Invitation to Tender and Tender Specification to Provide Legal Services to The North East Fund

The Contracting Authority for this Tender is The North East Fund Limited (TNEFL), a company limited by guarantee with its registered office at Suite D, Fifth Floor, West One, Forth Banks, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3PA. TNEFL is seeking to appoint a small panel of two firms of solicitors to provide legal advice regarding various aspects of its operations, on an ad hoc basis as required.

The North East Fund has been established with funding from: the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 (for which the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is the Managing Authority); the European Investment Bank and from returns on previous North East based, publicly supported investment funds.

The members of TNEFL are the seven North East Local Authorities: Durham County Council; Gateshead Council; Newcastle City Council; The Council of the Borough of North Tyneside; Northumberland County Council; South Tyneside Council and Sunderland City Council. These represent the geographic area in which The North East Fund operates and are the Local Authority members of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, which supported the establishment of TNEFL.

TNEFL is the holding fund manager for a venture capital and loan programme which invests in Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) based in the North East of England. It is the principal investor and a limited partner in five funds which are set up as limited partnerships and which are managed by four independent, FCA authorised fund management companies: Maven Capital Partners; Mercia Asset Management; NEL Fund Managers and Northstar Ventures.

An Invitation to Tender document is available with details of the specification of requirements, what to include in your tender proposals and contract terms. The document can be downloaded from Contracts Finder or the news section of TNEFL's website. The closing date by which tender proposals must be submitted is Noon on Monday 9th May 2022.