply contracts. A VEAT notice was published earlier this year and this affirmed there is currently only one supplier currently in the market capable of providing all of the required elements 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: 2024/S 000-001240
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
UY PROC 1037
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
4 September 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Ubiquity Press Ltd
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
Companies House
06677886
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £490,000 / Highest offer: £790,000 taken into consideration
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
Value:
Note the values quoted above are for the full five-year period, include VAT and cover the fixed platform fees, the fees for our five existing journals, and also an estimation of our book project costs over the whole duration of the contract. The latter is difficult to predict as a number of book projects were delayed by the pandemic but are now expected to go ahead within the next three years. Therefore the highest figure provided allows for an increase in throughput which we hope to achieve during the contract period. In reality, the five-year contract could be closer to the lower value if this is not realised. Also note that a proportion of the book/journal costs are invoiced directly to external funders, but they have been included in the value as they are all part of the total value of the business that the contract brings to the contracted supplier.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
University of York (Legal Services Team)
York
Country
United Kingdom