Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Invest Northern Ireland
Bedford Square, 1 Bedford Street
BELFAST
BT2 7ES
Contact
ssdadmin.cpdfinance-ni.gov.uk
SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
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
Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Economic and financial affairs
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
ID 5448827 Invest NI - Development and Delivery of the Invest NI Going Dutch Programme
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79413000 - Marketing management consultancy services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Invest NI in recognising the challenge for SME’s and in particular Early-Stage Exporters to grow outside Northern Ireland, wish to appoint a Contractor for the design and development of the “Going Dutch Programme” that will support and develop the capability of our companies, giving them the confidence, ambition, knowledge and skills required to develop new external and export markets for the first time. As a result, Invest NI is seeking to appoint a Supplier for the development, delivery and management of the programme for an initial period of 24 months from the date of appointment, with the option to extend for two further periods of 24 months and 12 months respectively, with an anticipated launch date in financial quarter 4, 2024/25. Please see the Specification Schedule for further information.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £924,000
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
- 79310000 - Market research services
- 80532000 - Management training services
- 73210000 - Research consultancy services
- 73220000 - Development consultancy services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Invest NI in recognising the challenge for SME’s and in particular Early-Stage Exporters to grow outside Northern Ireland, wish to appoint a Contractor for the design and development of the “Going Dutch Programme” that will support and develop the capability of our companies, giving them the confidence, ambition, knowledge and skills required to develop new external and export markets for the first time. As a result, Invest NI is seeking to appoint a Supplier for the development, delivery and management of the programme for an initial period of 24 months from the date of appointment, with the option to extend for two further periods of 24 months and 12 months respectively, with an anticipated launch date in financial quarter 4, 2024/25. Please see the Specification Schedule for further information.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: £924,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
24
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
As per contract documents
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
It is anticipated that this contract will be awarded in financial quarter 4 2024/25. The contract will run for an initial
period of 24 months from the date of appointment with an option to extend for one further period of 24 months (First Extension Period)
and one final option to extend for 12 months (Final Extension Period), subject to satisfactory performance and budgetary provision. Costs
shall be fixed for the initial contract period. Any requests for uplifts during the optional extension periods shall be in accordance with CPI.
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 figure indicated in Section II 1.5 represents an estimated contract value. This value reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation or increases to charges due to increases in the Real Living Wage. Neither CPD nor the Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. 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.
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
15 January 2025
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: 15 April 2025
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
15 January 2025
Local time
3:30pm
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: Yes
six.3) Additional information
The successful contractor’s performance on the contract will be regularly monitored in line with the tender documentation. 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 can 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 three years from the date of issue.. . "The Authority expressly reserves the rights:. . (I). not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice;. (II). to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering Competition;. (III). to award (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the [services] covered by this notice; and. (IV). to award contract(s) in stages and in no circumstances will the Authority be liable for any costs incurred by candidates."
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 PCR2015 as amended.
Belfast
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.