Invest NI - Provision of Trade Advisory Services (TAS) in Asia Pacific.
Contract notice
Services
Section I: Contracting authority
I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)
Invest NI
Bedford Square, Bedford Street
Contact point(s): [email protected]
BT2 7ES Belfast
UNITED KINGDOM
Internet address(es):
Address of the buyer profile: https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Electronic access to information: https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Electronic submission of tenders and requests to participate: https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)
I.2)Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.3)Main activity
General public services
I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: no
Section II: Object of the contract
II.1)Description
II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:
Invest NI - Provision of Trade Advisory Services (TAS) in Asia Pacific.
II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance
Services
Service category No 11: Management consulting services [6] and related services
Service category No 11: Management consulting services [6] and related services
NUTS code UKN0
II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)
The notice involves a public contract
II.1.4)Information on framework agreement
II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)
TAS provides NI based companies with access to strategic market research as well as practical advice and guidance from experienced trade advisers based in the markets. It compliments assistance provided to Invest NI by UK Trade and Investment and other in-market stakeholders. The success of the TAS service is measured by post project evaluations and the increase in value of sales achieved in a geographic region or country over the duration of a contract. Currently Invest NI measures manufacturing exports through data obtained from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Under the scope of this framework agreement, Contractor(s) shall provide the following services:
- Focused market research.
- Market screening.
- Assessing market readiness.
- Market entry strategies.
- Identification of partners; i.e. agent/distributor agreements, licensing, value added resellers, technology transfer and joint ventures.
- Lead generation.
- One to one clinics providing market advice and guidance.
- Support for high quality visit programmes for companies and ministers either individually or as part of a group.
- Managing networking events.
- Market and sector briefings/webinars - both 1:1 and to groups.
- Organising inward visits.
- Assistance with exhibitions.
- Arranging visit programmes in the geographic region for Invest NI personnel with potential investors to Northern Ireland. These may either delivered directly by the contractor or sub-contracted to suitable partners. Typically individual company projects undertaken through TAS take between 5-10 days, depending on company needs. The duration of TAS projects undertaken for groups of companies or for Invest NI are determined by project specifications. In some cases Contractor(s) may be appointed to work with selected high growth potential companies and specific sales growth objectives may be agreed prior to any appointment. Given the nature of the TAS service, it is a requirement of the Framework Agreement that the Contractor(s) In-Market Advisor(s) can communicate in English - both written and orally and are based and located in the lot(s) tendered for.
- Focused market research.
- Market screening.
- Assessing market readiness.
- Market entry strategies.
- Identification of partners; i.e. agent/distributor agreements, licensing, value added resellers, technology transfer and joint ventures.
- Lead generation.
- One to one clinics providing market advice and guidance.
- Support for high quality visit programmes for companies and ministers either individually or as part of a group.
- Managing networking events.
- Market and sector briefings/webinars - both 1:1 and to groups.
- Organising inward visits.
- Assistance with exhibitions.
- Arranging visit programmes in the geographic region for Invest NI personnel with potential investors to Northern Ireland. These may either delivered directly by the contractor or sub-contracted to suitable partners. Typically individual company projects undertaken through TAS take between 5-10 days, depending on company needs. The duration of TAS projects undertaken for groups of companies or for Invest NI are determined by project specifications. In some cases Contractor(s) may be appointed to work with selected high growth potential companies and specific sales growth objectives may be agreed prior to any appointment. Given the nature of the TAS service, it is a requirement of the Framework Agreement that the Contractor(s) In-Market Advisor(s) can communicate in English - both written and orally and are based and located in the lot(s) tendered for.
II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
79400000, 79410000, 15000000, 71300000, 80000000, 71314000, 72222300, 35121000, 79932000, 03000000, 33190000, 43200000, 34700000, 39150000
II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): yes
II.1.8)Lots
This contract is divided into lots: yes
Tenders may be submitted for one or more lots
Tenders may be submitted for one or more lots
II.1.9)Information about variants
II.2)Quantity or scope of the contract
II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:
See Section II.2.5.
Estimated value excluding VAT: 517 600 GBP
Estimated value excluding VAT: 517 600 GBP
II.2.2)Information about options
Options: yes
Description of these options: Initial period of 12 months with the option to extend for 3 further periods of 12 months each.
Description of these options: Initial period of 12 months with the option to extend for 3 further periods of 12 months each.
II.2.3)Information about renewals
II.3)Duration of the contract or time limit for completion
Duration in months: 12 (from the award of the contract)
Information about lots
Lot No: 1 Lot title: Austrailia and New Zealand (ANZ)1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
79400000, 79410000, 15000000, 71300000, 80000000, 71314000, 72222300, 35121000, 79932000, 03000000, 33190000, 43200000, 34700000, 39150000
3)Quantity or scope
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
5)Additional information about lots
Lot No: 2 Lot title: Japan
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
79400000, 79410000, 15000000, 71300000, 80000000, 71314000, 72222300, 35121000, 79932000, 03000000, 33190000, 43200000, 34700000, 39150000
3)Quantity or scope
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
5)Additional information about lots
Lot No: 3 Lot title: South East Asia - to include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
79400000, 79410000, 15000000, 71300000, 80000000, 71314000, 72222300, 35121000, 79932000, 03000000, 33190000, 43200000, 34700000, 39150000
3)Quantity or scope
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
5)Additional information about lots
Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1)Conditions relating to the contract
III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:
None required.
