CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE – OFFICIAL JOURNAL

Section I: Contracting Authority

I.1)

Name, Address and Contact Point(s)

I.2)

Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions National or federal agency/Office Regional or local Authority Regional or local Agency/Office Body governed by public law European Institution/Agency or International Organisation

General public services Defence Public order and safety Environment Economic and financial affairs Health Housing and community amenities Social protection Recreation, culture and religion Education

Section II: Object of the Contract

II.1)

Description

II.1.1)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

Business Wales - Entrepreneurship and SME Support Service

II.1.2(a))

Type of works contract

II.1.2(b))

Type of supplies contract

II.1.2(c))

Type of service contract

II.1.2)

Main site or location of works, place of delivery or performance

Wales

II.1.3)

This notice involves a framework agreement

II.1.4)

Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

The Welsh Ministers wished to engage with quality providers to deliver its Business Wales service. The service will support young people, start-up businesses and established businesses (predominantly SMEs) through an aligned delivery model.

The support will be split into 2 lots, one covering Youth Entrepreneurship and the other supporting start up and established

businesses. Please note, this is not a framework.

Lot 1: The successful contractors will work with young people under 25 through education, business and community groups to encourage youth entrepreneurship in Wales. Services will involve a combination of business led inspirational workshops, a promotional campaign, events and competitions. The service will be delivered across the whole of Wales by a single contractor or a consortium.

Lot 2: The successful contractor will be expected to work with a range of start ups and existing businesses within Wales with access to a broad range and innovative set of solutions. Support will involve a combination of workshops, events and direct face to face support across Wales operating from a network of business hubs. The service will be delivered across the whole of Wales by a single contractor or a consortium.

The ‘Business Wales – Entrepreneurship and SME Support service’ - bidders needed to demonstrate that they have the skill sets and resources required to support young people (lot 1), Start-ups and established businesses (lot 2) in all sectors with resource prioritised as required against impact, for example growth businesses. The service will be fully aligned to provision under the Business Wales Accelerated Growth programme (Contract No : C36/2014/2015). It is intended that the contract period will run from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2021. Break clauses will be included in the contract which may be exercised for non contractual compliance, reduction in Welsh Government budgetary allocation, change in service direction / policy or any other reason deemed appropriate by the Welsh Ministers to exercise the break clause.

Please note in recognition of the breadth of areas likely to be required aligned to the modern economy, that consortia bids were encouraged for this tender exercise.

This contract would like to maximise the opportunities for jobs and growth and therefore used the Community Benefits policy in the procurement process and within the contract to deliver targeted recruitment and training opportunities to those furthest from the labour market and engage with the relevant support agencies effectively. For more information on the Community Benefits policy, please see http://prp.wales.gov.uk/toolkit/

Please note that funding for this project has been secured from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The period of the contract awarded will be an initial term of 4 years with an option to extend at the Welsh Ministers’ sole discretion for an additional 2 one year extensions. Accordingly the minimum contract period will be 4 years (subject always to earlier termination), and the maximum permitted contract period will be 6 years. Subject always to the procurement exercise progressing in accordance with the Welsh Ministers' indicative timetable, it is anticipated that the Contract will commence in January 2016.

II.1.5)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.1.6)

Contract covered by the government procurement agreement (GPA)

II.2)

Total final value of the contract(s)

II.2.1)

Total final value of the contract(s)

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of procedure

IV.1.1)

Type of procedure

IV.2)

Award criteria

IV.2.1)

Award criteria

IV.2.2)

An electronic auction has been used

IV.3)

Administrative information

IV.3.1)

File reference number attributed by the contracting authority

C198/2014/2015

IV.3.2)

Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

Other previous publications

Section V: Award of contract

Contract No:

V.1)

Date of contract award:

V.2)

Numbers of offers received:

V.3)

Name and address of economic operator to whom the contract has been awarded

V.4)

Information on value of contract

V.5)

The contract is likely to be subcontracted

Short description of the value/proportion of the contract to be subcontracted

Section V: Award of contract

Contract No:

V.1)

Date of contract award:

V.2)

Numbers of offers received:

V.3)

Name and address of economic operator to whom the contract has been awarded

V.4)

Information on value of contract

V.5)

The contract is likely to be subcontracted

Short description of the value/proportion of the contract to be subcontracted

Section VI: Complementary Information

VI.1)

Contract related to a project and/or programme financed by community funds?

Please note that funding for this project is being provided from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

VI.2)

Additional Information

Please note that the pricing for both Lots was submitted for a 5 year period but the values stated in sections II.2 and SECTION V of this notice is for the entire 6 years (including the 6th (final) year should it be invoked). The actual pricing submitted for Lot 1 over the 5 year period was £6,360,000.00 and Lot 2 was £36,300,000.00. Please also note, as stated within the specification, the Welsh Ministers may pilot and develop new services. Day rates were submitted for various roles as part of the tender submission for Lot 2 to deliver these potential services and they ranged in value from £98.18 to £245.45 - the overall contract value may therefore increase to a maximum overall value (for both Lots) of £55,000,000.00 as was stated within the value range of the Contract Notice for this requirement.

Number of tenders received from SMEs = 4.

Number of tenders received by electronic means = 7.

(WA Ref:34988)

VI.3)

Procedures for appeal

VI.3.1)

Body responsible for appeal procedures

Body responsible for mediation procedures

VI.3.2)

Lodging of appeals

VI.3.3)

Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.4)

Dispatch date of this Notice