Official UK procurement notice
UK Shared Prosperity (UKSPF) & Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) Supporting Local Business
Authority: Central Bedfordshire Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) was launched by the government in 2022 and is central to its 'levelling up' agenda, with £2.6 billion of funding set aside nationally for local investment by March 2025. The Government's aim of the fund is to invest in domestic priorities by targeting funding where it is needed most - building pride in place - supporting high-quality skills, training and pay and investing in employment opportunities, innovation and productivity.
Central Bedfordshire Council was allocated funding through both UKSPF and also the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) through an addendum to deliver projects in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
The Council has committed some of this funding to the Supporting Local business theme, which aims to create jobs and boost community cohesion through investment in existing industries and institutions, support for those starting businesses, sharing knowledge and expertise, improvement in retail, hospitality and leisure facilities, networking and collaboration and stimulating innovation and growth
CPV: Business development consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Delivery of the following 5 Supporting Local Businesses interventions:Awarded
Delivery of the following 5 Supporting Local Businesses interventions:
Summary of each intervention Project:
E21: Business Innovation - Engagement and provision of innovation and technological support to Central Bedfordshire Businesses with the intention of improving their performance. Enterprises will receive expert business advice, guidance, training and mentoring to support them with improved productivity, and assistance to adopt new or improved products or services.
E24A: Business Start Up & Entrepreneurship (including support for Social Enterprises) - This intervention is to support Entrepreneurship (those in the process of starting up) & Start Up businesses (including social enterprises). Delivery will be aimed at assisting potential entrepreneurs to be business ready/self-employment and resulting in businesses being set up as a result of support received as well as newly established businesses
E24B: Business Growth - Scale up & Resilience - Supporting established businesses with growth potential through the adoption of new or improved products or services
E28: Export Support with Grants - Delivery of export-readiness activity as a result of UKSPF support, resulting in local businesses engaged in new markets following support.
Export Grants to support Businesses to grow their overseas trading, supporting local employment
Support for businesses in developing their export strategy
E29: Local Business De-carbonisation - Delivery Supporting decarbonisation, net zero initiatives and improving the natural environment whilst growing the local economy through direct advice, guidance, mentoring and training resulting in a new or improved de-carbonisation/net zero plan.
Overall - All Supporting local business Interventions to be underpinned by: Direct business support, advice, guidance, mentoring and training
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 13 Oct 2023, 10:25 BST
- Last source update
- 13 Oct 2023, 10:25 BST
- FTS notice number
2023/S 000-030202- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-040ba2Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
The procurement involves the provision of highly specialised professional services.
The aim is to partner with experienced, specialised local business support intermediaries who understand the local geography, have existing relationships with the local SME community and who are best placed to engage with eligible businesses at pace, deliver high quality support across the 5 interventions (innovation, entrepreneurship, business growth, exporting and decarbonisation) alongside capital grant delivery to enhance the tangible impacts.
There is a significant possibility that any underspend from the current financial year may not be carried forwarded to next year, based on current guidance from Government. This could result in a substantial loss of funding and much needed support for our business community. By enabling partnership with local organisations, we are maximising spend in 2023/24 and reducing the risk of losing funding from Government.
Within Central Bedfordshire, we have existing, highly specialised business support intermediaries who have significant relationships with our business community and understand the local geography and SME ecosystem to enable them to deliver at pace.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of BedfordshireVCSEBusiness Innovation | £461,451 † | — | Awarded |
| Bedfordshire Chamber of CommerceExport support | £178,931 † | — | Awarded |
| WentaBusiness Entrepreneurship and Start Up | £495,160 † | — | Awarded |
| Cranfield UniversityBusiness Scale Up & Resilience | £495,160 † | — | Awarded |
| Cranfield UniversityLocal Business Decarbonisation | £432,874 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Business Innovation · University of BedfordshireVCSE
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £461,451
- Status
- active
Export support · Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £178,931
- Status
- active
Business Entrepreneurship and Start Up · Wenta
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £495,160
- Status
- active
Business Scale Up & Resilience · Cranfield University
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £495,160
- Status
- active
Local Business Decarbonisation · Cranfield University
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £432,874
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
4 commercial parties on the notice- Bedfordshire Chamber of CommerceAwarded supplier
- Cranfield UniversityAwarded supplier
- University of BedfordshireAwarded supplier
- WENTAAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.