III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:
Payments will be made in accordance with the terms and conditions to be set out in the contract documentation.
III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:
No special form is required but one member of a consortium may be required to accept prime contractor responsibility for the other member(s), and a consortium will be required to form a legal entity with appropriate parent company guarantees.
III.1.4)Other particular conditions
The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: yes
Description of particular conditions: The successful Contractor's performance on this Contract will be managed as per specification and regularly monitored see Procurement Guidance Note 01/12 - Contract Management - Procedures and Principles. 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 Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance and this Contract may be terminated. The issue of a Certificate 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 certificate.
Description of particular conditions: The successful Contractor's performance on this Contract will be managed as per specification and regularly monitored see Procurement Guidance Note 01/12 - Contract Management - Procedures and Principles. 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 Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance and this Contract may be terminated. The issue of a Certificate 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 certificate.
III.2)Conditions for participation
III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
III.2.2)Economic and financial ability
III.2.3)Technical capacity
Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met:
Tenderers must demonstrate by way of examples experience of delivering trade advisory services in relation to the export development of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the lot(s) applied for on behalf of Trade Development Agencies. For each of the lot(s) applied for, Tenderers must submit 3 examples from the listed trade advisory services listed below. The services must have been provided to SMEs targeting a country within the lot(s) being tendered for as an export market within the last 3 years. Please note: Tenderers must not provide the same example for any trade advisory service or market sector more than once. As such, evidence of experience should cover at least 3 trade advisory services (at least one different service per example) and at least 3 market sectors (at least one different market sector per example). Trade Advisory Service - Focused market research.
- Assessing market readiness.
- Market entry strategies.
- Identification of partners; i.e. agent/distributor agreements, licensing, value added resellers, technology transfer and joint ventures.
- One to one clinics providing market advice and guidance.
- Support for high quality visit programmes for companies either individually or as part of a group.
- Managing networking events.
- Market and sector briefings/webinars - both 1:1 and to groups.
- Organising inward buyer visits (i.e. from the lot(s) being tendered for to a country/location where other trade advisory services have been commissioned).
- Assistance with exhibitions.
- Assistance with setting up a business/trading entity in the lot(s) being tendered for. Market Sector - Food and Drink.
- Materials Handling.
- Engineering.
- Education.
- Transport.
- Life Sciences.
- ICT.
- AgriTech.
- Security.
- Energy/Environment.
- Consumer Products. Each example must include the following:
- Project title;
- Country from which the company / entity for which the service was provided was based;
- Trade Development Agency commissioning the work
- Market sector associated with the service;
- Project objectives and detail of the export project undertaken;
- Tenderers role and duties within the project;
- Export-focused outputs / outcomes of the project (e.g. number of new orders/sales achieved, agents/distributors appointed); and - Start and finish dates of the project.
Tenderers must demonstrate by way of examples experience of delivering trade advisory services in relation to the export development of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the lot(s) applied for on behalf of Trade Development Agencies. For each of the lot(s) applied for, Tenderers must submit 3 examples from the listed trade advisory services listed below. The services must have been provided to SMEs targeting a country within the lot(s) being tendered for as an export market within the last 3 years. Please note: Tenderers must not provide the same example for any trade advisory service or market sector more than once. As such, evidence of experience should cover at least 3 trade advisory services (at least one different service per example) and at least 3 market sectors (at least one different market sector per example). Trade Advisory Service - Focused market research.
- Assessing market readiness.
- Market entry strategies.
- Identification of partners; i.e. agent/distributor agreements, licensing, value added resellers, technology transfer and joint ventures.
- One to one clinics providing market advice and guidance.
- Support for high quality visit programmes for companies either individually or as part of a group.
- Managing networking events.
- Market and sector briefings/webinars - both 1:1 and to groups.
- Organising inward buyer visits (i.e. from the lot(s) being tendered for to a country/location where other trade advisory services have been commissioned).
- Assistance with exhibitions.
- Assistance with setting up a business/trading entity in the lot(s) being tendered for. Market Sector - Food and Drink.
- Materials Handling.
- Engineering.
- Education.
- Transport.
- Life Sciences.
- ICT.
- AgriTech.
- Security.
- Energy/Environment.
- Consumer Products. Each example must include the following:
- Project title;
- Country from which the company / entity for which the service was provided was based;
- Trade Development Agency commissioning the work
- Market sector associated with the service;
- Project objectives and detail of the export project undertaken;
- Tenderers role and duties within the project;
- Export-focused outputs / outcomes of the project (e.g. number of new orders/sales achieved, agents/distributors appointed); and - Start and finish dates of the project.
III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts
III.3)Conditions specific to services contracts
III.3.1)Information about a particular profession
Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: no
III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service
Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: no
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1)Type of procedure
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
Open
IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate
IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue
IV.2)Award criteria
IV.2.1)Award criteria
The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document
IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction
An electronic auction will be used: no
IV.3)Administrative information
IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:
185248
IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
no
IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document
Payable documents: no
IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
8.2.2016 - 15:00
IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up
English.
IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
in days: 90 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)
IV.3.8)Conditions for opening of tenders
Date: 8.2.2016
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1)Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: no
VI.2)Information about European Union funds
VI.3)Additional information
VI.4)Procedures for appeal
VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures
VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: CPD will comply with the Public Contracts Regulation 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 the contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. This provides time for unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.
VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained
VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:
5.1.2016