INVITATION TO TENDER
BARNSLEY METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL
Enterprising Barnsley –
PR Services
This tender is for the procurement of services for the completion of a PR
Project for Enterprising Barnsley during the period March 2016 to 31st March
2017.
Dated: October 2015
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Westgate Plaza
PO Box 598
Barnsley
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Contents
Page
1.
INTRODUCTION
3
2.
TENDER SPECIFICATION
4-5
3.
2.1
Specification
4
2.2
Timetable of Delivery
5
2.3
Value and Duration of Contract
5
PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
3.1
4.
5.
6.
5
Payment
5
WORKING ARRANGEMENTS
6
SCORING & EVALUATION OF TENDERS
6
5.1 Application
6
5.2 Evaluation Criteria
7
INSTRUCTIONS & INFORMATION FOR TENDERERS
7-11
6.1 Submission of tender
9
6.2 Freedom of Information Legislation
9
6.3 Terms and Conditions of Contract
10
6.4 Specification
10
6.5 Tenders Excluded
10
6.6 Collusive Tendering
11
6.7 Timescales
11
Response Sections
Section 1
12
Section 2
15
2
1.0
INTRODUCTION
The Enterprising Barnsley Team is the economic development arm of Barnsley MBC, which is
responsible for providing support to business and entrepreneurs regardless of their stage of
business, size of sector, helping to ensure that they will receive the necessary support that
will enable them to prosper within the local economy.
Originally the Enterprising Barnsley brand, started as an individual ERDF programme in
2009. Since its creation in 2009, it has successfully embedded itself into the fabric of
Barnsley’s business community.
As its reputation has increased the prominence of the Enterprising Barnsley brand has
intensified, largely due to the success of the wider Enterprising Barnsley programme in
successfully helping to restructure the local business and employment base.
In 2015, it was decided that the Barnsley Development Agency brand and associated
promotional materials would be replaced by the Enterprising Barnsley brand. A complete
brand refresh would be required of all Enterprising Barnsley activity to ensure that the new
Enterprising Barnsley brand sheds its former ERDF presence and incorporates an unified
point of contact for:
1. New Business Starts
2. Growing Established Indigenous Companies
3. Attracting Inward Investment
4. Promoting Key Sites and Premises
Additional general information about the Enterprising Barnsley Programme can be found at
http://www.enterprisingbarnsley.co.uk/
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2.0 TENDER SPECIFICATION
2.1
Specification
BMBC invite tender submissions from organisations, individuals or consortium that can carry
out the proposed activities detailed in this document. The successful applicant will provide
PR support for BMBC’s Enterprising Barnsley Team.
The PR strategy should aim to promote Enterprising Barnsley to the following target
markets:

Those thinking of setting up their own business in Barnsley (pre – start)

Those setting up their own business in Barnsley (start up)

New businesses looking for support in Barnsley (new businesses)

Established Barnsley based businesses looking for support (existing businesses)

Businesses located outside of Barnsley considering relocating (inward investment)

The wider Yorkshire commerce press and stakeholders (for example other local
authorities)

