Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
DfE - Invest NI
Bedford Square, Bedford Street
BELFAST
BT2 7ES
UK
Contact person: SSDAdmin.CPDfinance-ni.gov.uk
E-mail: SSDAdmin@CPDfinance-ni.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Address of the buyer profile: https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
General public services
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
ID 5502349 - DfE - Invest NI - Development and Delivery of the Invest NI Go Global Programme
Reference number: 5502349
II.1.2) Main CPV code
80500000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Invest NI in recognising the challenge for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME’s) and in particular to grow export sales in markets outside of the UK and Republic of Ireland, wish to appoint a Contractor to provide a Go Global Programme that will support our SME’s to develop their International business footprint and give them the confidence, ambition, knowledge and skills required to sell their products and services in new export markets. The initial focus will be Europe, enabling businesses to take advantage of the “Windsor Framework” then will expand to North America and beyond depending on company needs and the opportunity presented. As a result, Invest NI is seeking to appoint a Contractor for the delivery and management of “The Go Global Programme” for a five-year period, with an anticipated launch date in financial quarter 4 2024/25. Tenderers should refer to the Specification for further details.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
107 075.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
80522000
80532000
73000000
73200000
73210000
73220000
79310000
79413000
73110000
79342000
79411000
79400000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKN
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Invest NI in recognising the challenge for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME’s) and in particular to grow export sales in markets outside of the UK and Republic of Ireland, wish to appoint a Contractor to provide a Go Global Programme that will support our SME’s to develop their International business footprint and give them the confidence, ambition, knowledge and skills required to sell their products and services in new export markets. The initial focus will be Europe, enabling businesses to take advantage of the “Windsor Framework” then will expand to North America and beyond depending on company needs and the opportunity presented. As a result, Invest NI is seeking to appoint a Contractor for the delivery and management of “The Go Global Programme” for a five-year period, with an anticipated launch date in financial quarter 4 2024/25. Tenderers should refer to the Specification for further details.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: Lead Programme Trainer and/or Trade Advisers: Export Programme Delivery Experience
/ Weighting: 24
Quality criterion: Lead Programme Trainer and/or Trade Advisers: Individual export projects experience across various markets
/ Weighting: 18
Quality criterion: Proposed Programme Design and Content
/ Weighting: 11.25
Quality criterion: European and International Expansion
/ Weighting: 11.25
Quality criterion: Social Value
/ Weighting: 10.5
Cost criterion: Total Contract Price
/ Weighting: 25
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
The initial contract is for a period of 24 months from the date of appointment with options to extend for two further periods of 24 months and 12 months respectively i.e. 2 + 2 + 1
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2025/S 000-000844
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: 1
Title: Contract
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
21/03/2025
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 5
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 1
Number of tenders received from tenderers from EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 5
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Northern Ireland Trade Consultants B.V.
Beethovenstraat 176
Amsterdam
1077 JX
NL
Telephone: +49 12345678
E-mail: murn@nitc.nl
NUTS: NL
Internet address(es)
URL: https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot:
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 107 075.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
Contract Monitoring. 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.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended.
Belfast
UK
VI.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
CPD complied with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and incorporated a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract was communicated to tenderers.That notification provided full information on the award decision. This provided time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract was entered into.
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
26/03/2025