Tender

DFE - InterTradeIreland - Provision of Creative Design, Advertising, Print and Related Services

• InterTradeIreland

UK4: Tender notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-041497

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-056299

Published 21 July 2025, 9:47am

---

---

Scope

Reference

ID 5844721

Description

InterTradeIreland wishes to appoint a Supplier to provide a comprehensive suite of services including Brand Strategy, Creative Design, Advertising and Related Services to support the brand positioning and promotion of InterTradeIreland across the island of Ireland, north and south.

Total value (estimated)

• £2,880,000 excluding VAT
• £3,456,000 including VAT

Above the relevant threshold

Contract dates (estimated)

• 3 November 2025 to 2 November 2027
• Possible extension to 2 November 2029
• 4 years

Description of possible extension:

There are options to extend for two further periods of up to 1 year each.

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

• 79340000 - Advertising and marketing services
• 79341000 - Advertising services
• 79341400 - Advertising campaign services
• 79341200 - Advertising management services
• 79800000 - Printing and related services
• 79810000 - Printing services
• 79820000 - Services related to printing
• 79811000 - Digital printing services
• 79821000 - Print finishing services
• 79821100 - Proofreading services
• 79822400 - Lithographic services
• 79822500 - Graphic design services
• 79823000 - Printing and delivery services
• 79824000 - Printing and distribution services
• 92100000 - Motion picture and video services
• 92112000 - Services in connection with motion-picture and video-tape production
• 79121000 - Copyright consultancy services

Contract locations

• UKN - Northern Ireland
• IE0 - Ireland

---

Participation

Technical ability conditions of participation

TA1 Fair Work Practices- Suppliers must demonstrate, by way of a written response, the approach to fair work practices for personnel who will be engaged in the delivery of this contract. This includes for example any agency or sub-contractor workers and a collated response must be provided in regard to these personnel. The response must be relevant and tailored to these services.

---

Submission

Enquiry deadline

11 August 2025, 3:00pm

Tender submission deadline

20 August 2025, 3:00pm

Submission address and any special instructions

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

Tenders may be submitted electronically

Yes

Languages that may be used for submission

English

Award decision date (estimated)

