Request for Information for the provision of Auctioneer Services

HMRC is investigating the available options for the establishment of an auctioneers' services framework to facilitate the recovery and sale of goods by auction. In England and Wales these services will also include the ability to meet all requirements that enables them to comply with the Taking Control of Goods legislation and have appropriately certificated Enforcement agents.

The primary purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to carry out market engagement and alert interested parties that HMRC is intending using a competitive tender process to identify suitable providers for the provision of the service on a UK-wide basis (with the exception of Scotland).

A typical assignment called off under this framework may ask service providers to carry out the following activities and actions:

-receiving and signing for papers etc. as necessary ;

-carrying out a brief risk assessment (i.e. to ensure that the item for auction is not something which cannot be removed);

-setting up an appropriate record;

-making contact by telephone and then following this up immediately by issuing a letter (text provided by HMRC) warning of a visit and removal after 7 days;

-assessing the appropriate course of action for the particular case; -returning papers to the HMRC by a tracked delivery service on conclusion of the case,

-appraisal;

-removal & storage of goods seized by the Authority as part of the action;

-immediate removal - in cases where immediate removal is necessary the supplier must have the ability to carry duties out without notice, providing sufficient suitable transport and personnel;

-advertising/sale at Public Auction of goods seized as part of the action;

-professional/technical advice; -auction planning;

-saleroom service;

-progress reports; and

-administration.

For the purposes of this framework it is expected that this requirement will be broken down into 11 regional lots. These lots, which will mirror the boundaries of the existing European Parliament regional constituencies will be as follows:

-North East;

-North West;

-Yorkshire and the Humber;

-East of England;

-East Midlands;

-West Midlands;

-South East;

-South West;

-London;

-Wales; and

-Northern Ireland

It is anticipated that bidders will be enabled to bid for individual lots, specific combinations of regional lots (North of England (North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber), Midlands (East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands) South of England (South East, South West)), or individual lots in any other combination.

Additional information: Ariba registration and access to questions.

The Authority (HMRC) use an HMRC instance of SAP Ariba Sourcing Pro (referred as HMRC's SAP Ariba), this must be used by Economic Operators to express an interest and/or bid for the opportunity. (Information about HMRC's SAP Ariba is at: www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/supplying.htm). Economic operators who have used HMRC's SAP Ariba previously will be registered as part of the HMRC Ariba Supplier Network, you should access the system to obtain your account ID number. Contact details on the system should be checked and, where necessary, additional users added to help avoid multiple registrations for the same organisation.

Previously registered users having difficulty recovering their account ID number or identifying users within their organisation should email for assistance [email protected]. If using HMRC's SAP Ariba for the first time, including suppliers who are registered on the wider SAP Ariba supplier network, will need to register at http://hmrc.supplier-eu.ariba.com/ad/register/SSOActions?type=full. (You must ensure that you are directed to the registration page identified with the HMRC logo at the top of the page, you may need to copy the web address directly into your browser).

A system generated email will ask you to activate your SAP Ariba supplier account by verifying your email address. Upon completion of the activation process a further email will be sent to you confirming 'registration process is now complete' and provide you with 'your organisation's account ID' number. If an email response from HMRC is not received within one working day of your request, re-contact [email protected] (after first checking your spam in-box) notifying non-receipt and confirming when your registration request was first made. Once you have obtained 'your account ID' number and it is approved, email [email protected] no later than 12 noon on 10/03/17 with the following information as confirmation that you wish to express an interest and/or bid for the opportunity. The contract reference shown in Section IV.3.1 of this Contract Notice, Your organization's HMRC SAP Ariba account ID: AN...:, Your organisation's name:, Your name:, Your email address:, Your telephone number: Economic operators who have complied will receive e-mail confirmation to access the online questionnaires. If access is not provided within one working day, contact [email protected] notifying non-receipt and confirming when your request for access to the online questionnaires was first made.

When requesting access to the online questionnaires, notify HMRC if you have accessibility issues (disabilities) which may prevent you from providing a quality response using HMRC's SAP Ariba. This will then allow HMRC to agree with you an appropriate format for you to view and respond.