APPENDIX A
INVITATION TO TENDER TENDER RESPONSE QUESTIONNAIRE Northwest Development Agency TOURISM PR SUPPORT NWDA00316
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APPENDIX A
TENDER RESPONSE QUESTIONNAIRE INSTRUCTIONS ON COMPLETION OF QUESTIONNAIRE Within this questionnaire, against each question is an instruction on the expected format of responses. Failure to respond in the required format may lead to disqualification of your tender response. It is therefore important that you follow the specific instructions. All queries regarding the requirements of this questionnaire should be addressed to tender.board@nwda.co.uk The last date for receipt of queries/tender clarification is 4 days before the tender closing date. Tenderers must note: All submissions must be bound appropriately, any appendices must be clearly indexed or labelled, and must be printed on paper no larger than A4. Please reply to each point, stating ‘Noted’ or ‘Agreed’, as appropriate, where no specific response is required. Where responses are not offered or further information (e.g. an attachment) is missing, an evaluation rating of ‘Unanswered’ (scoring 0%) may be recorded. For each question you must be able to meet each of the minimum requirements as set out in the tender specification. In addition, we may require evidence that demonstrates your ability to supply the services required and to the level required. We may also ask you to provide proof that you have supplied such services to other organisations, as part of that evidence, in support of your response. Tenderers must note a mere statement that the requirement can be met will not be sufficient. You must describe the design solution and the procedures/processes you have/propose to have in place to meet the specific requirement. Failure to provide such information may lead to disqualification of the tender. Should you be unable to meet any of the specified requirements then you should clearly state “unable to meet” followed by the reasons why and where possible offer any other suitable alternative proposals. Answers must be as short and concise as possible and address each point as indicated. Additional supporting documentary evidence must only be attached if considered essential to illustrate the points made. Large amounts of lengthy documents may not be considered. ATTACHMENTS
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APPENDIX A
The filename of any attachments you propose to include as part of/in support of your response must begin with your organisation’s name and the appropriate question reference number. Failure to do so may mean the attachment may not be read and therefore may not be taken into consideration as part of your tender response. Unnecessary attachments/brochures will NOT be considered.
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APPENDIX A
A.1
FORM OF TENDER
Please ensure this Form of Tender is completed carefully and signed before returning as part of your submission. 1. 2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
I/We agree and/or certify that this offer and Contract arising from it shall be bound by the Invitation to Tender Documentation; I/We agree and/or certify to supply goods/services of the exact quality, sort and price specified in the Pricing Schedule(s) in such quantities and to such extent and at such times and locations as the Agency may direct; I/We agree and/or certify that this offer is made in good faith and that we have not fixed or adjusted the amount of the offer by or under or in accordance with any agreement or arrangement with any other person; I/We agree and/or certify that we will not communicate to any person other than the person inviting these offers the (or approximate amount of) offer, except where the disclosure, in confidence of the approximate amount of the offer was necessary to obtain quotations required for the preparation of the offer, for insurance purposes or for a contract guarantee bond; I/We agree and/or certify that we will not enter in to any arrangement or agreement with any other person that s/he shall refrain from making an offer or as to the amount of any offer to be submitted; I/We agree and/or certify that we will not pay give or offer or agree to pay or to give any sum of money or other valuable considerable directly or indirectly to any person for doing or having done or causing or having caused to be done in relation to any offer or proposed offer for the goods/services any act or thing of the sort described in 3, 4, or 5 above; I/We acknowledge that if I/we have acted or shall act in contravention of this Form of Tender, the Agency will be entitled to cancel the contract and to recover from ourselves the amount of any loss and expense resulting from such a cancellation; I/We agree that this tender and any contract which may result from it shall be based on this Form of Tender, Terms and Conditions, Specification / Brief attached, Pricing Schedule attached, and our response to this invitation to tender (to the extent to which the Agency may determine in accepting the tender); I/We agree that any other terms and conditions of contract or any general reservations, which may be printed on any correspondence, issued by us shall not be applicable to any contract resulting from this tender; I/We agree to carry out all contracts and/or other awards of business in accordance with the Agency’s Standard Terms and Conditions of Contract;
Yes/No* Yes/No*
Yes/No*
Yes/No*
Yes/No*
Yes/No*
Yes/No*
Yes/No*
Yes/No*
Yes/No*
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APPENDIX A 11. 12.
