CONTRACT 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

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 public contract
The setting up of a Dynamic Purchasing System
The establishment of a framework agreement

II.1.4)

Information on framework agreement (if applicable)

Framework agreement with a single operators
Framework agreement with several operators

Number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged

Duration of the framework agreement

Justification for a framework agreement the duration of which exceeds four years

Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement

Frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded

II.1.5)

Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

The Welsh Ministers are seeking 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 will need 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 are encouraged for this tender exercise. Please refer to www.wales.gov.uk/jointbidding for advice and assistance on joint

bidding. Furthermore, the Welsh Government will host a supplier briefing session on the 4th June 2015 in Mid Wales (venue to be confirmed).

This contract would like to maximise the opportunities for jobs and growth and will use 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.

NOTE: The authority is using eTenderwales to carry out this procurement process. To obtain further information record your interest on Sell2Wales at http://www.sell2wales.gov.uk/search/search_switch.aspx?ID=25428

II.1.6)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.1.7)

Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

II.1.8)

Division into lots

one lot only

one or more lots

all lots

II.1.9)

Will variants be accepted

II.2)

Quantity or Scope of the Contract

II.2.1)

Total quantity or scope

II.2.2)

Options

Provisional timetable for recourse to these options

Number of possible renewals

In the case of renewable supplies or service contracts, estimated time frame for subsequent contracts

II.3)

Duration of the contract or limit for completion

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.1)

Conditions Relating to the Contract

III.1.1)

Deposits and guarantees required

The awarding authority reserves the right to request parent company and / or other guarantees of performance and financial

liability.

III.1.2)

Main Terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions

Payment terms will be indicated in the contract documents. Tenders to be priced in Sterling. Payment to be made in Sterling.

III.1.3)

Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is to be awarded

No special legal form required but joint and several liability to be assumed by all group bidders before acceptance.

III.1.4)

Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

III.2)

Conditions for Participation

III.2.1)

Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Please refer to the 'Qualification Response' section of the online tender in itt_47771.

III.2.2)

Economic and financial capacity

III.2.3)

Technical capacity

III.2.4)

Reserved contracts

The contract is restricted to sheltered workshops
The execution of the contract is restricted to the framework of sheltered employment programmes

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of Procedure

Open		Restricted
Accelerated restricted		Negotiated
Accelerated negotiated		Competitive dialogue

Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure

IV.1.1)

Have candidates already been selected?

IV.1.2)

Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates

IV.1.3)

Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated

IV.2)

Award Criteria

IV.2.2)

An electronic auction will be used

IV.3 Administrative Information

IV.3.1)

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

C198/2014/2015

IV.3.2)

Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

Prior Information Notice
Notice on a Buyer Profile

Other previous publications

IV.3.3)

Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents

IV.3.4)

Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

IV.3.5)

Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

Welsh

IV.3.7)

Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender 

IV.3.8)

Conditions for opening tenders

Section VI: Other Information

VI.1)

Indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the Estimated timing for further notices to be published

VI.2)

Does the contract relate to a Project/Programme financed by Community Funds?

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

VI.3)

Additional Information

The Welsh Government, on behalf of the Welsh Ministers, will be conducting this procurement exercise through the etenderwales portal https://etenderwales.bravosolution.co.uk. Tender documents and other information must be downloaded from and returned through this portal. If you require any further assistance, the BravoSolution helpdesk is available on:

Email: help@bravosolution.co.uk

Phone: 0800 368 4850 / Fax: 020 7060 0480

E-TENDER INFORMATION:

- Go to https://etenderwales.bravosolution.co.uk

- The first person from your Organisation to use the Platform will be required to register on behalf of the Organisation.

- Registration involves accepting a User Agreement, and providing basic information about your Organisation and about the

User performing the Registration.

- The User who performs the Registration becomes the Super User for the Organisation.

- On registering on the Platform the Super User will select a Username and will receive a password.

- The Password will be sent by e-mail to the email address that was specified in the User Details section of the Registration

page.

