Published date: 22 October 2015

This notice was replaced on 22 October 2015

This notice does not contain the most up-to-date information about this procurement. The most recent notice is:

Awarded contract (published 9 March 2017)

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Contract summary

Industry

  • Research and experimental development services - 73100000

  • Research consultancy services - 73210000

  • Market and economic research; polling and statistics - 79300000

Location of contract

Any region

Value of contract

£150,000 to £200,000

Procurement reference

UK SBS OJEU-CR150057BIS

Published date

22 October 2015

Closing date

27 November 2015

Contract start date

21 December 2015

Contract end date

15 April 2016

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

Context and Purpose.
In recent years, the Department for Business,Innovation and Skills (BIS) has stressed theimportance of research performance, with anemphasis on ensuring that investment in science and research is focussed on excellence. The Science and Innovation Strategy, published jointly by BIS and HM Treasury in December 2014, continued these themes, noting that £5.9 billion was being committed for capital to support research excellence from 2016 to 2021, with around half of this being allocated towards meeting grand challenges. Some of this was already committed (e.g. new Polar Research Ship, Square Kilometre Array, Alan Turing Institute). Following the science capital consultation exercise in 2014, a furtherwave of investment was announced, including an advanced materials centre in Manchester, a high performance computer collaboration with IBM at Hartree and a lead role for the UK in the next European Rover mission to Mars.

The Strategy also highlighted: expansion of the Catapult centres network; continued importance of the Research Councils (currently subject to a review being led by Sir Paul Nurse, to build on their foundations, due to report in Sumer 2015); continued promotion of the Newton Fund; and the importance of place (where people and organisations benefit from mutual proximity). One of the ways BIS (and its predecessor departments) have assessed the overall impact of its science and research investments and the performance of the UK research base, has been via regular reports on the international competitiveness of the UK research base. Initially produced annually, in mid-2010 the Minister for Universities and Science agreed to move this report onto a biennial basis on the understanding that the evidence base did not differ significantly year to year. The last such report was produced in 2013 and BIS now wishes to up-date the analysis.

Please refer to the RFP document for the full specification.

More information

Attachments

Links

Additional text

UK Shared Business Services eSourcing

As part of the strategic alliance between UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) and Crown Commercial Service (CCS), UK SBS can use the CCS eSourcing Suite for future procurements.

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: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; the name of the registered Bidder; and the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email.
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 utilise Emptoris CCS eSourcing are available in the Contracts Finder Tender documents section.

About the buyer

Contact name

Alistair Staunton-Lambert

Address

North Star House, North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FF
England

Email

alistair.staunton-lambert@uksbs.co.uk