Official UK procurement notice
The Provision of Investment Management Services for the Scottish Universities Fund Ignition Strategy
Authority: Scottish National Investment Bank
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Bank is seeking proposals from suitably qualified and authorised investment management firms to establish and manage a 15 million GBP segregated investment mandate for the delivery of the Scottish Universities Ignition Fund Strategy ("the Mandate").
The successful bidder will be expected to establish and operate an appropriate investment vehicle through which the Mandate will be delivered, with the Bank acting as the sole investor. The Mandate forms one of two complementary investment strategies within the Scottish Universities Fund ("SUF"), a broader investment platform designed to support the creation, growth and long-term scaling of university-originated companies in Scotland.
The purpose of this Invitation to Tender (ITT) is to appoint an investment manager with delegated discretion to manage the Mandate in accordance with an agreed Investment Management Contract and the requirements set out in this ITT.
CPV: Banking and investment services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£6,500,000
- Extensions
- 2 x 12 month extension periods
- Variant bids
- not allowed
What it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality — 80%
- Price — 20%
- SuitabilitySuitability – Authorisation or Membership Please complete “Suitability - Authorisation or Membership” question within the SPD module of PCS: Question 4A.2A - Bidders are required in country of establishment to hold an authorisation of the FCA and all required FCA permissions to perform the services. Pass = The Tenderer has provided confirmation that it will provide evidence of holding an authorisation of the FCA and all required FCA permissions to perform the services when requested by the Purchaser. Fail = The Tenderer has not provided confirmation .that it will provide evidence of holding an authorisation of the FCA and all required FCA permissions to perform the services when requested by the Purchaser.
- Economic & financial standingPlease complete “Insurance Requirements” on the online SPD and submit on PCS. It is a requirement that all Tenderers must have or commit to have the required insurance levels at commencement of the Agreement as indicated below. Question 4B.5.a Professional Risk Indemnity - 10m GBP Question 4B.5.b Employers Liability - 10m GBP Question 4B.5.c Other Insurances: Product and Public Liability – 5m GBP A copy of the Insurance Certificate or Brokers Letter must be provided prior to award to demonstrate that the Insurance requirements can be met. Please confirm that you can meet this requirement and that this information shall be provided when requested, prior to award. Other Economic or Financial Requirements - Financial Accounts Question 4B.6 - The successful Tenderer will be required to provide two years of audited accounts or equivalent prior to award to the Contract. If you are unable to provide the required accounting information – e.g. a new business without the required accounts, please provide a banker’s letter demonstrating their willingness to support your organisation over the term of the Contract. The Bank shall assess the financial accounts or banker’s letter submitted. It may seek further clarity if necessary and use all financial information submitted to ensure that the Tenderer has satisfactory economic and financial standing to meet the contract requirements. If analysis of a Tenderer’s financial position determines that additional measures are necessary to provi…Minimum: QUESTION 4B5: All Insurance requirements are minimum standards and are mandatory. A fail will result in elimination of the procurement exercise. Pass = The Tenderer has the relevant Insurance in place with evidence of an Insurance Certificate or the Tenderer has committed to obta…
- Technical & professional abilityQuestion 4C.1.2 of SPD: Bidders are required to provide a fully attributable performance track record for funds and strategies comparable to the services described within the specification of requirements of this ITT. Track record information should be presented on both a gross and net basis and include, as a minimum, TVPI, DPI, IRR, and MOIC, in a clear, tabulated format to enable comparability across submissions. In addition to quantitative track record data, bidders are required to provide two representative case studies that demonstrate their approach to sourcing, underwriting, and scaling early-stage, innovation-led companies. Case studies should be comparable in stage and nature to the Mandate and should clearly set out the bidder’s role and attribution, investment thesis, key risks, value creation approach and outcomes achieved.Minimum: Pass = The Tenderer has provided an attributable track record with TVPI, DPI, IRR, and MOIC (gross and net) in a clear table; and two relevant case studies on early-stage, innovation-led investments comparable to the Mandate. Fail = The Tenderer has not provided an attributable t…
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- Price carries 20 of 100 points — a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £13,000,000 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring — the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
Banking and investment services (CPV 6610) in Scotland — and who usually turns up
Scottish National Investment Bank has too little published record in this market to describe on its own; the Scotland market stands beside whatever it has. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Banking and investment services (CPV 6610) →
How the contest usually goes
This buyer’s published record next to the market where the work is delivered — contested contracts only, counted per lot
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means registered in Scotland.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Scotland.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
No published decision dates to compare.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid11%
2–361%
4–626%
7+1%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate56%
Within ±2%30%
Above estimate15%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors — from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 6610Published estimate£6,500,000
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 148 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid11%
2–361%
4–626%
7+1%
i
Where the winning price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A guide, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ||||
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ||||
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each figure explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two sides are never blended. A lot’s own market is read at its delivery region where the lot names one; where it names several, or none that can be resolved, the chart falls back to the UK-wide record for the same category and says so under the bar. An empty cell means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- When we call out a difference. A buyer figure is only flagged against the market when the sample is large enough that the gap is unlikely to be chance; at most two callouts appear, always phrased as a comparison with both numbers and the sample size.
- Coverage (re-measured 5 Oct on the live record, 94,497 awarded procedures of the last three years). 51 % publish a bid count and 72 % a delivery region, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice names none, labelled. Of the 17,687 award-vs-estimate pairs, 34 % sit exactly on the estimate — the buyer published the award at the figure it advertised. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden, and a distribution is not drawn as percentages below ten observations.
- “Match”, text similarity, the expected-bid figure and the distribution drawn beneath it are model outputs, not published facts or win probabilities. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
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
- Open for tender
- 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
- 9 Oct 2026, 15:37 BST
- Last source update
- 9 Oct 2026, 15:37 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 10 Nov 2026 — …
- Authority reference
CON-0313- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095775- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0784ffFind a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Performance terms
- As provided within the ITT Document.
Publisher note: 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. Within the SPD, Tenderers should respond “yes” where they have been the subject of any enforcement action, restriction or other sanction or intervention by the Financial Conduct Authority or any other regulator and then provide an explanation in response to questions 3D10.1 to 3D10.4 NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=840049. The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx. Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems. The Contracting Authority does not intend to include a sub-contract clause as part of community benefits (as per Section 25 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014) in this contract for the following reason: The Contracting Authority does not intend to include a sub-contract clause as part of community benefits (as per Section 25 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014) in this contract for the following reason: Sub-Contracting is not a significant part of the overall anticipated contract spend. Community benefits are included in this requirement. For more information see: https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement/community-benefits-in-procurement/ A summary of the expected community benefits has been provided as follows: Provision of skills and training opportunities – details of mentorship opportunities, apprenticeships, and structured learning pathways that could be offered as a result of this Contract. (SC Ref:840049) Download the ESPD document here: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ESPD/ESPD_Download.aspx?id=840049
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via Public Contracts Scotland- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 10 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 90 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 10 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Timeline
3 published dates · Europe/London- Notice publishedearlier today9 Oct 2026, 15:37 BST
- Submission deadlinein 31 days10 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Bids openedin 31 days10 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Edinburgh Sheriff CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice; the tender pack is on the portal.