- In order to log-in to the Platform please enter your Username and Password.

- Note: If you forget your Password then visit the homepage and click “Forgot your password?”

- Registration should only be performed once for each Organisation.

- If you think that someone in your Organisation may have already registered on this Platform then you must not register

again.

- Please contact the person who Registered (i.e. the Super User) in order to arrange access to the Platform.

- Contact the Helpdesk immediately if you are unable to contact the Super User (for example if they have left your

Organisation).

- Note: If your Organisation is already registered on the Platform then you must not make any additional registration. Please

contact the Helpdesk to gain access to the Platform.

- Itt's must be uploaded to the BravoSolution portal by 2pm on the deadline date given in this notice.

HOW TO FIND THE ITT:

- Once logged in you must click on ‘ITTs Open to all Suppliers’

- The etender references for this contract are: Project_29784 and the following ITT numbers - ITT_47771 (Qualification Questions), ITT_46509 (Lot 1), and ITT_46528 (Lot 2).

- Click on the title to access summary details of the contract. If you are still interested in expressing an interest, click the

‘Express an Interest button’. This will move the ITT from the ‘Open to all Suppliers’ area to the ‘My ITT’s’ on the home

page.

- You will then see the full details of the ITT in the qualification and technical envelopes along with any relevant documents in the ‘Attachments’ area.

- Should you have any questions on the ITT, please use the ‘Messages’ area to contact the buyer directly – Please do not contact the named person at the top of this notice.

Under the terms of this contract the successful supplier(s) will be required to deliver Community Benefits in support of the

authority’s economic and social objectives. Accordingly, contract performance conditions may relate in particular to social

and environmental considerations. The Community Benefits included in this contract are:

Training and Employment Opportunities, Promotion of Environmental Benefits, Promotion of Social Businesses, Contributions to Education, Numeracy, Literacy and STEM subjects.

(WA Ref:25428)

Under the terms of this contract the successful supplier(s) will be required to deliver Community Benefits in support of the authority’s economic and social objectives. Accordingly, contract performance conditions may relate in particular to social and environmental considerations. The Community Benefits included in this contract are:

The Community Benefits Policy has key strategic priority areas that align with the Welsh Government Programme for Government commitments. The policy priority areas that the client want you to focus on in your Community Benefits proposal are:

- Training and recruitment opportunities for the economically inactive/ disadvantaged groups, including Worklessness (Welsh Government Lift Programme), and/or graduates, undergraduates placements and/or trainees, and/or apprenticeships etc.

- Tenderers should consider opportunities for recruiting and training the above groups as part of the workforce delivering this contract.

Other priority areas are:

- Retention and training for the existing workforce

- Promotion of Environmental Benefits

- Promotion of Social Businesses

- Contributions to Education, Numeracy, Literacy and STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects)

*'Long-term economically inactive' in this tender means those who have not been in paid employment in the last 3 months immediately prior to the date of this invitation. For the definition of disadvantaged please refer to the EU definition which can be found in the community benefits measurement tool, employment tab at this link http://prp.wales.gov.uk/toolkit/

Innovation is encouraged and this list is not exhaustive.

VI.4)

Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)

Body responsible for appeal procedures

Body responsible for mediation procedures

VI.4.2)

Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals:

VI.4.3)

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

VI.5)

Dispatch date of this Notice

ANNEX A

Additional Addresses and Contact Points

I)

Address and contact points from which further information can be obtained

II)

Address and contact points from which specifications and additional documentation may be obtained

III)

Address and contact points to which Tenders/Requests to Participate must be sent

ANNEX B

Information About Lots

1)

Short Description

The Welsh Ministers are seeking 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.

Lot 1: The successful contractor 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.

2)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

3)

Quantity or scope

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.

4)

Indication about different contract dates

5)

Additional Information about lots

ANNEX B

Information About Lots

1)

Short Description

The Welsh Ministers are seeking 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.

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.

2)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

3)

Quantity or scope

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.

4)

Indication about different contract dates

5)

Additional Information about lots