Provision of Nursery Meals

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham currently provides, or has a contract for, a nursery catering service, providing lunchtime meals to its nurseries (currently two) run by/operated by the Council for the last 3 years and it is anticipated that this will continue for the foreseeable future for one of the nurseries although we cannot guarantee a minimum level of business over the life of the Contract. In regards the second nursery the Council is seeking a meals provision for a period of 12 months.

The Council recognises that good eating habits are fostered early on in life. The Council believes that it is important that young children are supported to develop the taste preferences and skills needed to make appropriate food choices and develop positive attitudes to diet and taste. The Council, therefore, feels that it is important that young children (under the age of five (5) years) are presented with opportunities to eat and become accustomed to a variety of foods which support healthy eating.

The contract is being advertised as an open tender opportunity in accordance with government legislation.

Interested suppliers should note that this tender is being run electronically through the Council’s eTendering system – BRAVO.

Respondents to this advert who are interested in applying are required to register on the BRAVO etendering system and complete the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and supporting Tender Documentation as instructed in the accompanying Guidance notes.

To access and register your company on BRAVO, click on the following link: https://lbbd.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.shtml

Once you have registered ensure that you include the BRAVO category code 0202 (Food and Beverages) and 0203 (Banqueting and Catering) in your company’s profile.

You should then be able to search the opportunity and access the documents to complete and submit your application.

The deadline for your submitting the your responses to the PQQ and Tender Documentation is 12 noon Friday 29th January 2016 .

If you have any queries regarding the tender, please contact the Tender Manager using the message facility in BRAVO.

If you have any difficulties accessing BRAVO or any other system-related queries, please contact the BRAVO helpdesk by email: [email protected] or by phone on 0800 368 4850.

Additional information: Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender~: 1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once) - Browse to the eSourcing Portal: https://lbbd.bravosolution.co.uk and click the link to register - Accept the terms and conditions and click 'continue' - Enter your correct business and user details - Note the username you chose and click 'Save' when complete - You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure) 2. Express an Interest in the tender - Login to the portal with the username/password - Click the 'PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers' link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier) - Click on the relevant PQQ/ ITT to access the content. - Click the 'Express Interest' button at the top of the page. - This will move the PQQ /ITT into your 'My PQQs/ My ITTs' page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only) -You can now access any attachments by clicking 'Buyer Attachments' in the 'PQQ/ ITT Details' box 3. Responding to the tender - Click 'My Response' under 'PQQ/ ITT Details', you can choose to 'Create Response' or to 'Decline to Respond' (please give a reason if declining) - You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification - Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT - There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available) You must then submit your reply using the 'Submit Response' button at the top of the page. If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk