ESA BIC Business Support

The final date and time for the submission of bids is Thursday 15th October 2020 at 11:00 DO NOT apply directly to the buyer. All tender information MUST be submitted through the Delta eSourcing Portal.

Brief Description of Requirement

STFC supports business incubation on its campuses through a co-ordinated programme of initiatives covering a broad variety of science and technology sectors. Through a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA), STFC manages the ESA Business Incubation Centre United Kingdom (ESA BIC UK) to deliver the Europe-wide ESA BIC programme in the UK, with locations at each of the three (Harwell, Daresbury and Edinburgh) STFC campuses. Since the start of 2020 STFC has worked in partnership with the University of Leicester to add a fourth ESA BIC UK location at Space Park Leicester. Our dynamic multi-sector campus environment gives incubatee businesses greater opportunity to interact with companies working on related technology and raises their profile with prospective investors.

STFC's contract with ESA to manage the ESA BIC UK requires the provision of both technical and business support to incubatee companies. The ESA BIC business support programme at Harwell is well established and has delivered substantial benefits. The need for the current procurement has arisen because the contract with the previous contractor will shortly reach its end. This natural break provides an opportunity for fresh thinking to be applied where it would generate additional benefit.

The ESA BIC UK provides an incubation package comprising business support, incentive (grant) funding, technical expertise and access to facilities, and networking opportunities. Business support is provided primarily by a third-party organisation which is contracted to support the incubatee businesses to develop and implement a viable business plan and secure funding as needed.

Please ensure you review all attached information to ensure a full understanding of this requirement. All attachments can be found with the Document Uploads tab within the Delta eSourcing Portal.

This contract will be awarded based on the evaluation criteria set out in the ITQ document.

How to Apply

UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) will be using the Delta eSourcing Portal for this procurement.

To register on the Delta eSourcing portal please use the link https://uksbs.delta-esourcing.com and follow the instructions to register.

If you are already registered on the Delta eSourcing Portal and wish to participate in this procurement, please use the link: https://uksbs.delta-esourcing.com and the follow the instructions to 'Login'

Once you are logged into the system you will be able to link yourself into this procurement using the Access Code: 6YGXG34KNP

Please disregard any content in this notice that requests your organisation "to apply directly to the buyer" as this unfortunately a system generated error, that is outside of the Contracting Authorities control.

Additional information: DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO BUYER

All submissions will be assessed in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, for procurement values that exceed Regulation 5 (Threshold amounts)

Responses must be received by the date in the tender documentation; responses received outside of the deadline or not sent via the Delta eSourcing portal will not be accepted or considered further for this opportunity.

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The contracting authority expressly reserves the right:

i. not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice;and

ii. to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the procurement; and in no circumstances will the contracting authority be liable for any costs incurred by any supplier. If the contracting authority decides to enter into a contract with the successful supplier, this does not mean that there is any guarantee of subsequent contracts being awarded. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to contract award is accordingly a matter solely for the commercial judgement of bidders.

About UK Shared Business Services

UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) brings a commercial attitude to the public sector; helping our contracting authorities to improve efficiency, generate savings and modernise.

Where UK SBS is not named as the Contracting Authority within the documentation, UK SBS will be acting as an agent on behalf of the Contracting Authority.

Our broad range of expert services is shared by our customers. This allows our customers the freedom to focus resources on core activities; innovating and transforming their own organisations.

For full details of our partner base please review the following link: http://www.uksbs.co.uk/services/procure/contracts/Pages/default.aspx