UK SBS BLOJEU-CR17038HEFCE Expert analysis of competitive project bids to the HEFCE Connecting Capability Fund

HEFCE notified universities on 13 April that £85M for 2018-19 to 2020-21 was available for allocation through the CCF competitive element and issued a call for projects http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/Year/2017/201703/

• In allocating the CCF competitive funding, HEFCE is concerned to allow universities up to three years to deliver complex collaborative projects. We aim to make all competitive CCF awards by early 2018, so that projects start to draw down funds from April 2018 and complete by March 2021. This necessitates a method of allocating funding then within fairly compressed timescales.

Additional information: DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO BUYER

All submissions will be assessed in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, for procurement values that exceed Regulation 5 (Threshold amounts)

Responses must be received by the date in the bid documents.

Responses received outside or concurrently using the eSourcing process will not be accepted or considered further for this opportunity.

How to Register on the CCS eSourcing Suite

Full details of this opportunity can be found on the e-sourcing portal please follow instructions below. If you have not yet registered on the eSourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link 'Register for CCS eSourcing'.

Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so.

Once you have registered on the eSourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement. This is done by emailing expressionofinterest@crowncommercial.gov.uk.

Your email must clearly state:

Crown Commercial Service will process the email and then enable the Bidder to access the procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite. The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done. The Sourcing documents can then be accessed on the eSourcing Suite at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in the Specification documents within Contracts Finder.

As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to Emptoris email messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event.

Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information.

For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service Helpdesk: Telephone: 0345 010 3503

Training documents to support Bidders to utilise Emptoris CCS eSourcing are available in the Contracts Finder Tender documents section.

About UK Shared Business Services

UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) brings a commercial attitude to the public sector; helping our customers improve efficiency, generate savings and modernise.

Our broad range of expert services is shared by our customers. This allows our customers the freedom to focus resources on core activities; innovating and transforming their own organisations.

For full details of our partner base please review the following link: http://www.uksbs.co.uk/services/procure/