Preliminary Market Consultation - Art and Craft Materials

This is not a tender exercise by the Education Authority. The current Framework Agreement for Supply and Delivery of Art and Craft Materials (Ref 70296) is due to expire on the 31st December 2021, and as such the EA is currently preparing to initiate the re-tender procurement process. The purpose of this market consultation exercise is to gain an understanding of the latest developments and innovations in the provision of Art and Craft Materials and to assist the Education Authority (EA) in ensuring that the most efficient and effective methods for the supply and delivery of Art and Craft Materials are undertaken and included in its forthcoming procurement exercise. Any information gathered through this market consultation exercise will inform internal business planning and any possible subsequent procurement process and will NOT be appraised in any future procurement exercise. Please note that participation or non-participation in this preliminary market consultation exercise shall not prevent any supplier participating in any potential procurement process, nor is it intended that any information supplied shall place any supplier at an advantage or disadvantage in any forthcoming procurement process. For the avoidance of doubt, this is the scoping phase of the project and is not part of a formal procurement process. EA would like to invite participation in the market consultation exercise, by interested suppliers completing a questionnaire. This questionnaire will be used to assist in gaining a better understanding of the feasibility of the requirements, the most appropriate procurement and operational approach, the capacity of the market to deliver the requirements and an opportunity for the market to highlight any possible risks or issues that may not have previously been considered. Any submission received in response to this exercise will not constitute any contractual agreement between the respondent and the EA. All completed questionnaires must be returned via the Secure Messaging function on eTendersNI no later than 3pm on Friday 19th February 2021.