USER GUIDE Version 3 – August 2015
NERARS RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND
RESOURCING SERVICES FRAMEWORKS 2014
APPENDIX A - NATIONAL EDUCATION RECRUITMENT
ADVERTISING & RESOURCING SERVICES 2014
FRAMEWORK AGREEMENTS FOR RECRUITMENT
ADVERTISING SERVICES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION,
FURTHER EDUCATION & THE RESEARCH COUNCILS
THROUGHOUT THE UNITED KINGDOM INCLUDING ALL
MEMBERS OF THE HE & FE PURCHASING CONSORTIA
CONTRACT DURATION – 1 Jan 2015 to 31 Dec 2018
GENERAL INTRODUCTION & BUYERS GUIDE
DECEMBER 2014 (Issued August 2015 Version 3)
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USER GUIDE Version 3 – August 2015
NERARS RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND
RESOURCING SERVICES FRAMEWORKS 2014
NEW FOUR-YEAR RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING & RESOURCING SERVICES
FRAMEWORK CONTRACTS AWARDED SEPTEMBER 2014 on behalf of the Higher &
Further Education including the Research Councils and all members of the HE & FE
Purchasing Consortia throughout the UK.
Dear Participating Organisation,
We are very pleased to announce that the final contract awards for the new
recruitment advertising agency frameworks for HE, FE & the Research Councils are now
in place. These new framework contracts commence officially on 1st January 2015.
Following a comprehensive and rigorous tendering process, which is fully compliant
with European Procurement Directives, final contract awards took place on 23rd
September 2014.
In total eight (8) framework contracts were awarded for recruitment advertising
agencies but as of August 2015 one agency, 360 Education has been taken over by
Penna and 33 LLP has withdrawn. There are now 6 agencies on the framework as
below.
The advertising agencies are listed in the attached contact sheet but in summary and
ranked in accordance to their scored positions from the top level adjudication they
include:
AGENCY
RANK
PENNA
1st
McCANN ERIKSON
2nd
TMP WORLDWIDE
3rd
HAVAS PEOPLE
4th
WORK GROUP
5th
SMRS
6th
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NERARS RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND
RESOURCING SERVICES FRAMEWORKS 2014
These new services framework agreements cover all types of advertising services
including recruitment of staff and students, advertisement creation and production,
type setting and copywriting, media buying, art direction, brand management and
where required full creative services for new advertising campaigns. For these new
frameworks the project team also took the opportunity to include specific service
options for:
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Candidate Generation
Websites & Micro-Sites
Digital Creative Services
Social Media Services
The discounts available through these agreements represent in most cases a significant
saving to all members of the UK higher education community.
The framework contracts in each of the educational sectors cover the following
organisations throughout the UK:
HIGHER EDUCTION & THE RESEARCH COUNCILS
All Higher Education Universities and Colleges, and the Research Councils including all
members of the HE Purchasing Consortia
FURTHER EDUCATION
All Further Education Colleges within the definition Post-Compulsory Education
including Specialist Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges, Inner City Academies and FE Colleges
covered by the Association of Colleges
All framework contracts will operate for a period of four years commencing 1st January
2015 provided suppliers continue to offer satisfactory levels of service and
performance.
Questions, comments, issues and clarifications can be answered by nominated
individuals within the NPWG, the NERARS 2014 Project Working Group (includes members of
the UAG Executive group, members of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC)
) as below:
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NERARS RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND
RESOURCING SERVICES FRAMEWORKS 2014
General Commercial Enquiries:
Martin Lightbown, Purchasing & Insurance Manager University of Warwick –
m.j.lightbown@warwick.ac.uk Telephone: 024 7652 4296
Dave Lifford, Head of Procurement Bournemouth University,
dlifford@bournemouth.ac.uk Telephone: 01202 962772
Higher Education Purchasing Consortia
Paul Mander, Head of Operational Procurement, the Southern Universities Purchasing
Consortium, p.mander@supc.ac.uk Telephone: 0118 935 7081
Further Education - Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Ranjana Kapur, Senior Contracts and Procurement Officer, Crescent Purchasing
Consortium (CPC), r.kapur@salford.ac.uk Telephone: 0161 295 3873
The NPWG will act as the contract management function for these framework contracts
throughout the term of the agreements.
MEMBER GUIDANCE ON AGENCY SELECTION
These Framework Agreements are subject to the European Union public procurement
regulations for Supply & Services 2006 and their Amendments. Participating
Organisations will need to consider the following guidance when considering which
advertising agent it should appoint following further-competitions.
PLEASE ALSO SEE “FRAMEWORK CALL-OFF PROCEDURE”
It is necessary to operate “Further-Competitions” within fairly strict guidelines. A
further competition is a process you need to carry out to place a call-off contract under
a framework agreement where the best value supplier has not been specified. It allows
you to further refine your requirement whilst retaining the benefits offered under the
collaborative agreement.
