Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
An Lòchran, 10 Inverness Campus
Inverness
IV2 5NA
UK
Telephone: +44 1463245245
E-mail: hieprocurement@Hient.co.uk
NUTS: UKM6
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://www.hie.co.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00313
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local agency/office
I.5) Main activity
Economic and financial affairs
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
FTS047 Pathways to Start - Lot 1 Argyll and Bute
Reference number: FTS047 - Lot 1
II.1.2) Main CPV code
80000000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
THIS IS THE CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE FOR LOT 1 ARGYLL and BUTE.
HIE procured a supplier to deliver a programme to support underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship. The programme will inspire participants to increase their ambition, confidence and capability to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and enter pathways for starting a business through a programme of entrepreneurial training and mentoring tailored towards underrepresented groups/individuals specific learning needs.
HIE’s current requirements are divided into two geographical Lots:
- Lot 1: Argyll and Bute, covering HIE areas only
- Lot 2: Moray
Note, Lot 1 covers Argyll and Bute geographical area i.e. excluding Arran, Cumbrae, and Helensburgh and Lomond.
The services are required from 20 October 2025 until 31 March 2026, unless terminated in accordance with the provisions of the Contract.
The delivery of the services, submission of all invoices and completion of all reports must be complete by 20 March 2026.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
211 500.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
80400000
80500000
80570000
80521000
80522000
80532000
72224000
79400000
79410000
79411100
79411000
80210000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM63
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Key tasks are:
1. Programme design
2. Outreach, stakeholder engagement and participant recruitment
3. Training delivery
4. Programme administration and monitoring.
Please refer to the Scope of Requirement and Guidance document for full details.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: Q1 Prompt Payment Standard Clause
/ Weighting: pass/fail
Quality criterion: Q2 Cyber Security
/ Weighting: pass/fail
Quality criterion: Q3 Payment of the Real Living Wage
/ Weighting: pass/fail
Quality criterion: Q4 UK Data Centres
/ Weighting: pass/fail
Quality criterion: Q5 Management and Delivery Methodology
/ Weighting: 20%
Quality criterion: Q6 Delivery Methodology – Inclusivity
/ Weighting: 15%
Quality criterion: Q7 Management and Delivery Team
/ Weighting: 20%
Quality criterion: Q8 Fair Work First
/ Weighting: 5%
Price
/ Weighting:
40%
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
HIE reserves the right, on giving reasonable written notice from time to time, to require changes to the Services (whether by way of the removal of Services, the addition of new Services, or increasing or decreasing the Services or specifying the order in which the Services are to be performed or the locations where the Services are to be provided). HIE shall not require any such change other than where it is permitted by Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. Examples of contract modifications are but not limited to:
-Additional funding is obtained (beyond the GBP20,000 contingency included in the total contract value of each lot) and used e.g. to increase the number of participants. Tendered rates will apply to any increases.
-Envisaged number of participants could not be recruited, resulting in reduced service requirements/volumes.
-Less than 16 participants could be recruited for the programme – HIE reserves the right not to proceed with the programme and terminate the contract.
-Recruited participant numbers exceed 45 for the lot. In this case (some of) the allowance of GBP20,000 will be utilised to provide services to further participants, as per tendered rates per participant.
-Where HIE determines (at our sole discretion) that demand for the programme under a lot is lower than expected, HIE reserves the right to re-allocate the budget for that Lot to the other Lot subject to the maximum total budget of GBP480,000 (i.e. the maximum total of the two lots).
-If Special Category Personal Data and/or other sensitive personal information requires further/different procedures, the supplier will be required to comply with these.
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
Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in Regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
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 000-045970
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: FTS 047 Lot 1
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
09/10/2025
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 11
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 11
Number of tenders received from tenderers from EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 11
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 11
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Skillfluence
1.8 CoVault, 54 Cook St
Glasgow
G5 8JN
UK
NUTS: UKM82
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 211 500.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
The figure stated in sections II.1.7 and V.2.4 is the total value of the contract for this lot including the GBP 20,000 allowance.
(SC Ref:812703)
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Inverness Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court
The Inverness Justice Centre, Longman Road
Inverness
IV1 1AH
UK
Telephone: +44 1463230782
E-mail: inverness@scotcourts.gov.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/court-locations/inverness-sheriff-court-and-justice-of-the-peace-court
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
20/10/2025