Find a TenderAwarded
Published 26 Apr 2021, 09:06 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Flexible Benefit Provision · UK public procurement notice

Official notice

Authority: NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS LIMITED (Public body)

ServicesNegotiated procedure with prior call for competition
Awarded value£368,510published contract · exc. VAT
Submissions closed 11 May 2021awarded 4 May 2022
Awarded to BENIFEX LIMITED

What is being bought

Published requirement description

NGN currently offer benefits via an online portal called iBenefit, our colleagues reward and benefit scheme offering choices in benefits and savings. This delivers a mixture of voluntary benefits and additional offers which the company is able to provide to all of its colleagues. NGN have been running the current scheme for 6 years and have added new benefits and offers each year/when available.

  • Number of colleagues - 1400
  • Workforce: predominately operational/field-based engineers; support and corporate functions office/homebased
  • Number of payrolls: 1 per month
  • Benefit year runs April to March
  • Annual enrolment is a 3 week window mid-February to early March; benefits selected during the main election window need to be effective on 1st April each year. Annual enrolment is our colleague's opportunity to make the most of our exclusively negotiated deals and offers. Benefits can also be made from National Insurance and/or tax savings when payments are made through monthly salary.
  • Most benefits are 'anytime', so are available throughout the year and can be selected each month. Exceptions, which are only available at main election window are highlighted in the table below *
  • Voluntary benefits: Mixture of Gross pay (Salary Sacrifice- either tax and NI, Tax only, NI only) or Net Pay deductions - see above

CPV: Benefit services · Human resources management consultancy services · Time accounting or human resources software development services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1A new contract has been awarded following a tender event for 3 years with 3 x 1 year…AwardedRenewal

A new contract has been awarded following a tender event for 3 years with 3 x 1 year extension provisions.

NGN's Requirement

•Provide a complete end to end Flexible benefit provision under the 'iBenefit' name including branding, design, transition, project delivery, platform, communications/engagement, brokerage, consultancy, help desk and ongoing administration assistance.

•Provide a fully flexible on-line platform/portal for NGN colleagues - we need to be able to transfer our own benefits NGN are currently contractually committed to and NGN offers alongside your own pool of benefits which you can offer.

•Provide the procurement/brokerage and placement of benefits with individual providers on behalf of NGN

•Provision of full benefit administration required, i.e. supplier to organise/administer benefit selections with the benefit providers directly

•Source and provide a discounts/cashback module to sit alongside the benefit provision which will offer discounts and deals for shopping, travel, leisure etc

•To provide a helpline, telephone and on-line support service for NGN colleagues to be delivered consistently by exceptional levels of customer service

•Provide a service which colleagues can access via different methods e.g. on-line, tablet, phone

•Provide Flexible/Voluntary Benefits and offers in a way which is relevant and personal to every colleague wherever they work in our business

•Deliver a rolling enrolment and selection proposition throughout the year rather than once yearly election window (where benefits will allow)

•Provision of branding and design to be used across all areas of the scheme including portal, devises, engagement, communications etc

•Deliver a robust aspirational communication/engagement strategy for launch and ongoing throughout the year to meet the needs of a predominantly field based and remote work force; with a smaller group working from both home and office based. This should be in the form of both electronic and paper content e.g. will include production and delivery of brochures, z cards emails and more to all colleagues ahead of launch plus on-going engagement, communicating /marketing.

•Provide Management Information on usage, traffic through the site, payroll reports etc

•Provide regular updates and progression of the scheme throughout the year with NGN HR and recommendations for future development of the scheme via ongoing consultancy and support

•Ability to review provision of colleague's benefits/offers and update throughout the contract should new initiatives be identified as desirable by supplier and NGN

•Provision of ongoing consultancy throughout the duration of the contract.

•To provide a solution compatible with and enable to interface with NGN payroll system (SAP)

•To be able to show compliance with relevant legislation when handling NGN colleague data e.g. Data Protection Act 2018 and to meet Inland Revenue rules

•All benefits are required to be compliant in line with HMRC rules and guidelines.

