Official UK procurement notice
DfE - Invest NI - Provision of Public Relations Services and management of Invest NI Wechat and Weibo Social Media Accounts in mainland China
Authority: DfE Invest Northern Ireland (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionInvest Northern Ireland wishes to appoint a Contractor to provide PR services to support its mainland China activity on a project basis and to manage their Wechat and Weibo social media accounts. The Contractor shall plan and implement PR and social media activity in order to best showcase Northern Ireland as a place to do business, NI’s expertise in key trade sectors and raise the profile of Northern Ireland as an investment location. Activity will include strategic and tactical PR i.e. media liaison, arrange media interviews, drafting press releases and editorial, press briefings etc. and social media content production.
- Recurrence: 3 months prior to expiry of this contract anticipated to be November 2025.
CPV: Business and management consultancy and related services · Business and management consultancy services · Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security · Public relations consultancy services · Public relations management services · Public relations services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedWhat it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (10)
- AC1 Proposed Methodology: 29.9%
- AC2 Account Manager Experience: 15.6%
- AC3 Proposed reporting and evaluating of activities, outcomes and impact: 10.4%
- AC4 Project Management: 9.1%
- AC5 Account Manager Hourly Rate: 11.9%
- AC6 Partner/Director Hourly Rate: 7.7%
- AC7 Administrator Hourly Rate: 4.9%
- AC8 Drafting of by-lined article / editorial: 4.2%
- AC9 Press Release, localise, distribute and monitor: 3.5%
- AC10 Localisation of by-lined article / editorial and distribution: 2.8%
Published award criteria (10)
- AC1 Proposed Methodology: 29.9
- AC2 Account Manager Experience: 15.6
- AC3 Proposed reporting and evaluating of activities, outcomes and impact: 10.4
- AC4 Project Management: 9.1
- AC5 Account Manager Hourly Rate: 11.9
- AC6 Partner/Director Hourly Rate: 7.7
- AC7 Administrator Hourly Rate: 4.9
- AC8 Drafting of by-lined article / editorial: 4.2
- AC9 Press Release, localise, distribute and monitor: 3.5
- AC10 Localisation of by-lined article / editorial and distribution: 2.8
- Technical & professional ability
SC1 Company Experience
- Price carries 35 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · 3 months prior to expiry of this contract anticipated to be November 2025.
- First published
- 4 Jan 2022, 15:15 GMT
- Last source update
- 25 Feb 2022, 12:35 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- 20 Dec 2021 – …
- Authority reference
ID 3661464- FTS notice number
2022/S 000-005288- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02f821Find a Tender
- Performance terms
The Client will monitor the Contractor’s performance against the specified KPIs and as. detailed in the Commercial Conditions of Contract Schedule 3 Contract Management/Monitoring Schedule.
- Review procedure
CPD complies with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) and incorporated a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification provided full information on the award decision and provided time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract was entered into.
Publisher note: The Contractor’s performance on the contract will be regularly monitored in line with PGN 01/12. A Contractor 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 Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated. The issue of a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance will 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 twelve months from the date of issue of the certificate.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 20 Dec 2021, 15:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- {"written"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bids opened
- 20 Dec 2021, 15:30 GMT
Timeline
20 Dec 2021 → 20 Mar 2022 · 4 dates- Submission deadline20 Dec 2021, 15:00 GMT
- Bids opened20 Dec 2021, 15:30 GMT
- Notice published25 Feb 2022, 12:35 GMT
- Bids must remain valid until20 Mar 2022, 23:59 GMT
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Jan 2022- Published value published: £500,0004 Jan 2022, 15:15 GMT
- Status changed to active4 Jan 2022, 15:15 GMT
- Procurement method changed4 Jan 2022, 15:15 GMT
- Deadline moved to 20 Dec 2021, 15:00 GMT4 Jan 2022, 15:15 GMT-21 days · was 10 Jan 2022, 15:00 GMT
- Status changed to complete25 Feb 2022, 12:35 GMT
Published amendments (1 · 1 deadline change)
| When | What | Before | After | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | DeadlineProcedure - Time Limit for Receipt of tenders · IV.2.2) | 20 Dec 2021 | 10 Jan 2022 | +21 d |
Invest NI has reviewed the closing date and decided to give a further extension due to the close proximity to the Holiday period over Christmas. Invest NI has agreed to extend the closing date until 10 January 2022.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Sida Tuofu Management Consulting Co LtdSMEContract | £500,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract · Shanghai Sida Tuofu Management Consulting Co LtdSME
- Signed
- 22 Feb 2022
- Value
- £500,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3bids · 3 electronic · 1 from abroad | 1 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- 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.Review body
- The UK does not have any special review body with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures in public procurement.Review body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Shanghai Sida Tuofu Management Consulting Co LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.