Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2019-09-17
Buyer: Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 73220000 | 79400000 | 79410000 | 79411000 | 79411100
Estimated value: 189000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2019-10-31
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: The sustainable growth of adventure tourism is a strategic priority for HIE and our ambition is to accelerate business growth across targeted cohorts of adventure tourism businesses. Delivery of the project will focus on the creation of up to 5 place-based cohorts across the Highland Council geography. The programme will seek to work with not only established businesses, but also micro businesses and aspiring businesses looking to start up in the sector. Through the provision of intensive support, the aim is to enable participant businesses to collaborate to create scale in a global sector where the Highlands has a natural competitive advantage.
Phase 1 of the programme will focus on the design and build of an innovative and inspirational programme that will stimulate ambition, reflect international best practice and further develop business capability, growth and competitiveness, followed by Phase 2, recruitment, management and delivery of the programme.
It is expected that these services will be required from January 2020 for a period of 3 years. The 3-year budget available to deliver this service is between 150 000 GBP and 189 000 GBP (excluding VAT). This figure includes venue hire, residential costs for participants, teas/coffees, lunch, dinner (where appropriate), alumni events and generic T&S.
The project is a component of Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s Northern Innovation Hub (NIH) which is funded from the UK and Scottish Government’s City Region-Deal. The Northern Innovation Hub covers the Highland Council local authority region and therefore this programme will only be delivered across the Highland region and not the full Highlands and Islands Enterprise region.
HIE reserves the right, on giving reasonable written notice from time to time, to require changes to the Services (whether by way of the removal of services, the addition of new services, or increasing or decreasing the services or specifying the order in which the services are to be performed or the locations where the services are to be provided). HIE shall not require any such change other than where it is permitted by Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.
In accordance with Regulation 72(1)(a) of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, HIE reserves the right to make changes to the volume, scope or location of the Services following a review of the services by HIE, particularly with regard to demand.
Where HIE determines (at our sole discretion) that demand for the programme in 1 potential cohort is lower than expected, HIE reserves the right not to start that cohort or establish another cohort in an area where there is already a cohort, but sufficient demand exist.
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.
4B.5 It is a requirement of this contract that bidders hold, or can commit to obtain prior to the commence of any subsequently awarded contract, the types and levels of insurance indicated below:
— employer’s (compulsory) liability insurance = 5 000 000 GBP for each and every claim http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse40.pdf
HIE as a public body must comply with HMRC IR35 provisions. Therefore, where you are bidding as a personal service company (PSC) or will be using a personal service company to provide services under the framework please identify these PSC(s) in your response to 4B.6.
Contracting authorities may lay down special conditions relating to the performance of a contract, provided that they are linked to the subject-matter of the contract.
Those conditions may include economic, innovation-related, environmental, social or employment-related considerations.
Bidders shall propose Key performance indicators (KPIs) and service levels as part of their submission. These will be further developed with HIE following contract implementation. The supplier is required to ensure that the management and delivery of services is to the agreed performance levels which will be monitored and measured by a variety of reports, surveys and audit systems.
HIE reserves the right to re-tender for these services upon termination of the contract or at the end of the contract period, including any extension period.

Eligibility requirements: Not applicable to this procurement exercise.

Award value: 189000