Find a TenderAwarded
Published 30 May 2024, 14:00 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of a 'Student SuperApp' including design, implementation and support services

Official notice

Authority: University of Southampton (Charity / VCSE)

GoodsOpen procedureSME suitable
Published value£1,300,000published on the single lot · exc. VAT
Submissions closed 1 Jul 2024awarded 1 Dec 2024
Awarded to LearningMate Solutions UK Ltd

What is being bought

Published requirement description

MySouthampton is an app designed to meet the needs of (principally) students for 'information and services on the go'. Primarily designed for use on mobile devices, the app also presents on desktop. As part of the University's digital transformation programme, we seek to procure an upgrade/replacement for the

current app that will provide users with enhanced features, performance and user experience. The primary user group for the app will be University of Southampton students. We currently have 24,000 students and this number might be expected to grow by 4% a year over the period of the contract, reaching perhaps 28,000 by April 2028. The current MySouthampton app achieved approximately 500,000 menu clicks from users in the month of January 2024. Figures for unique users are not available. The use of the term 'SuperApp' represents a working title and is indicative of our ambition; that the new MySouthampton app should be best-in-class, creating a compelling user experience with features and content to rival the best University student apps currently available. High availability and performance are considered crucial for adoption of the app, and for it to become an indispensable tool for students at the University. The University tendered this opportunity to secure a partner to design, implement and support a student information application.

  • Recurrence: This is likely to be re-procured in 2031

CPV: Educational software package · Software package and information systems · Software programming and consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£1,300,000
Delivery: South East · Southampton, Hampshire, UK
Extensions: This contract is likely to be subject to renewal towards the end of this contract period.Variant bids: not allowed

What it takes to win
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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: 55%Price: 45%
Published sub-criteria (4)
  • Functional Requirements: 30%
  • Implementation and Support: 25%
  • Sustainability and Cost Certainty: 15%
  • Cost criterion: 30%
Published award criteria (5)
  • Non-functional Requirements: Mandatory: Pass/Fail
  • Functional Requirements: 30%
  • Implementation and Support: 25%
  • Sustainability and Cost Certainty: 15%
  • Cost criterion: 30%
Conditions of participation2
  • Economic & financial standing

    To support the financial assessment, the University will obtain a Business Risk Report for all Potential Suppliers/Tenderers and every organisation that is being relied on to meet this procurement, using an independent company called CreditSafe.

    The University reserves the right to exclude a Tenderer or request provision of further assurances such as parent company/bank guarantee or performance bonds where a Tenderer's Business Risk Score is: "Moderate Risk"; "High Risk"; "Very High Risk"; or "Not Rated", based on the rating provided by CreditSafe

    Where a Business Risk Score from our external system is not available, then an alternative method of assessing financial standing will be used.

    Minimum: Potential suppliers/Tenderers are advised that a requirement of this procurement is to have in place, or commit to obtain prior to the commencement of the contract, the following minimum insurance levels: Employers (Compulsory) Liability: £5 million GBP per occurrence. Public Lia…
  • Technical & professional ability

    The selection criteria is as stated in the Invitation to Tender document set.

    However, potential suppliers' attention is drawn to the MANDATORY requirements of the award criteria:

    e.g.

    • Grounds for mandatory exclusion
    • Grounds for discretionary exclusion
    • Economic & Financial Standing
    • Insurance
    • Compliance with the Conditions of Contract
    • Minimum Compliance and Selection Score: Bidders must achieve an overall Compliance and Selection score of 60% to be considered further.
    • Non-Functional Requirements
    • Various functional requirements, implementation & support requirements and sustainability requirements as individually marked within the Invitation to Tender document set.
What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 45 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4.5 points. Quality carries 55 of 100: the paper moves it further than 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
Goods
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 · This is likely to be re-procured in 2031
First published
30 May 2024, 14:00 BST
Last source update
17 Dec 2024, 09:07 GMT
Award evaluation window
1 Jul 2024 – …
Authority reference
2024UoS-1255
FTS notice number
2024/S 000-040531
Classification (CPV)
Educational software packageSoftware package and information systemsSoftware programming and consultancy services
Delivery area
South East (UKJ32)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-046c68 Find a Tender
Contract terms
Electronic trading
electronic ordering · electronic payment

Publisher note: E-Tendering Portal: The University is utilising an electronic tendering tool, In-Tend (https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofsouthampton/aspx/Home) to manage this procurement and to communicate with potential suppliers and/or tenderers (as appropriate). All documentation in relation to this tender can be downloaded from In-Tend. Potential suppliers/tenderers are advised that there will be no hard copy documents issued and all communications with the University, including the submission of Selection Stage and/or Invitation to Tender responses will be conducted via In-Tend. Regular monitoring of the portal is the responsibility of the potential supplier/tenderer. If you are not already registered as a supplier with the University of Southampton, you will need to register in In-Tend in order to access the procurement documentation. Once you have logged in as a supplier: click on 'Tenders'; locate the relevant project; and click 'View Details'. Once you are in the project screen, you will be able to register your organisation against the project and access all documentation by clicking 'Express Interest'. Potential suppliers/tenderers are advised that formal expressions of interest in the project must be by way of completion and return of the relevant documents via In-Tend. Further instructions for the submission of responses are below: To submit your return: 1. Log in 2. Click 'Tenders' 3. Locate the relevant project 4. View details 5. Click on the tab relating to the relevant project stage (e.g. 'Invitation to Tender') 6. Click on the 'Attach Documents' button and upload your return. 7. Check ALL your response documents are uploaded and displayed in the 'My Tender Return' panel. The system will only permit your organisation to make one return. 8. Click the red 'Submit Return' button. Please note, to preserve the integrity of the procurement, all communications with the University must be made via the correspondence function within In-Tend. Publication of Award Details: In accordance with Regulation 50, paragraph (2) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and subject to Article 5 and Annex 5, Part D (13) of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (if applicable), the University intends to publish the value of any resulting contract at the award stage, and reserves the right to do so. By submitting a response, potential suppliers/tenderers are consenting to publication of this information unless otherwise agreed in advance with the University. Costs and Expenses: Potential suppliers/tenderers are solely responsible for their costs and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation and submission of responses and participation in this and all future stages of this procurement. Under no circumstances will the University be liable for any costs or expenses borne by potential suppliers/tenderers or any of their supply chain, partners or advisers in this procurement process. The University is not liable for any costs in the event of the cancellation of this procurement process.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: In-tend · Who buys & how to bid on In-tend
Supplier login requiredLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · one account per buying organisation's portal · reCAPTCHA on signup
Submission deadline
1 Jul 2024, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
{"electronicSubmission"}
Accepted languages
en
Bid validity
120 days from the deadline
Bids opened
1 Jul 2024, 12:01 BST
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

1 Jul 2024 → 17 Dec 2024 · 3 dates
  1. Submission deadline
    1 Jul 2024, 12:00 BST
  2. Bids opened
    1 Jul 2024, 12:01 BST
  3. Notice published
    17 Dec 2024, 09:07 GMT

Notice history

1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender
  1. Status changed to complete
    17 Dec 2024, 09:07 GMT

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £1,300,0001 contract exc. VAT
Bids received 1310 from SMEs
Contracts signed 1latest 1 Dec 2024
Awarded toValueDateStatus
LearningMate Solutions UK Ltd£1,300,000 †—Awarded

Contracts

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
13bids · 13 electronic10——

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

Contracting authorityCharity / VCSEBody governed by public lawEducation GB-UKPRN: 10007158 UNIVERSITY ROAD, SOUTHAMPTON, South East, SO171BJContact name, email, phone Published organisation website ↗

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.