19 September 2025

Recurring procurement

Publication date of next tender notice (estimated): 21 July 2029

---

Award criteria

Name	Description	Type	Weighting
AC8 Total Agency Cost for Scenario	Total Agency Cost for Scenario	Price	20%
AC1 Strategic Solution	Tenderers must provide a strategic solution to how they would deliver a corporate brand awareness strategy for InterTradeIreland, of which the objectives, target audiences and timeframes are set out... in Annex A. The tenderer's response must include:  A strategic solution to requirements including the strategic thinking and rationale that underpins it;  How their recommended strategy will deliver on the objectives and challenges identified, including increasing InterTradeIreland brand awareness and differentiation;  Identification of the key issues and challenges and how these would be handled;  How they will gain a better understanding of the target audience;  The Key Performance Indicators they would use to demonstrate their effectiveness and efficiency in delivering brand growth and recall; and  A detailed project timeline and required resources. Responses to this criterion must not exceed 10 single sided A4 pages. Should a Supplier exceed the page limit permitted, any information provided beyond the page limit permitted will not be considered. Arial font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing and standard margins must be used.	Quality	12.60%
AC5 Key Personnel Experience	Tenderers must demonstrate, by way of example(s) achieved in the last 3 years*, experience of the proposed team of Key Personnel who will be assigned to deliver the contract, which must include the... following roles:  Account Manager  Creative Director  Media Director  Digital Director  Digital & Social Media Lead  Senior Designer  Copywriter The individuals must provide an example(s) to demonstrate that they collectively have experience of working in the areas listed below: 1. Account Management 2. Brand management and creative strategy; 3. Digital and social media strategy; 4. Planning, executing, optimising, and reporting on multi-channel campaigns. 5. Media Planning and Buying; 6. Creative design and visual asset development across traditional and digital platforms, including static, digital, motion and interactive content; 7. Video production and; 8. Copywriting. Members of the proposed team can use different example(s) provided their collective experience meets all the requirements set out above. The example(s) must include: • Job title/ grade of team member; • The project title and details; and • The individual's roles and responsibilities within that project including methodology used. Examples should focus on individual input as opposed to project delivery. For the avoidance of doubt, it is the experience of the team proposed that will be assessed under this award criterion. For example, one team member could meet 1 but not 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 but another member of the team could meet 2 and not 1, 3, 4 5, 6, 7 or 8 etc. Provided all requirements are met by the combined team, you have addressed this criterion. Suppliers must ensure that the identity of proposed personnel are not provided as part of this criterion's response. The grades or project roles will suffice. Names should only be included within the Pricing Schedule; where the grade or project role must correspond to the individuals proposed in response to this criterion. Responses to this criterion are limited to 3 x A4 pages per proposed team this is member. Should a Supplier exceed the page limit permitted, any information provided beyond the page limit permitted will not be considered. Arial font size 12, 1.5 line spacing must be used. *Tenderers should note that 'within the last 3 years' refers to within 3 years from the time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate.	Quality	12.60%
AC2 Media Strategy, Rationale and Media Plan	Tenderers must outline a Media Strategy for the scenario set out in Annex A including:  Their media buying strategy, including how emerging media are used to enhance the effectiveness of the... strategy, and how the strategy is future proofed;  How their strategic thinking has supported development of the strategy and media plan in order to reach the target audiences identified and deliver the objectives;  A rationale for the media proposed and timings including how each media can influence the target audience's behaviour and meet the objectives; and  A detailed media plan for a 12-week or three month timeframe, starting in January 2026 (Q1 2026), including digital and traditional channels, and based on the total campaign budget of £200K exc VAT, which is inclusive of all costs including all media spend, media buying, creative design, account management, campaign management, measurement and evaluation and any associated costs. Media budget should be weighted as appropriate for the proposed media plan. The media strategy and media plan will be assessed by the media chosen and not the media cost. All evidence/rationale presented in proposals must be clearly backed up by relevant research and these research sources must be clearly cited. When using media channel analysis tools, Suppliers must include an explanation of how conclusions were reached, including what parameters were used. The media plan should demonstrate gross costs for all proposed media with adjustments for rebates and levies to then give a final cost to the Buyer i.e. no further rebates are outstanding to be applied to the campaign. Responses to this criterion must not exceed 6 single sided A4 page plus 1 x A3 Media Plan. Should a Supplier exceed the page limit permitted, any information provided beyond the page limit permitted will not be considered. Arial font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing and standard margins must be used.	Quality	11.20%
AC3 Creative Proposal	Suppliers are required to present one creative proposal for the scenario outlined in Annex A. They must:  Provide a creative concept, idea and execution. The response must explain how the proposed... creative will meet the campaign objectives, how it reflects the proposed media plan and media mix and how it will work across a range of advertising formats and support material,  Demonstrate their creative approach and how it will strengthen and enrich InterTradeIreland's brand;  Demonstrate and provide justification for positioning strategy, including campaign value proposition, messages, strapline;  Demonstrate how they have undertaken concept testing and benchmarking; and  Demonstrate how adaptable the creative is and how it can be refreshed over time. Responses to this criterion must not exceed 6 single sided A4 pages and two A3 storyboards in PDF format. Should a Supplier exceed the page limit permitted, any information provided beyond the page limit permitted will not be considered. Arial font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing and standard margins must be used, excluding the actual artwork being proposed.	Quality	11.20%
AC7 Social Value	As detailed in Appendix B of 'Schedule 2 Specification', the Supplier must provide social value to a minimum value of 40 social value points for every £1 million (and pro-rata) of the invoiced... value. For the purposes of evaluation, Suppliers must submit their responses based on a minimum indicative value of 110 social value points. Suppliers are required to complete and submit with their tender response a Social Value Delivery Plan (excel spreadsheet) identifying which social value initiatives they will deliver to fulfil the minimum indicative social value points stated above. Suppliers must only complete the cells highlighted in yellow within the plan. Any additional information included within the plan will not be evaluated as part of the tender response. Suppliers must also provide a written response that details how they will deliver the social value initiatives and must address the following: • The timescales for delivery of the social value requirements; • The resources, both internal and external, they will use to plan and deliver the social value requirements (including details of suppliers in your supply chain on the contract); • The activities they will undertake to deliver the social value initiatives selected within their completed Social Value Delivery Plan; • How they will engage with key stakeholders (including the Authority, social value beneficiaries, organisations within the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector etc.); • Confirmation that the activities included in the response are forward looking activities which are directly related to this contract; and • How they will monitor and report on the delivery of the social value requirements and address any performance issues. Responses to this criterion must not exceed 4 single sided A4 pages plus the Social Value Delivery Plan spreadsheet. Should a Supplier exceed the page limit permitted, any information provided beyond the page limit permitted will not be considered. Arial font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing and standard margins must be used, excluding the actual artwork being proposed.	Quality	10.50%
AC9 Average Hourly Rate	Average Hourly Rate	Price	10%
AC4 Proposals for Measurement, Monitoring and Evaluation	Tenderers are required to provide one outline methodology for how they will monitor, measure and evaluate success and return on ad spend (ROAS), based on the requirements set out in Annex A,... including:  How they will monitor and optimise the campaign to improve performance, throughout its duration;  How they will report on campaign progress throughout its duration;  How they will measure outputs and evaluate the campaign; and  How they will document, share and implement lessons learned for future campaigns. All evidence/rationale presented must be clearly backed up by relevant justification as to why the proposed methodology should be used, including an explanation of how conclusions were reached and the proposed metrics. Responses to this criterion must not exceed 3 single sided A4 pages. Should a Supplier exceed the page limit permitted, any information provided beyond the page limit permitted will not be considered. Arial font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing and standard margins must be used.	Quality	6.30%
AC6 Contract Management and Business Continuity	Suppliers must set out: 1. their proposed approach to demonstrate how they will engage with and manage the relationship with InterTradeIreland; 2. reporting arrangements and how these systems will be... used to continuously monitor, benchmark, maintain quality control and improve service delivery during the full contract term; 3. the escalation procedures that will be employed to deal with any queries or problems that may occur including nominated senior point of contact; 4. their proposed approach to ensure the continued delivery of a quality service particularly in the event of unplanned events including disruptions to subcontracting arrangements (if using sub-Contractor(s)); fluctuations in the volume of work at key times of the year; changes in staff resourcing and the absence or unavailability of key personnel; 5. their proposed cost control for each campaign; and 6. Their proposed approach to providing design asset management throughout the contract. Responses to this criterion must not exceed 3 single sided A4 pages. Should a Supplier exceed the page limit permitted, any information provided beyond the page limit permitted will not be considered. Arial font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing and standard margins must be used.	Quality	5.60%