I/We agree that the rates provided shall be held firm for the full duration of the contract period; Are you aware of any conflicts of interest between your company and the Agency?
Yes/No* Yes/No*
*Where there is any indication that a conflict of interest exists or may arise, then it shall be the responsibility of the Tenderer to inform the Agency, detailing the conflict in writing as an attachment to this tender. The Agency will be the final arbiter in cases of potential conflicts of interest. Failure to notify the Agency of any potential conflict of interest will invalidate any verbal or written agreement. A Conflict of interest is where a person who is involved in the procurement has or may be perceived to have a personal interest in ensuring that a particular supplier is successful. Actual and potential conflicts of interest must be declared by a person involved in a tender process.
* Please delete one Note In this Form of Tender, the word 'person' includes any person and anybody or association, corporate or unincorporated; 'any agreement or arrangement' includes any transaction, formal or informal and whether legally binding or not. TENDERERS MUST RESPOND TO ALL QUESTIONS IN THIS FORM OF TENDER, OTHERWISE THE TENDER RESPONSE WILL BE CONSIDERED INVALID.
Signed _________________________________________________________ Full Name (print)_________________________________________________ On Behalf of_____________________________________________________ Position in Company______________________________________________ Date___________________________________________________________
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APPENDIX A A.2
INSTRUCTION TO TENDER
Tenderers must confirm that they have read through the Specification, Pricing Schedule and all other ITT documentation including tender instructions and have satisfied themselves as to the content and meaning of each point. Tenderers must respond in the box below: Please insert your response here:
A.3
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT
All goods/services supplied under this contract will be supplied under the Agency’s Standard Terms and Conditions of contract specified within this ITT. No variations to the standard Terms and Conditions will be considered. Tenderers must note that any bids tabling proposed amendments may be rejected by the Agency without further consideration. Tenderers must confirm if they have read the Terms and Conditions of contract and agree to those terms without any amendments/additions or deletions. Tenderers must respond in the box below: Please insert your answer here:
B.1
ORGANISATION IDENTITY
Name of the company (prime or single contractor) in whose name the tender would be submitted: Contact name (Single point of Contact): Address: Telephone number: Facsimile number: E-mail address: Company Registration number, date of registration and registration address: VAT Registration number: Website address (if any)
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APPENDIX A B.2 ORGANISATION INFORMATION Is your organisation a Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) as defined in Section 382 & 465 of the Companies Act (2006)? Is your organisation: i) a public limited Y/N company? ii) a limited company? Y/N
Y/N iii) a sole trader? iv) a partnership?
v) a limited liability Y/N partnership? Is your company a subsidiary of another company, a holding or a parent company?
Y/N Y/N
Y/N
Address for the organisation’s holding or parent company, country of origin and registration number (if applicable) Address for the organisation’s ultimate parent company, country of origin and registration number (if applicable) Executive Directors/ Partners: Name Responsibility
D
COMPLIANCE WITH EU & UK PROCUREMENT LEGISLATION
Regulation 23 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 applies to the current tendering competition. Applicants must provide full details in respect of whether: 1. Any matters referred to in Regulation 23 (1) (being grounds for mandatory exclusion) apply to the applicant, and in the case of a consortium applicant, to any of its constituent members, or to any of its or their directors, or to any other person Y/N who has powers of representation, decision or control of the applicant or, in the case of a consortium applicant, any of its constituent members? 2. Any of the matters referred to in Regulation 23(4) (being grounds for discretionary exclusion) apply to the Applicant, and in the case of a consortium Y/N applicant, to any of its constituent members? The Agency may seek evidence at a later date, in confirmation of your answer. For convenience, the text of Regulation 23 can be found below (pages 11 and 12)
E
FINANCIAL and ECONOMIC CAPACITY
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APPENDIX A (1) Please indicate your annual turnover; 2009
2008
2007
Annual turnover (£) (2) The Agency will complete an external financial credit check in order to deem a supplier financially capable. We may require further information from bidders to support or clarify findings; such information must be available upon request. (3) Has your organisation made any application for third party funding – including State Y/N Aid assistance – in relation to the services you are intending to provide?