When awarding call-offs under a framework agreement, institutions do not have to go
through the full procedural steps in the EU Directives again, provided that the rules
were followed appropriately in the setting up of the framework agreements
themselves. However the relevant EU Treaty provision and Treaty–based principles,
including non-discrimination, still apply at this stage and institutions need to be careful
to ensure that nothing is done which is discriminatory, improper or which distorts
competition, while ensuring the principles of openness and transparency are observed.
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NERARS RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND
RESOURCING SERVICES FRAMEWORKS 2014
There are in essence 2 options open to members.
Firstly, any member may elect to appoint the supplier that the NPWG ranked as the
number 1 bidder following the tendering and adjudication process of the original EU
tendering process. In exceptional circumstances, where that provider is not capable of
providing the services in question, the institution should turn to the next best provider.
The number 1 ranked agency for recruitment advertising services is PENNA.
PENNA can be appointed therefore by any participating organisation without any
further action.
However PENNA is only one of six framework agreement holders and all the other
framework suppliers can provide similar services at similar costs and each supplier
possesses different unique selling points and merits.
The second option is therefore to run a formal competition called a “Further Competition”. The following information provides members with guidance on this
further-competition process.
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NERARS RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND
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FURTHER COMPETITIONS
BENEFITS:
Speed
 Faster and less onerous than a full tender process
 No need to assess successful suppliers’ capacity and capability
to provide your requirements using selection criteria such as
financial standing, technical capability, staffing, health and
safety, environmental aspects, accreditations etc.
 By providing an EU compliant platform, there is no need to
advertise the requirement
Savings
 Additional cost savings possible at the mini-competition stage,
where pricing is not fixed (or is fixed at a maximum level)
Multiple sourcing
 Multiple opportunities for source of supply provide increased
choice and competition for institutions
Refining your
requirement
 Your exact requirement can be further refined over and above
the basic contract terms.
Best value
 You can simply focus on achieving best value for money for
your specific requirement
Compliance to EU
Regulations
 By following these guidelines below, and any specifics detailed
in the commodity Buyers’ Guide, you will ensure you are
adhering to EU Procurement legislation.
There is no scope at this stage to run a selection procedure based on technical ability,
financial standing etc. This was carried out before the framework itself had been
awarded and should not be repeated at the further competition stage. The NPWG can
advise members of the questions asked at selection stage so that there is no duplication
at the further competition stage, and also advise on the specifications and terms and
conditions at the tender stage. Any substantive modifications to the terms set out in
the framework agreement itself are not permitted (the scope of the agreement cannot
substantively change). It is a matter of supplementing or refining the basic terms to
reflect particular circumstances for the individual call-off. These terms are often the
same areas of consideration that would be written into a Service Level Agreement
(SLA).
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NERARS RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND
RESOURCING SERVICES FRAMEWORKS 2014
Examples of such terms are:
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particular delivery timescales and requirements
particular invoicing arrangements and payment profiles
particular associated services
adherence to institution policy, (such as sustainability, etc); and
Individual outlets and institution units requiring different
products and services.
Further Competition Criteria: Participating organisations can set the original NERARS
evaluation criteria (Pro-Rata) at 50% of the further competition marks awarded (i.e. if
the Agency scored 80% in the NERARS evaluation they will receive a score of 40% out of
the original awarded score). The balance of 50% will then be awarded by the
participating organisation for the further competition. The NPWG have provided a
suggested set of local criteria in Appendix C – Example Further Competition
Brief/Specification NERARS 2014.
Once the evaluation stage is completed, the call-off contract can be awarded. All
bidders should be notified of the outcome of the further-competition. Remember, you
don’t need to apply the standstill period to a further-competition, but you may still
need to debrief participants afterwards if requested. Where a debriefing is requested, it
should be completed within 15 days of the written request.
Institutions should satisfy themselves that they are in compliance with the EU
Purchasing Directives and the NPWG does not accept any responsibility for application
under the guidance given in these notes. The ultimate responsibility for compliance
rests with the institution. These notes are for guidance only and institutions should
consult with their purchasing manager and obtain their own expert advice, if felt
necessary, to ensure compliance with the EU procurement regulations.
Members are asked to maintain strict commercial confidentiality when viewing,
printing and using this contract documentation.
PLEASE ALSO SEE THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS WHICH PROVIDE FURTHER GUIDANCE
TO PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS TO SUPPORT THE CALL-OFF & FURTHER
COMPETITIONS PROCEDURES:
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Framework Call-Off Procedure (Schedule 5)
Example Document - Invitation to Respond to a Further Competition
Framework Agency Contact List
Final Master National Framework Evaluation Work Sheet
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