Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
UK
Contact person: Patrick McLaughlin
E-mail: majorprojects@uksbs.co.uk
NUTS: UKI
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-energy-and-industrial-strategy
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
Other: government department
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
UKSBS PR18079 Business Support Helpline
Reference number: UKSBS PR18079
II.1.2) Main CPV code
72253000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
The contracting authority is seeking to procure government business support services for primarily small to medium sized enterprises in England, namely:
(a) a business support helpline through which businesses can receive bespoke advice (via telephone and digital channels such as webchat and social media, but not face-to-face support). This includes:
(i) a light touch response to routine enquiries with a simple diagnostic followed by provision of information, and sign-posting of callers to relevant sources of help; and
(ii) a deeper level of diagnosis and advice for complex queries.
(b) a database (‘Knowledge Bank’) of business support schemes and advice in England to support service delivery, and service delivery by partners, and content for online business support tools;
(c) an emergency response plan to increase capacity at short notice to provide an emergency response service (for example in the run up to EU exit). This must be flexible with option to scale up within 24 hrs.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
8 350 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
79342300
75100000
79512000
79400000
79411000
79900000
75130000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
Main site or place of performance:
Location is flexible within the United Kingdom.
The service must be available to businesses and entrepreneurs in England.
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is seeking to procure government business support services for primarily Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in England. Namely, a business support helpline; a database (‘Knowledge Bank’) of business support schemes and advice in England; Emergency Response Service capability.
The authority holds a contract covering delivery of the proposed services. It is envisaged that all the existing services will migrate to the new contract.
The Business Support Helpline forms a key part of the government’s offer to SMEs, providing trusted information and sign-posting businesses to relevant sources of support. The aim is to help businesses to start, grow and thrive. It provides a channel for government to communicate with business, for example in the run up to EU exit. It also offers emergency response capacity, enabling government to disseminate information.
The service must be designed with flexibility to accommodate any changes required to reflect changes in policy and business support provision. The service must be able to flex capacity responsively in order to meet peaks in demand.
The service must be available and relevant to all businesses and entrepreneurs in England, including pre-start, start-up and existing businesses.
The service must provide capacity to meet at least 50 000 inbound contacts and at least 10,000 outbound in-depth business support appointments per annum. The authority will be looking to increase annual contact rates above 2018 rates, including by maximising the provision of Tier 2 calls. 2018 rates were:
(a) c. 31 500 in-bound contacts across all channels:
• c. 25 000 phone calls (average 10 mins including wrap);
• c. 4 000 webchats;
• c. 2 500 emails.
(b) c. 12 000 out-bound calls (up to 55 mins including research, follow-up and wrap).
(c) just under 9 000 Facebook likes and 81 000 Twitter followers with a potential reach of 69 000 people per week.
The service must maintain:
• the Knowledge Bank, currently over 1 667 factsheets and 850 contacts, keeping the information accurate and up-to-date;
• the content of the business support finder tool (and any future iterations) on GOV.UK.
Contract award is anticipated to occur in early December 2019. There will be a 3-month mobilisation period prior to the supplier commencing full service delivery. The services must be fully operational by 31 March 2020. The initial contract term is 27 months commencing 1 January 2020 (including 3 month mobilisation period). The contract will be subject to a three-month notice period at any time. The estimated total contract value is anticipated to be up to GBP 8.35 million. The contract value for mobilisation period and the 2-year contract (up to GBP 2 million per annum excluding mobilisation costs) is estimated at GBP 4.35 m. There will be an option to extend the contract for up to 2 further years to 2024 on an annual basis (up to GBP 2 m per annum). For the avoidance of doubt, the optional contract extension of up to a further 2 years will be subject to additional spend approval. There will also be an option to increase the contract value proportionately in line with demand as set out in the review clause within the contract documents, in the event of significant unanticipated additional demand resulting for example from economic shocks or changes in relationships with our international trading partners. Mobilisation costs incurred between 1 January 2020 and 31 March 2020 will be reimbursed separately and in addition to the annual contract value stated above, up to a limit of GBP 350 000.
The Authority will look to work with the supplier on developing new business support services and channels. We anticipate that this is likely to focus on digital and knowledge services. Providing that the requirements detailed in the service specification are fully met, the detail of the operations of the services are a matter for the supplier tasked to achieve specific outputs and outcomes.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: Quality
/ Weighting: 75
Price
/ Weighting:
25
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
The authority reserves the right to exercise their option, as advertised, to extend the contract on an annual basis for up to 2 further years to 2024. The option (contract extension for up to a further two periods of 12 months) will be subject to additional spend approvals. The annual value is up to GBP 2 000 000 per 12 month period of the extension, a total of GBP 4 000 000.
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
II.2.14) Additional information
Services covered by this procurement have not been sub-divided into lots, as this is an individual requirement and it is not technically feasible to do so.
The Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) may apply to the proposed Contract. Further details will be provided to candidates shortlisted to tender for RFQ stage on completion of a non-disclosure agreement.
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Restricted 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:
2019/S 120-294140
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: UKSBS PR18079
Title: UKSBS PR18079 Business Support Helpline
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
26/03/2020
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 4
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 3
Number of tenders received from tenderers from EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 4
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
UMi Commercial Ltd
Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park,Seaham, County Durham
Seaham
SR7 7TT
UK
NUTS: UK
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:
: 3 684 769.06
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
1) This procurement will be managed electronically via the Crown Commercial Service's e-Sourcing Suite. To participate in this procurement, participants shall first be registered on the e-Sourcing Suite;
2) If bidders have not yet registered on the e-Sourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/emptoris by following the link ‘Supplier e-Sourcing Registration’. Please note that, to register, bidders must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so. Note: registration may take some time please ensure that you allow a sufficient amount of time to register. Full instructions for registration and use of the system can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esourcing-tool-guidance-for-suppliers
3) Once you have registered on the e-Sourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement. This is done by emailing ExpressionOfInterest@crowncommercial.gov.uk. Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; your organisation's full name as a registered supplier; the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email. Crown Commercial Service (CCS) will process the email and then enable the Bidder to access the procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite;
4) The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done;
5) As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to Emptoris email messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event. Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information applicable to this opportunity;
6) For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Helpdesk (Not UK SBS Ltd): freephone: 0345 410 2222 and email: eenablement@crowncommercial.gov.uk 7. Training support to respond to a requirement is available to bidders at http://www.uksbs.co.uk/services/procure/Pages/supplier.aspx
The Contracting Authority (CA) will continue to utilise the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) for this procurement if the United Kingdom (UK) is able to gain access to the OJEU. If, however during this procurement process the UK exits the EU and this does not allow for any transitional arrangements of access aligned to the timings of the procurement, the contracting authority will as directed by the UK Governments Cabinet Office (via Crown Commercial Services) utilise the UK Governments own procurement portal to discharge the balance of its statutory obligations associated with this procurement.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
UK Shared Business Services Ltd
Polaris House. North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FL
UK
E-mail: policy@uksbs.co.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: www.uksbs.co.uk
VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
UK Shared Business Services Ltd
Polaris House. North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FL
UK
E-mail: policy@uksbs.co.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: www.uksbs.co.uk
VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
UK Shared Business Services Ltd
Polaris House. North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FL
UK
E-mail: policy@uksbs.co.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: www.uksbs.co.uk
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
15/05/2020