Extension to Marketing contract - Go For it Programme

CPV: Marketing services

Procedure method

Negotiated without publication of a contract notice

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

Unspecified in notice

First published

20 Mar 2023, 11:03 GMT

Last source update

20 Mar 2023, 11:03 GMT

FTS notice number

2023/S 000-007966

Classification (CPV)

Marketing services

Delivery area

Northern Ireland (UKN)

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-03b432 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons

Published justification

The overall Go for It Programme has been extended while the contracting authority awaits a new 11 council programme to begin. This has necessitated an extension of the marketing contract with Anderson Splatt Group Ltd (ASG) for a 6 month period.

The extension with ASG is required pursuant to Regulation 72 (1) (b) and Regulation 72 (1 (c) of the PCR 2015 as a replacement contractor would require considerable time to familiarise themselves with the complexities of the requirements of the contract which would be costly for the programme - especially as the timeframe is brief. The programme is operating in a difficult economic environment and a good level of knowledge is required to fulfil the requirements of the scope of the tender.

Regulation 72 (1) (c) permits this extension due to unforeseen circumstances which a diligent contracting authority could not have foreseen, the overall nature of the contract is not altered and the Modification value does not exceed 50 % of the original contract value.

The original procurement of the contractor envisaged that the current contract would complete in March 2023 and it was planned that European Regional Development Funds would be exhausted at that point. The contracting authority has planned for the Entrepreneurship Support Service (ESS) to support the Northern Ireland Business Start-Up Programme (NIBSUP). However, the main funding for ESS shall come from the Shared prosperity fund (SPF) in Northern Ireland. The contracting authority could not have foreseen the delay to the roll out of SPF and this has resulted in a new start-up date for ESS of 1 October 2023. This necessitated an unplanned extension of NIBSUP to 30 September 2023.

Regulation 72(1) (b) further permits this extension: as additional services by the original contractor have become necessary and were not included in the initial procurement, where a change of contractor -

(i) cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of

interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, services or installations

procured under the initial procurement; or

(ii) would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the

contracting authority, provided that any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.

If the contracting authority was required to engage a new contractor to provide the marketing services of the Go for It Programme, this would lead to a significant inconvenience and duplication of costs for the contracting authority as there is a significant transitional period from the termination of the existing contract to the date that a replacement contractor would fulfil the services, this would lead to significant inconvenience and the contracting authority would be required to substantially duplicate its costs to ensure a 6 month contract would be commercially viable for a replacement contractor.

The existing contract shall be extended until 30 September 2023 on the same terms and conditions. There shall be no increase in the tendered rates paid to the contractor

• Anderson Spratt GroupAwarded supplier Belfast, Northern IrelandContact emailShow contact details

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