F
INSURANCE
Please indicate the level of insurance your organisation currently has. Policy Value Employer’s Liability Public Liability Professional Indemnity Please note the NWDA Standard Terms & Conditions requires levels to the value of £5m, bidders whose insurance does not meet this level will be evaluated in terms of risk to the Agency and may be rejected, bidders may be asked to provide relevant insurance quotations to prove excessive costs in obtaining higher levels of insurance. G
REFERENCES
Note: The Agency may elect to contact any of the given companies for a reference at any stage of the tendering process. Your permission to do so will be assumed unless you explicitly state any objections. Please provide details of three recent (within the past 18 months) contracts you have been awarded for the provision of services similar to those required by the Agency in nature and scale. Customer name Contact name, Date contract Contract reference and brief and address telephone number awarded, duration description of service supplied and email address & value of contract 1. 2. 3.
H
TECHNICAL CAPABILITY
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APPENDIX A H.1 Delivery and Creativity of Campaign Aim: To contract with a Supplier who can successfully deliver and meet the minimum requirements of the contract as specified in paragraphs 2.2.2 to 2.2.7 of the ITT Specification. Question: Tenderers must demonstrate capability and experience of being able to deliver the required services as detailed in paragraphs 2.2.2 to 2.2.7. Tenderers should provide an outline of a comprehensive and creative PR campaign. Your response should demonstrate your overall strategy and methodology for delivering the campaign. Responses should be limited to 10 sides of A4 Answer: Please insert your answer here
H.2 Targeting Audience Aim: To contract with a supplier who can successfully deliver and has experience of meeting the minimum requirements as specified in paragraph 2.2.9 Question: Please give details of target outlets for this campaign and the methodology for reaching them, as well as evidence of relevant media contacts. Responses should be limited to 2 sides of A4 Answer: Please insert your answer here
H.3 Outputs Aim: To contract with a Supplier who can successfully deliver and meet the minimum requirements of the contract as specified in paragraphs 2.2.10 to 2.2.14 of the ITT Specification. Question: In addition to confirming you can meet the minimum requirements as specified in paragraphs 2.2.10 to 2.2.14; Tenderers should include details of where they have been successful in similar destination campaigns. Responses should be limited to 2 sides of A4 Answer: Please insert your answer here
H.4 Account Management
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APPENDIX A Aim: To contract with a Supplier who has the required level of knowledge and experience relevant to the Agency and it’s work as specified in paragraphs 2.2.15 to 2.2.18 of the ITT Specification. Question: In addition to confirming you can meet the minimum requirements as specified in paragraphs 2.2.16 to 2.2.19, please provide details of your organisations relevant knowledge and experience. In response to this Tenderers must; • Name a dedicated account manager who will have overall accountability for the delivery of this contract (include brief synopsis of relevant experience); • Provide details of the project team including their roles and responsibilities and a brief synopsis of relevant experience (maximum single A4 page per person). • Confirm if, and provide details of, any sub-contractors to be used in the delivery of this contract, and indicate specifically what elements of the work will be subcontracted • Confirm ability to attend Agency premises as required for project meetings Answer: Please insert your answer here
H.4 Value for Money and Innovation Aim: In order to assist the Agency in meeting targets for efficiency savings targets and to ensure the services are provided in a manner which maximises quality and efficiency. Question: As per paragraph 2.2.15, the Agency wishes to maximise the quality and outputs of the contract. In order to achieve this Tenderers are invited to outline any measures or procedures which they would suggest using to assure the Agency that costs could be minimised whilst maintaining a quality service, maximising outputs and equivalent media value. As per paragraph 2.2.3, the successful Tenderer will be required to support the Agency in adhoc PR activities, please confirm your ability to do this. In addition, Please comment on any innovative aspects that you will be capable of offering and explain what sets your organisation apart from others. Answer: Please insert your answer here
I
PRICING SCHEDULE
I.1 Costs Please indicate your proposed fee per month in £s To support this please provide a breakdown of this figure over the following elements. Item No. of hours/days per month £ Personnel (please detail costs for the each project team member as indicated in H.4) Office/Admin costs PR activities Others (please indicate)