Key publications such as Insider and Estates Gazette
We need to appoint a PR specialist that can plan and implement the PR strategy for
Enterprising Barnsley. This will include all aspects of PR such as drafting and issuing press
releases, social media management, case study production, an Enterprising Barnsley
quarterly newsletter and website updates.
This tender is for PR services. There is a separate tender for branding, marketing materials
and website development.
Please complete Section 1 and Section 2.
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2.2
2.3
Timetable of Delivery
Process
Tenders published
Date
October 29th
Closing date for queries
November 6th
Tender submission deadline
November 16th
Tender scoring date
November 17th
Announce successful tenderers - written
confirmation will be given up to 5 working days
after the scoring panel
November 18th
Begin planning at inception meeting
November 26th
Value and Duration of Contract
A provision of up to £18,000 exclusive of VAT is available for this contract for PR Services.
The contract will commence during March 2016 and cease at the end of March 2017,
however we expect the agreed supplier to start the planning and design of the
commissioned activity, for an imminent start.
3.0 PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
3.1
Payment
A provision of up to £18,000 exclusive of VAT is available for this contract for PR Services.
Invoice payments will be made by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) on a
monthly basis, following the completion of milestones, against the proposed timetable for
delivery, together with the receipt of a monthly summary report which will provide a
comprehensive account of the support undertaken.
All monthly invoiced payments will be accompanied by a breakdown of activity that is being
invoiced.
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First payment is depended upon, the submission of a comprehensive project plan; ongoing
payments will be based upon the completion of key timetabled project milestones.
Final payment is dependent upon, the timely completion and submission of all project
reports and invoices, together with an detailed overall end of project summary / evaluation
report.
The Provider will be expected to submit all monthly invoices and associated supportive
documentation in PDF or Microsoft Word format and emailed to infoeb2@barnsley.gov.uk
by 12.00 noon on the last working day of each month.
BMBC will endeavour to pay invoices within 30 days of receipt.
4.0 Working Arrangements
This commission will be managed by the Business Investment Manager and other members
of the Enterprising Barnsley Programme Team.
It should be noted that all information accumulated as part of the project will be considered
the property of BMBC at all times.
The successful applicant will invoice Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) who
will endeavour to pay invoices within 30 days of receipt.
5.0 Scoring & Evaluation of Tenders
5.1 Application
Tender submissions will be scored on the information they submit in the PR Services
Evaluation Criteria. Details and instructions on how to submit the tender form can be found
in the instructions to tender documentation.
5.2 Evaluation Criteria
This contract will be awarded based on the price and the quality criteria indicated below.
The applicant’s quality and price submissions will be scored and those scores weighted in
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the ratio 80:20 (quality:price). The consultant with the highest aggregate score will be
considered for the work.
The price assessment will be scored out of 100 points. The lowest price quoted will be
awarded 100 points. The other submissions will have one point deducted for each
percentage point by which the cost is above that of the lowest (e.g. a contractor tendering
at a total of 20% above the lowest price will receive 80 points).
Please note that any applicant who submits a tender with a price, which is above the
identified budgets, will not be scored.
The quality assessment will be scored out of 100 points allocated against weighted criteria
as described below. The assessment panel will judge submissions based wholly on the
contents of the information provided. The highest quality assessment score will be awarded
100 points. Other quality assessment scores will have one mark deducted for each
percentage point by which the total is below that of the highest (e.g. a total of 20% below
the best quality assessment score will receive 80 points).
An example of how the overall evaluation criteria will be scored based upon the 80:20
(quality / price) split can be seen below.
Assessing value out of 100% – Example evaluation
1
Quality
score
2
Adjusted
quality
score
(%age of
highest
score
3
Quality
Weighting
4
Weighted
quality
score
(2x3)
5
Price
£
6
Price
score
(%age of
lowest
price
rounded)
7
Price
weighting
8
Weighted
price
score
(6 x7)
9
Total
weighted
score
(4+8)
10
Ranking
Quality
11
Ranking
Price
12
Ranking
Total
Score
Tender A
106
68
60
4080
156,000
99
40
3960
8040
4
2
4
Tender B
142
92
60
5520
167,000
92
40
3680
9200
2
3
1
Tender C
155
100
60
6000
194,000
79
40
3160
9160
1
4
2
Tender D
122
79
60
4740
154,000
100
40
4000
8740
3
1
3
With this example, you can see that the quality scores are lower; so, whilst the individual
quality and price rankings remain the same as the prior overall weighting model, because
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the scores are closer together we actually achieve a different result with supplier B winning
this tender.
Scoring quality criteria
Unless stated otherwise each of the quality questions will be marked using the following
criteria:
0 - Unacceptable - Information totally inadequate to be able to mark this response
1 - Very Poor - Information incomplete, significant gaps in information and lack of
evidence that the provider is able to meet performance requirements and deliver a
high quality service
2 - Poor - Information gives concerns that the provider may lack the ability to meet
performance requirements and deliver a high quality service
3 - Average - Information indicates potential suitability but fails to demonstrate
adequately the ability to meet performance requirements and provide high quality
services as required
4 - Good - Information gives confidence that the provider can meet performance
requirements and deliver a high quality service
5 - Excellent - Information shows that the provider has expertise to meet
performance requirements and deliver a high quality service
6.0
INSTRUCTIONS & INFORMATION FOR TENDERERS
Please note there is no Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) Stage, all applications will be
appraised by the BMBC Business Investment Manager, working in partnership with members
of the Enterprising Barnsley Team tender evaluation panel.
An applicant may make contact with officers of BMBC via the YORtender system to obtain
any further information about the requirements of the contract or the tendering procedures
if these are not evident or clear from the documents supplied to applicants.
Should questions arise during the tendering period, which in our judgement are of material
significance, we will inform all applicants to explain the nature of the question, and our
formal reply. All applicants should then take that reply into consideration when preparing
their own bids, and we will evaluate bids on the assumption that they have done so.
Except where BMBC considers that questions are not material to the procurement process
and the fullest understanding of its objectives, such questions and their subsequent replies
will be disseminated to all Applicants. Applicants should note in relation to all responses to
questions in connection with this invitation to tender that Enterprising Barnsley makes no
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guarantee that such information in response to questions will be made available and are not
warranting its accuracy.
Tenders must be submitted in accordance with the instruction to tender document. Any
change that is considered material by BMBC as to the identity or control of an applicant, or
in the eligibility of an Applicant, happening before or after the tenderers has submitted their
response to the Invitation to Tender, will lead to its disqualification. Where the Applicant is
a consortium, the lead consortium member must remain the same.
The full consortium membership must be disclosed and set at the time of submission of the
Invitation to Tender response and there must be no material changes in the consortium
after the tender submission. BMBC must be advised of any change in the consortium
membership or in the principal relationships between members of the consortium. Any
change, which is considered material, will lead to the Applicant’s disqualification. Work
undertaken by individuals who are not named in the application will not be funded.
Tenders will be rejected if any of the requested information is not supplied in accordance
with the tender requirements.
BMBC reserves the right, at its discretion, to request clarification in writing, or further
relevant information, from any applicant post submission of the tender.
BMBC expressly reserves the right not to award any contract as a result of this procurement
process and it shall not be liable for any costs incurred by Applicants. BMBC also reserves
the right to accept all or any part of a tender.
6.1
Submission of tender
All responses to this invitation to tender must be in English.
Interested organisations or individuals should submit their proposal via the YORtender
System by 12 pm on Monday 16th November 2015.
Tenders will be received up to the time and date stated. It is the Applicants’ responsibility to
ensure that their tender is submitted on time.
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6.2
Freedom of Information Legislation
BMBC may be obliged to disclose information provided by Applicants in response to this
Invitation to Tender under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, all subordinate legislation
made under this and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (“the Freedom of
Information Legislation”).
Applicants should be aware that the information they provide could be disclosed in
response to a request under the Freedom of Information Legislation. BMBC will proceed on
the basis of disclosure unless an appropriate exemption applies. Applicants should be aware
that despite the availability of some exemptions, information may still be disclosed if the
public interest in its disclosure outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption.
No response to this tender should be covered by a general statement regarding its overall
confidentiality. BMBC accepts no liability (including for negligence) for loss as a result of any
information disclosed in response to a request under the Freedom of Information
legislation.
Applicants should highlight information in their responses, which they consider to be
commercially sensitive or confidential in nature, and should state the precise reasons why
they consider this.
BMBC will use reasonable endeavours to consult with Applicants over the release of
information, which is highlighted by them as commercially sensitive or confidential.
6.3 Terms and Conditions of Contract
All services supplied under this contract will be supplied under the Barnsley Metropolitan
Borough Council terms and conditions of contract.
No variations to the terms and
conditions will be considered. Applicants must note that any bids tabling proposed
amendments may be rejected without further consideration.
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6.4
Specification
For the avoidance of doubt, the contract specification shall include all requirements explicit
or implied within the invitation to tender.
It must be recognised that BMBC reserve the right to withdraw this tender document and all
funding contained within it without notice.
6.5
Tenders Excluded
No tender will be considered for acceptance if the applicant has indulged or attempted to
indulge in any corrupt practice or canvassed the tender with an officer of BMBC. If an
applicant has indulged or attempted to indulge in such practices and the tender is accepted,
then grounds shall exist for the termination of the contract and the claiming damages from
the successful applicants.
It is unlikely that any tender will be accepted which (a) is incomplete or inaccurately or
inadequately completed or which purports to impose conditions other than those provided
in the contract documents and (b) is delivered out of time or in a manner other than
specified in the specification (c) does not provide the necessary information requested in
the tender document.
6.6
Collusive Tendering
The Applicant also certifies that at no time, before or following the submission of the
tender, has the Applicant carried out any of the following acts:
i)
offering or paying or giving or agreeing to give any sum of money or
valuable consideration directly or indirectly to any person for doing or
having done or causing or having caused to be done in relation to any
other tender or proposed tender for the said work any act or thing of
the sort described above. The context of this clause the word ‘person’
includes any persons and any body or association, corporate or
unincorporated; and ‘any agreement or arrangement’ includes any
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such transaction, formal or informal, and whether legally binding or
not.
6.7
Timescales
Process
Tenders published
Date
October 29th
Closing date for queries
November 6th
Tender submission deadline
November 16th
Tender scoring date
November 17th
Announce successful tenderers
November 18th
Begin planning during inception meeting
November 26th
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Section 1
Contact Information
1.1
Name of the organisation or
individual in whose name
the tender is submitted
1.2
Contact name for enquiries
about this application
1.3
Contact position
1.4
Address including postcode
1.5
Telephone number
1.6
Mobile number for contact
name
1.7
Email address
1.8
Website address
1.9
Company registration
number
1.10
Date of company
registration
1.11
Company registered address
if different from above
1.13
Is your organisation:
Limited Company
If other, please specify:
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Insurances
Please provide details of your current insurance cover, all applicants must have this level of
insurance in place in order to pass Section 1 :
Value
1.1
1.2
1.3
Employer’s liability (minimum of Ten million pounds)
Public liability (minimum of Five million pounds for claims)
Professional indemnity (minimum of One Million pounds)
Note
The successful tenderers will be asked to provide certificates of their insurance covers.
Professional and Business Standing
Do any of the following apply to your organisation, or to any of the directors /partners
/proprietors / staff / associates.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
Is in a state of bankruptcy, insolvency, compulsory winding
up, receivership, composition with creditors, or subject to
relevant proceedings.
Has been convicted of a criminal offence related to business
or professional conduct.
Has committed an act of grave misconduct in the course of
business.
Has not fulfilled obligations related to payment of social
security contributions.
Has not fulfilled obligations related to payment of taxes.
Is guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying
information.
Is not in possession of relevant licences or membership of an
appropriate organisation where required by law.
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Note
If ‘YES’ is answered to any of the questions in Section 2 then the application will
automatically be rejected.
Declarations of Interest
4.1
Please identify if any members of your organisation’s personnel directly
involved in this contract have been employed by BMBC . If so, give details of
when and in what capacity.
4.2
Please identify if any of your organisation’s employees directly involved in
this contract are related to any BMBC staff. If so, give details of relationship.
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Signed Declaration
I declare to the best of my knowledge the answers submitted in this tender and any
supporting documents are correct. I understand that the information will be used in the
evaluation process to assess my organisation’s suitability to be awarded a contract to
deliver work within the Enterprising Barnsley – PR Services.
Form completed by:
5.1
Name
5.2
Position
5.3
Date
5.4
Telephone number
5.5
Email address
5.6
Signature
………………………………………………………..
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Section 2
The Aim
We need an effective PR strategy that helps to promote and strengthen the Enterprising
Barnsley brand. This should include a calendar of activities that spans a 12-month period
from March 1st 2016 to the 1st March 2017.
The PR strategy should aim to promote Enterprising Barnsley to the following target
markets:

Those thinking of setting up their own business in Barnsley (pre – start)

Those setting up their own business in Barnsley (start up)

New businesses looking for support in Barnsley (new businesses)

Established Barnsley based businesses looking for support (existing businesses)

Businesses located outside of Barnsley considering relocating (inward investment)

The wider Yorkshire commerce press and stakeholders (for example other local
authorities)

Key publications such as Insider and Estates Gazette
The Requirement
We need to appoint a PR specialist that can plan and implement the PR strategy for
Enterprising Barnsley. This will include all aspects of PR such as drafting and issuing press
releases, social media management, case study production, an Enterprising Barnsley
quarterly newsletter and website updates.
We have a maximum budget of £18,000 ex vat for this tender.
The winning bidders responsibilities will include:
a) Agreeing the PR strategy for the 12-month period with the Enterprising Barnsley
team
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b) Implementing the PR strategy for the 12-month period
c) Producing, issuing and measuring monthly press releases
d) Issuing monthly updates to the Enterprising Barnsley team
e) Issuing daily updates on key social networks (i.e. Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn)
f) Case studies as and when required
g) Producing a quarterly newsletter
h) Uploading press releases, case studies and newsletters to the Enterprising Barnsley
website
i) Adding web content when required (working with ALciumn Software used within the
website)
Each question should be responded to on no more than one side of A4, font size 11 unless
otherwise stated (Question 5). The total potential marks available for each question are
identified.
Methodology
1. How would you go about delivering the PR requirements? (20 marks)
2. What metrics of success would you measure your work against? (10 marks)
3. What added value would you bring to the project? (10 marks)
Timescales
4. The PR strategy needs to be agreed by January 29th 2016. Illustrate your suggested
detailed time plan and what could affect this. (10 marks)
Experience/Success
5. What is your experience and previous success in delivering similar PR projects? (20
marks)
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This should be provided in the form of 2 case studies of PR led projects that include an
overview of the original brief. All case studies should include the name of the company and
as a minimum your response should include:
A description of the PR work undertaken (50%)
The impact of the PR work undertaken (50%)
2 case studies must be provided otherwise the application will be rejected.
Case studies must be submitted in an electronic or scanned format. Each case study should
be detailed in Font Size 11 and on no more than 2 pages of A4 and 2 pages of images.
Each case study will score a maximum of 10 points on the basis of 5 points each for parts A
and part B.
6. Please detail the details and credentials of the team that you intend to work on this
project. (10 marks)
Pricing
6. Please detail your costs for meeting the PR requirements. (20 marks)
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