Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Jisc
4 Portwall Lane
Bristol
BS1 6NB
Contact
Chris Hallahan
Telephone
+44 2081482444
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
National registration number
05747339
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://uk.eu-supply.com/ctm/Company/CompanyInformation/Index/87175
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
Digital Archival Collections 5 group purchasing scheme
Reference number
Proc2624
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 80000000 - Education and training services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Jisc has entered into contracts with the following suppliers to provide a Digital Archival Collections group purchasing scheme. This group purchasing scheme has been made available to any supplier that is able to meet the requirements set out below and previously provided within the published PIN. The scope of the DAC group purchasing scheme is an acquisition model offering members automatic discount off product list prices, transparent banded pricing, and increasing discounts based on volume of sales generated.
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: £485,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Jisc has been working in collaboration with publishers to make digital archival collections of primary source materials more affordable so researchers, learners and teachers can enjoy access to a wider range of resources and libraries can achieve further efficiencies. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/digital-archival-collections-group-purchasing
The digital archival collections group purchasing scheme is designed to leverage the collective purchasing power of institutions and is based on the principle ‘the economy of scale’: That is, the more products purchased per publisher by any institution over the course of an academic year, the lower the price based on preset discount triggers. Digital archival collections can comprise of many forms of digitised materials including, but not limited to, manuscripts, illustrations, photographs, maps, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence, ephemera, cartoons and audio-visual materials. Digital archival collections are predominately focused on the arts, humanities, and social science studies.
Requirements for eligibility are:
1. Publishers will offer a selection of products relevant to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as one off perpetual purchases, eliminating recurrent annual access/platform charges. No on-going or yearly fees are permitted to access the content.
2. Products offered are expected to be fixed/static collections and no new content introduced to the products over time. Additional content may be added to the original product under the following circumstances. Existing content cannot be withdrawn.
3. No further fee will be levied on members who have purchased these content options previously.
4. Publishers will be required to submit pricing in line with the Jisc banding structure that decreases from band 1 – 10 (https://subscriptionsmanager.jisc.ac.uk/about/jisc-banding).
5. All products pricing must start at 20% discount off the list price and then increase the discount in 5% increments to a maximum of 30%. Discounts are triggered by the number of sales across all the products on offer from a given publisher regardless of the band that makes the sale (e.g., 1-4 products purchased by any institution = 20% discount, 5-9 products purchased = 25% discount, 10+ product sales = 30%). Publishers decide how many product sales will trigger each 5% discount increment.
6. . Pricing will be publicly available to view (after authentication) to provide our members with transparency and no need to negotiate.
7. Publishers will be contracted using the Jisc Model License (https://subscriptionsmanager.jisc.ac.uk/about/jisc-model-licence).
8. The scheme runs on a yearly basis, allowing institutions to benefit from the maximum discount reached by the end of each academic year (31 July)
9. Institutions will order products directly through Jisc License Subscriptions Manager (https://subscriptionsmanager.jisc.ac.uk/) and be granted access to the content at point of ordering.
10. Invoices will be issued on completion of order unless specified by the member institution. This may result in a credit note being issued to the institution when the final price for product/s has been calculated after the yearly close of the scheme on 31 July (2025). Jisc/Publisher offers institutions the flexibility to be invoiced at the conclusion of the yearly scheme (31 July). Purchased products will be made available on completion of the order regardless of the invoice option chosen by members.
11. Jisc has undertaken due diligence on suppliers seeking acceptance to the scheme, including reviewing information on financial information, Information Security, Data Protection, Insurances, Modern Slavery.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: N/A / Weighting: N/A
Cost criterion - Name: N/A / Weighting: N/A
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 contract value is an estimate based on the aggregate sum of licence fees (in perpetuity) that will be paid to the supplier by Jisc member institutions over the one year term of the contract. Jisc itself makes no payment to the supplier for this service.
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:
- protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights
Explanation:
Intellectual Property Rights: The underlying supplies for these contracts are protected by intellectual property rights. This exclusivity means that no other suppliers can legally provide the necessary goods or services without infringing on these rights.
Prior Information Notice (PIN): A Prior Information Notice (PIN) was issued to alert market interest and ensure transparency. This notice provided an opportunity for any interested parties to come forward and demonstrate their capability to meet the contract requirements.
Transparency and Market Engagement: The issuance of the PIN demonstrates a fully transparent attempt to engage the marketplace. The contracting authority was open to negotiating terms with any capable supplier.
Conclusion: Given the protection of the underlying supplies by intellectual property rights and the transparent market engagement through the PIN, the direct award of the contracts without prior publication in the Find a Tender service is justified and lawful under Regulation 32(2)(b)(iii) of PCR 2015. This approach ensures compliance with legal standards while maintaining operational readiness and safety.
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 000-031169
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
1
Title
British Online Archive
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
5 November 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 7
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
MICROFORM IMAGING LIMITED
Wakefield
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £250,000
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
2
Title
Radical Newspaper Archive
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
1 November 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 7
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
IRISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES LIMITED
Dublin
Country
Ireland
NUTS code
- IE - Ireland
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £65,000
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
3
Title
WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
31 October 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 7
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH
Berlin
Country
Germany
NUTS code
- DE - Germany
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £11,000
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
4
Title
ProQuest LLC
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
30 October 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 7
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
ProQuest LLC
Cambridge
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £70,000
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
5
Title
JSTOR Primary Source Collections
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
22 November 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 6
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Ithaka t/a JSTOR
New York
Country
United States
NUTS code
- US - United States
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £91,000
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
6
Title
East View Information Services Digital Archive Collections
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
25 November 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 7
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
East View Information Services
Minneapolis
Country
United States
NUTS code
- US - United States
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £14,500
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Jisc
4 Portwall Lane
Bristol
BS1 6NA
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
Jisc Services Ltd incorporated a standstill period upon the award of the contract. This notification provided information on the award decision. The standstill period, which was for a minimum of 10 calendar days, provided time for suppliers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into. The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 article 91 provides for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by a breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).