Weston College - Tender for IT

The successful tenderer will be required to provide IT for the new North Somerset Enterprise & Technology College (NSETC) and Bristol Futures Academy, part of Inspirational Futures Trust, sponsored by Weston College Multi Academy Trust.

In March 2015 Weston College was named as the top Further Education establishment in the country in national awards presented in London. Weston College has recently been graded as 'Outstanding' by Ofsted, which means it is officially one of the highest performing colleges in the country, it shall ensure the new NSETC building and Bristol Futures Academy provide state-of-the-art facilities to help raise education standards in the region. Already 98% of 19+ fulltime learners think 'the college is a great place to study and learn'.

Due to the nature of the College Building Programme, the IT arrangements need to be integrated, enabling the College to continue to undertake its core business of 'creating brighter futures' to secure a positive outcome for all students. The successful contractor shall have a nominated single point to contact to act as project manager to the point that the IT order is fully delivered.

The successful tenderer shall be appointed by 1 April 2016 for completion of the project by early May 2016. The exact date for completion may vary slightly, due to the nature of building and IT installation deadlines, however the appointed tenderer is required to guarantee to meet the final dates agreed as part of the overall building project plan.

The contract being tendered is for the provision of IT, to be securely delivered to and formally received by college management. The value of the contract is in the region of £600K. Within this overall budget and as documented on the order, there is a ‘small lot exemption’ for the advance supply of circa 10 laptops in December 2015, i.e. they are not required from the successful bidder.

It should be borne in mind that all IT will be under the standard UK manufacturer's warranty, however proposals for including extended UK warranties shall be considered. The College shall agree a 'sign off' process for the safe receipt of all goods with the successful tenderer, e.g. only a UK Dell warranty shall be considered for Dell Laptops. Where stated only the specified manufacturer and model is acceptable.

The contract is fixed price and any variations to the contract that are requested by the Client should be invoiced pro-rata at the agreed rate and should be calculated on a unit price per item basis.

At the bid presentation stage of procurement shortlisted bidders shall be required to bring exact samples of all IT to present to the assessing panel for their approval. Higher specification items shall be considered only if offered from the same manufacturer and model at the same unit cost as the defined minimum requirement.

Additional information: Tenderers will be required to ensure that within the proposal they have allowed for adequate transportation and contract supervision for the delivery and secure receipt of all items by the College.

Contractor 'Added Value' in terms of for example 'work experience' or 'sponsoring awards' shall be considered as part of the process to select the successful partner to fulfil this contract.

Interest in the pre-qualification process should be expressed via email only to pqq@litmuspartnership.co.uk, clearly stating within this email which contract / notice you are referring to. Please also provide, as a minimum, a contact name, full company postal address and telephone number.

The pre-qualification questionnaire and associated documents can be obtained at: http://www.litmuspartnership.co.uk/project/weston_college

The closing date for receipt of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire is 11.1.2016 (12:00). Tenderers are required to ensure that documents are obtained and returned to The Litmus Partnership Limited, by email to pqq@litmuspartnership.co.uk, by the above closing date and time.

Documents in respect of economic / financial standing (where indicated in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire) shall be returned to The Litmus Partnership Limited, by email to pqq@litmuspartnership.co.uk, by the above closing date and time.

It will be the Tenderer's responsibility to obtain any necessary documents in order to submit a response by the closing date and time.

The contracting authority reserves the right not to award any or part of the contract which is the subject of this OJEU notice and reserves the right to terminate the procurement process at any time.

The contracting authority will not be liable for any costs incurred by those expressing an interest in tendering for this contract opportunity.

The contracting authority will consider variant bids, evaluating them (so far as the variant or the evaluation of the variant is in the opinion of the contracting authority practicable) on the same basis as a conforming bid, but shall not be obliged to accept any such bid in preference to a conforming bid even if the variant bid scores more highly. No variant will be considered unless the bidder simultaneously submits a conforming bid.