•Suppliers must be able to demonstrate that their data flow provision is secure when sharing confidential information.

Brokerage

We require you provide a fully compliant brokerage service using your expert knowledge of the benefits market to source the most appropriate benefits and provide recommendations tailored to meet our needs. This will include all due diligence as well as an understanding of our scheme, colleagues, business needs to provide of a cost-effective solution. We expect you to handle the end to end process of procurement, contractual arrangements, administration of these benefits.

Voluntary flexible benefit provision

Provision of voluntary flexible benefits which are not funded by NGN (with exceptions - see above) which colleagues can choose according to their needs and where appropriate make Tax/NI savings or through salary sacrifice or via net pay arrangements.

Benefit Overview

•We will be looking for innovative ideas from the supplier throughout the life of the contract and we urge suggestions of new benefits/offers, ideas and schemes as they are crucial to ensuring we are offering the very best benefits on the market to every NGN colleague at cost effective rates. The emphasis will be on supporting colleagues and their families by offering benefits and services which promote and enhance health and wellbeing (physical, mental and financial), leisure and lifestyle. Services need to be developed to suit our colleagues needs, helping to enjoy the present and safeguard the future.

•We call for as many benefits as possible to be 'any time' not just available during the main election window February to April. All other offers should be available 24/7.

•We currently have in place a life event option, this enables colleagues to add additional benefits outside the selection window either as a new starter or have a life changing event e.g. getting married, moving to a new house, going through a divorce, having a baby or a death of a dependant. We consider this to be a great help and advantage for NGN colleagues and as such we would prefer to keep this in place.

•The supplier is required to review our benefit provision and identify which benefits/additional benefits we should have in place and make recommendations on suitable providers should be through their brokerage service. This enables NGN to take advantage of the supplier's expertise in benefit procurement without the need to procure the benefits ourselves.

•Provision of ongoing consultancy throughout the duration of the contract is required.

•All benefits are required to be compliant in line with HMRC rules and guidelines.

NGN need to be able to transfer our own benefits/services we are currently contractually committed to alongside your own pool of benefits.

Portal

•NGN require to keep the 'iBenefit' name, the successful candidate will need to be able to provide an online portal for NGN and design, brand, build and implement the function to have availability on all devices including…

Extensions: 3 x 1 year extension provisions available for NGN to use at our discretionVariant bids: not allowed

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition
Legal basis
CELEX · 32014L0025 Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (Directive 2014/25/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
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
26 Apr 2021, 09:06 BST
Last source update
5 May 2022, 11:34 BST
FTS notice number
2022/S 000-011666
Classification (CPV)
Benefit servicesHuman resources management consultancy servicesTime accounting or human resources software development services
Delivery area
Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02a9f1 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
11 May 2021, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
{"written"}
Accepted languages
en

Timeline

11 May 2021 → 5 May 2022 · 2 dates
  1. Submission deadline
    11 May 2021, 12:00 BST
  2. Notice published
    5 May 2022, 11:34 BST

Notice history

1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender
  1. Status changed to complete
    5 May 2022, 11:34 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £368,5101 contract exc. VAT
Contracts signed 1latest 4 May 2022
Awarded toValueDateStatus
BENIFEX LIMITEDSME£368,510 †—Awarded

Contracts

  • Contract 011666-2022-1 · BENIFEX LIMITEDSME

    Signed
    4 May 2022
    Value
    £368,510
    Status
    active

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS LIMITED

Contracting authorityPublic bodyProduction, transport and distribution of gas and heat 1100 Century Way Thorpe Park, LEEDS, Yorkshire & Humber, LS158TUContact name, email, phone Published organisation website ↗

Dispute resolution & review bodies

  • Becky RowleyReview body LeedsContact email
  • Northern Gas NetworksReview body Leeds

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Official documents & specifications

Official links; attachments are not copied

No document links were published on the notice.