Find a TenderAwarded

Published 5 Aug 2025, 09:41 BST

Official UK procurement notice

FTS047 Pathways to Start - Lot 1 Argyll and Bute

Authority: Highlands and Islands Enterprise

ServicesOpen procedureSME suitable

Sectors: IT Services & Software (72)Business Services & Consultancy (79)Education & Training (80) Delivery: Scotland (UKM63)

Published estimate£240,000exc. VAT11.9% below published estimate

Submissions closed 8 Sept 2025awarded 9 Oct 2025

Awarded to Skillfluence Limited

Contract term 5 moends 31 Mar 2026 · extension options published · starts 20 Oct 2025

What is being bought

Published requirement 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.

CPV: Adult and other education services · Business and management consultancy and related services · Business and management consultancy services · Business development consultancy services · Education and training services · General management consultancy services · Management training services · Personal development training services · Project management consultancy services · Technical and vocational secondary education services · Training programme services · Training seminars · +1 more

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published

Lot #1Key tasks are:Awarded 5 moPublished value£240,000

Key tasks are:

Programme design
Outreach, stakeholder engagement and participant recruitment
Training delivery
Programme administration and monitoring.

Please refer to the Scope of Requirement and Guidance document for full details. 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.

Contract period: 20 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2026 (5 mo)

Delivery: Scotland

Extensions: 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.Variant bids: not allowed

72224000 Project management consultancy services 79400000 Business and management consultancy and related services 79410000 Business and management consultancy services 79411000 General management consultancy services 79411100 Business development consultancy services 80210000 Technical and vocational secondary education services

What it takes to win
i
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 more

How bids were scored

Quality: 60%Price: 40%

Published sub-criteria (5)

Q5 Management and Delivery Methodology: 20%
Q6 Delivery Methodology – Inclusivity: 15%
Q7 Management and Delivery Team: 20%
Q8 Fair Work First: 5%
price: 40%

Published award criteria (9)

Q1 Prompt Payment Standard Clause: pass/fail
Q2 Cyber Security: pass/fail
Q3 Payment of the Real Living Wage: pass/fail
Q4 UK Data Centres: pass/fail
Q5 Management and Delivery Methodology: 20%
Q6 Delivery Methodology – Inclusivity: 15%
Q7 Management and Delivery Team: 20%
Q8 Fair Work First: 5%
Price: 40%

Conditions of participation3

Suitability
4A2 Bidders must confirm individuals involved in the delivery of the training programme are/will be registered with Disclosure Scotland’s Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme in circumstances where individuals will be required to work with children and/or protected adults. Such registration must be in place prior to commencing training delivery to such individuals and/or cohorts including such individuals.
Condition of participation
no text published
Minimum: It is a requirement of this Contract that bidders hold, or can commit to obtain prior to the commencement of any subsequently awarded Contract, the types and levels of insurance indicated below: 4B5a Professional Risk Indemnity – minimum GBP1m in aggregate 4B5b Employers (compuls…
Technical & professional ability
4C4 If bidders intend to use a supply chain to deliver the requirements detailed in the Contract Notice, they should confirm they have (or have access to) the relevant supply chain management and tracking systems to ensure a resilient and sustainable supply chain. Please refer to Scope of Requirements for full requirements. If bidders do not pay at least 95% of valid invoices on time and are unable to provide a proportionate and timely improvement plan, their organisation will not be selected to participate further in this procurement.(pass/fail)
4C10 Bidders will be required to confirm whether they intend to subcontract and, if so, for what proportion of the contract. (for info)

Staff: Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted

What this means for your bid

Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 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: No (one-off requirement)
First published: 5 Aug 2025, 09:41 BST
Last source update: 20 Oct 2025, 15:59 BST
Award evaluation window: 8 Sept 2025 – …
Authority reference: FTS047 - Lot 1
FTS notice number: 2025/S 000-066815
Classification (CPV): Adult and other education servicesBusiness and management consultancy and related servicesBusiness and management consultancy servicesBusiness development consultancy servicesEducation and training servicesGeneral management consultancy servicesManagement training servicesPersonal development training servicesProject management consultancy servicesTechnical and vocational secondary education services
+3 more
Training programme servicesTraining seminars
Delivery area: Scotland (UKM63)
Official registry OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-058131 Find a Tender

Contract terms

Electronic trading: e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
Performance terms: Refer to the Scope of Requirements and Guidance document.

Publisher note: 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)

How it was run

Official notice

Run through: Public Contracts Scotland · Who buys & how to bid on PCS

Supplier login requiredLanguage: EN

Access & registration note: Free single registration for Scotland; PCS-Tender (Jaggaer) for full bidding

Submission deadline: 8 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
Submission channel: {"electronicSubmission"}
Accepted languages: en
Bid validity: 90 days from the deadline
Bids opened: 8 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST

Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk ↗

Timeline

8 Sept 2025 → 20 Oct 2025 · 4 dates

Submission deadline
8 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
Bids opened
8 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
Contract starts368 days ago
20 Oct 2025, 00:00 BST
Notice published367 days ago
20 Oct 2025, 15:59 BST

Notice history

1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender

Status changed to complete
20 Oct 2025, 15:59 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast

Awards 1

Awarded value £211,5001 contract exc. VAT

Bids received 1111 from SMEs

Contracts signed 1latest 9 Oct 2025

Awarded to	Value	Date	Status
Skillfluence LimitedSME	£211,500 †	—	Awarded

Contracts

Contract 066815-2025-FTS 047 Lot 1-1 · Skillfluence LimitedSME
Signed
9 Oct 2025
Value
£211,500
Period
… – 31 Mar 2026
Status
active

Bid statistics published by the authority

Bids	SME	VCSE	Valid bid range
11bids · 11 electronic · 11 from abroad	11	—	—

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Contracting authorityRegional or local agency/officeEconomic affairs An Lòchran, 10 Inverness Campus, Inverness, Scotland, IV2 5NAContact email, phone Published organisation website ↗

Dispute resolution & review bodies

Inverness Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace CourtReview body InvernessContact email, phone

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

SkillfluenceAwarded supplier 1.8 CoVault, 54 Cook St, Glasgow, Scotland, G5 8JN

Official documents & specifications

Official links; attachments are not copied

No document links were published on the notice.