Weston College Group - Tender for IT

The successful supplier/s 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 Group. 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, and 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 supplier/s shall nominate a single point of contact to act as ‘project manager’ to the point that the IT requirement is fully delivered. The successful supplier/s shall be appointed by 12 May 2016 for commencement of the project from June 2016 and completion by July 2016. The exact date for completion may vary slightly, due to the nature of building and IT installation deadlines, however the appointed supplier/s are 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 total value of the contract is in the region of £800K. Within this overall budget and as documented on the order, there is a ‘small lot exemption’ for the advance supply of circa 20 laptops in December 2015, i.e. they are not required from the successful bidder. The overall IT requirement has been divided into four lots. Suppliers may choose to submit a bid for any number of lots they feel qualified to bid for. The definition of these lots is provided is for guidance only and is not fully indicative of the final IT requirement, which may vary to a degree. For each lot a purchase order shall be raised to form the contract, based on the tender returns accepted. Lot 1 ~ Dell (lot value circa £420K) Lot 2 ~ Cisco (lot value circa £200K) Lot 3 ~ Projectors / Audio Visual (lot value circa £260K) Lot 4 ~ Miscellaneous (lot value circa £60K) It should be borne in mind that all IT will be under the standard UK manufacturer's warranty, however proposals for including extended UK manufacturers’ warranties shall be considered. UK manufacturers’ warranties must be for a minimum of three years and the additional cost for an extension to five years will be required as part of the tender process.

Additional information: Interest in the pre-qualification process should be expressed via email only to [email protected], 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_group

The closing date for receipt of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire is 26.2.2016 (12:00). Tenderers are required to ensure that documents are obtained and returned to The Litmus Partnership Limited, by email to [email protected], 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 [email protected], 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.