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APPENDIX A GROUNDS FOR OBLIGATORY EXCLUSION (IN ELIGIBILITY) AND CRITERIA FOR REJECTION OF CANDIDATES in accordance with Regulation 23 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) Grounds for mandatory rejection (ineligibility) The Potential Provider (or its directors or any other person who has powers of representation, decision or control of the named organisation) has not been convicted of any of the following offences: (a)
conspiracy within the meaning of section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 where that conspiracy relates to participation in a criminal organisation as defined in Article 2(1) of Council Joint Action 98/733/JHA (as amended);
(b)
corruption within the meaning of section 1 of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 or section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 (as amended);
(c)
the offence of bribery;
(d)
fraud, where the offence relates to fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Communities as defined by Article 1 of the Convention relating to the protection of the financial interests of the European Union, within the meaning of: (i)
the offence of cheating the Revenue;
(ii)
the offence of conspiracy to defraud;
(iii)
fraud or theft within the meaning of the Theft Act 1968 and the Theft Act 1978;
(iv)
fraudulent trading within the meaning of section 458 of the Companies Act 1985;
(v)
defrauding the Customs within the meaning of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 and the Value Added Tax Act 1994;
(vi)
an offence in connection with taxation in the European Community within the meaning of section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993; or
(vii)
destroying, defacing or concealing of documents or procuring the extension of a valuable security within the meaning of section 20 of the Theft Act 1968;
(e)
money laundering within the meaning of the Money Laundering Regulations 2003; or
(f)
any other offence within the meaning of Article 45(1) of the Public Sector Directive.
Discretionary grounds for rejection The Potential Provider (or its directors or any other person who has powers of representation, decision or control of the named organisation) confirms that it: (a)
being an individual is not bankrupt or has not had a receiving order or administration order or bankruptcy restrictions order made against him or has not made any composition or arrangement with or for the benefit of his creditors or has not made any conveyance or assignment for the benefit of his creditors or does not appear unable to pay or to have no reasonable prospect of being able to pay, a debt within the meaning of section 268 of the Insolvency Act 1986, or article 242 of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, or in Scotland has not granted a trust deed for creditors or become otherwise apparently insolvent, or is not the subject of a
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APPENDIX A petition presented for sequestration of his estate, or is not the subject of any similar procedure under the law of any other state; (b)
being a partnership constituted under Scots law has not granted a trust deed or become otherwise apparently insolvent, or is not the subject of a petition presented for sequestration of its estate;
(c)
being a company or any other entity within the meaning of section 255 of the Enterprise Act 2002 has not passed a resolution or is not the subject of an order by the court for the company’s winding up otherwise than for the purpose of bona fide reconstruction or amalgamation, nor had a receiver, manager or administrator on behalf of a creditor appointed in respect of the company’s business or any part thereof or is not the subject of similar procedures under the law of any other state;
(d)
has not been convicted of a criminal offence relating to the conduct of his business or profession;
(e)
has not committed an act of grave misconduct in the course of his business or profession;
(f)
has fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions under the law of any part of the United Kingdom or of the relevant State in which the organisation is established;
(g)
has fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of taxes under the law of any part of the United Kingdom or of the relevant State in which the economic operator is established;
(h)
is not guilty of serious misrepresentation in providing any information required of him under this regulation;
(i)
in relation to procedures for the award of a public services contract, is licensed in the relevant State in which he is established or is a member of an organisation in that relevant State when the law of that relevant State prohibits the provision of the services to be provided under the contract by a person who is not so licensed or who is not such a member.
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