---

Other information

Payment terms

Payments will be made within 30 days for valid, undisputed invoices. Following the Commencement Date the Supplier shall submit invoices as per the instructions specified below:

(a) Invoices must be provided in pdf format with the relevant purchase order number quoted.

(b) Invoices and Credit Notes must be sent directly to InterTradeIreland at finance@intertradeireland.com

Applicable trade agreements

• Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

Conflicts assessment prepared/revised

Yes

---

Procedure

Procedure type

Open procedure

---

Contracting authority

InterTradeIreland

• Public Procurement Organisation Number: PZBY-5224-MBBM

Kilmorey Street

Newry

BT34 2DE

United Kingdom

Email: SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk

Website: https://intertradeireland.com

Region: UKN08 - Newry, Mourne and Down

Organisation type: Public authority - central government

Devolved regulations that apply: Northern Ireland

---

Other organisation

These organisations are carrying out the procurement, or part of it, on behalf of the contracting authorities.

CPD - Supplies and Services Division

Summary of their role in this procurement: Construction and Procurement Delivery - Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland

• Public Procurement Organisation Number: PVWG-8426-YWXV

Clare House, 303 Airport Road West

Belfast

BT3 9ED

United Kingdom

Email: SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk

Website: https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement

Region: UKN06 - Belfast

---

Contact organisation

Contact CPD - Supplies and Services Division for any enquiries.