Leeds City College - Merchandising Marketplace

Leeds City College ('The College') is seeking to appoint a contractor to provide the requirements described in the information documentation intended to commence in Q1 / Q2 2019.

We intend to appoint a partner to provide a solution for three years (36 months) with the possibility of one year (12 months) extensions at the mutual acceptance of both parties.

The intention of the project is to create a portal / white ticket platform or similar digital marketplace branded to match LCC branding through which staff and certain approved affiliates will be afforded the opportunity to directly order and purchase pre-designed merchandising products, using their budget code as payment to be invoiced directly to LCC, to fulfil their requirements in a streamlined and intuitive manner. The system must clearly stipulate delivery, lead times and production schedules with purchasing in bulk options but with a single item delivery as required option made available.

The output marketplace must be digital, multiplatform enabled, be user friendly with an intuitive GUI and able to nested within our current IT infrastructure but must be hosted externally through our awarded partner provider. Additionally the marketplace must be stocked with pre-approved items sourced, held and delivered by the awarded partner provider in the role of master vendor.

All purchases made through the marketplace should be invoiced monthly by the awarded supplier with any third party items included on the same invoice, providing some form of rebate or cost recovery mechanism as appropriate. It will be the responsibility of the awarded supplier to manage the reimbursement for third party purchases. The marketplace should streamline the booking, ordering and payment processes to increase user uptake and further develop the impact and success of the project.

Our Finance Systems team will support in the delivery and deployment of the marketplace in tandem with our in-house Marketing department. They would support in the mapping of transaction processing, support in cost allocation functions and be able to provide advice and guidance on how best to manage the provision to ensure compliance with our financial systems, processes and functions.

It is our intention to launch the marketplace in early 2019 and to be fully embedded by the start of the 2019 academic year.

Additional information:

The process will be managed through Leeds City College's e-Tendering portal, in-tend, which provides a secure delivery mechanism and an auditable record of the process. There is no cost associated with using the portal and merely requires a short registration process.

Any issues, queries or problems with the e-Tendering portal needs to be addressed to Further Education Colleges by telephone on 0845 557 8079 or by email at support@in-tend.co.uk.

Any question in respect of the tender documentation should be sent via the portal using the messaging facility within the system. This ensures that a complete audit trail of the process is generated. Questions raised which result in additional information being provided will be shared with all organisations together with Leeds City College's response, but will not breach any areas of commercially sensitive information.

Delivery Notes

Leeds City College accepts no liability for any costs incurred by any organisations in respect or preparing or submitting any Expression of Interest documentation or any further elements of the wider procurement process.

Is a Recurrent Procurement Type? : No