Background
Our client operates as a Teckal company. This means, due to their sources of funding, that their procurement and purchasing needs to be conducted in compliance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
Tender Victory’s services were engaged as the client’s existing contract for the appointment of auditors was due to expire. We were assigned to conduct an OJEU compliant procurement process to appoint a service provider to a new contract that would ensure our client continued to meet their audit obligations under the Companies Act 2006.
Challenges
A lack of transparency in the pricing and costs incurred by our client in previous contracts informed us that we needed to develop a comprehensive pricing schedule that would prevent the continuation of such issues in the new contract. Accordingly a detailed, weighted pricing schedule was created to enable a full assessment of pricing and costs, which provided the client with visibility of potential pricing variances.
Implementation
At the outset of the engagement, we worked with the client to develop a Critical Path of key activities and their associated stages that would form the basis of the procurement project plan. We liaised closely with the client to ensure that all stakeholders were taken into consideration and that sufficient time was allowed to enable full and comprehensive engagement.
Upon sign off of the Critical Path, a full and detailed project plan for the procurement process was developed, assigning responsibility to stakeholders and also to Tender Victory. Fortnightly project calls were scheduled to keep the client appraised as to the progress of the procurement project.
The procurement process was conducted using the OJEU Open Procedure.
Evaluation of tenders was undertaken (remotely), attended by key stakeholders and also impartial evaluators, using a matrix constructed by Tender Victory and scoring guidelines that were published within the tender documents. The evaluation was managed and moderated by Tender Victory representatives.
Result
The evaluation resulted in our client awarding a contract to the bidder that achieved both the highest quality score, in addition to the highest price score.
Summary
Prior to the procurement, our client had concerns regarding a lack of transparency in costs and pricing. By scoping these concerns into the procurement planning and price evaluation, we were able to facilitate the award of a contract that enables the client and their supplier to work cost effectively together.
Our client reports that contract mobilisation was seamless and that the contract is operating well.