Voluntary ex ante transparency notice for the Supply of Ceremonial and Parade Headwear - Caps and Specialist

CPV: Caps · Hats and headgear

Procedure method

Negotiated without publication of a contract notice

Legal basis

CELEX · 32009L0081 Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Directive 2009/81/EC)

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

Unspecified in notice

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

25 Jun 2021, 22:45 BST

Last source update

25 Jun 2021, 22:45 BST

Authority reference

LSL/DC/0142

FTS notice number

2021/S 000-014622

Classification (CPV)

CapsHats and headgear

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-02c091 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development under the conditions stated in the directive; The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons; Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority/entity and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive

Published justification

Further to being informed by our incumbent supplier of Ceremonial headwear (Caps) that they would be ceasing production, and would no longer be in a position to support this range of items, Leidos Supply Ltd intends to award a maximum term framework agreement of 7 years (5 + 2 Years) to Try & Lilly Ltd. There is a need to ensure continuity of supply for the goods in question, that are deemed essential by our Customer, and as such Leidos Supply Ltd will be looking to award a framework under Regulation 32(2) (C) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015, which allows for the use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication “insofar as is strictly necessary where, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with.”

The subject matter of this framework is very technical/ specialist, and as such, there is a genuine lack of compliant competition within the ceremonial headwear market. This was confirmed during the previous tender, concluded in 2019, which resulted in only two bidders being able to meet the minimum technical standard required. One of these was the incumbent for this range (who has now ceased trading in this market), and the other being Try & Lilly Ltd. On this basis, it would also be appropriate to refer to Regulation 32(2) (B) (ii) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015, which allows for the use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication “where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator” where “competition is absent for technical reasons”.

This Framework will have a maximum term of 7 years (5 + 2 Years), which is considered justifiable in that the subject matter of the framework (Ceremonial Headwear) is deemed technical/ specialist and due to this, any future supplier of this range will require a significant initial investment, which includes, but is not limited to the expansion of premises, the purchase of machinery, and the employment of new staff or upskilling of existing members of staff. This initial investment would be prohibitive for suppliers should the term of the framework be only for 4 years, as this investment would be disproportionate to the profit a supplier would expect to make on a framework of this term.

In light of this, Leidos Supply Ltd intends to utilise Regulation 33 (3) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015, which states that the term of a framework agreement may exceed 4 years, “in exceptional cases, justified in particular by the subject – matter of the framework agreement.”

Publisher note: Please note this is a Voluntary Transparency Notice, this contract has not been awarded yet. Subject to Leidos Supply Limited receiving no notice during the standstill period of any intention to legally challenge the award process, Leidos Supply Limited aims to award the Proposed Contract after 12:00PM on 6th July 2021 The authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a Security Aspects Letter), the authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies or otherwise. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the Government Security Classification. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-security-classifications

• Try & Lilly LtdAwarded supplier Liverpool, UK

No document links were published on the notice.