INVITATION TO TENDER TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FEAST PROJECT Tender Ref: FEAST-E01 Invitation to Tender PROVISION OF SERVICE: TO CONDUCT THE SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT & EVALUATE THE IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FEAST PROJECT Date: 8th December 2017 The Food and Drink Forum Limited The Business Centre Southglade Food Park Gala Way Nottingham NG5 9RG Tel: 0115 975 8810 Email: enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1.1 Project Management & Governance 2. Tender Specification 2.1 Deliverables 2.2 Reporting 3. Terms of Service 4. Period of Contract 5. Price 5.1 Payments 6. Tender Evaluation 6.1 Assessment and Scoring 6.2 Submitting your proposal 7. Selection of Provider 8. Tender Questions 9. Tenders Excluded 10. Freedom of Information 11. Timeline for Submission Annex A Proposal and Standard Details Questionnaire 2
1. INTRODUCTION The Food and Drink Forum is inviting submissions to carry out an effective impact evaluation and Summative Assessment for the FEAST Project. The FEAST project is part funded by ERDF, therefore it is a requirement to conduct a thorough Summative Assessment, and the Project Board wish to go further than this and require a report that will identify areas of potential development for the Growth Hub both to support the specific needs of food and drink businesses and in the context of Government/LEP policy and ambition to drive productivity and inclusive growth. We therefore require practical recommendations as to how to develop and become well positioned within the landscape. The FEAST project focuses on the two LEP areas; D2N2 and SEMLEP (note that SEMLEP now includes NEP). The project commenced in January 2016 assisting food and drink manufacturers. Assistance is provided in one of many forms; a diagnostic, a grant, mentoring, technical support, business support, event attendance or through apprentices. With over 800 food and drink manufacturers across both LEPS, we aim to engage with all of them in some way and promote or signpost them to appropriate provision suitable to their needs throughout the course of the FEAST project. 1.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT & GOVERNANCE The FEAST project is delivered in a partnership including: East Midlands Chamber of Commerce delivering events in D2N2 Moulton College supporting businesses with grants in SEMLEP The Mallows Company providing diagnostics, mentoring, programme management, events and apprentices in SEMLEP The University of Northampton providing strategic assistance to business management in SEMLEP Central Bedfordshire Council providing strategic and partnership assistance in SEMLEP The Accountable Body for the ERDF funding on behalf of the partnership is The Food and Drink Forum who manage the CRM and deliver much of the face to face services across D2N2 3
As the Accountable Body, The Food and Drink Forum is also remitted to: Monitor the performance of the project against contracted expenditure & outputs targets, risks and milestones Report progress to partners as appropriate Ensure consistency and quality of delivery and manage the achievement of contracted outputs. 2. TENDER REQUIREMENTS We are looking to appoint an organisation to provide an ongoing evaluation of the FEAST project to be completed by September 2018. The requirement of the evaluation is two-fold. The first is to provide an interim Evaluation Report of the project to help us assess how well the project is being delivered, to make recommendations on how to refine and improve our services and to identify areas of best practice. We are looking for a consultant or organisation to carry out this piece of work with an interim findings report to be completed by 20 March 2018. This is a practical report with recommendations that will inform our future delivery in 2018 2022 and a final evaluation Summative Assessment Report to satisfy ERDF compliance to be completed by September 2018. The second is a Summative Assessment, required by our funders, and should be underpinned by a programme of active and planned engagement with project beneficiaries and the project team. This culminates in a final evaluation on conclusion of the project which will focus on an assessment of the overall impact and lessons learnt that may then inform the design of future projects. Whilst not exhaustive the following must be covered and considered as part of the assessment: Relevance and consistency: the summative assessments must explore the continued relevance and consistency of the project, in light of any changes in policy or economic circumstances during its delivery period Progress: the summative assessments will set out the progress of the project against contractual targets, any reasons for under or over performance, and the expected lifetime results Delivery and management: the summative assessment must explore the experience of implementing and managing the project and any lessons which have emerged from this 4
Impacts: the summative assessment, where possible, must show the economic impact attributable to the project, including both the intended and actual outcomes and impact Assessing value for money: the summative assessments must analyse the cost-effectiveness of the project in light of its intended and unintended outcomes and impacts, and hence its value for money. How the project makes initial contact with the FEAST business base How effective are our channels to market Assessment of the challenges posed achieving output profile whilst ensuring both quality and quantity of business engagement The significance of the role of the team in supporting the overall delivery of the project and in delivering the business outcomes How effective the initial contact is (via phone or email) How this level of discussion/questioning and mini diagnosis adds value to and informs next steps The importance or otherwise of involvement of an adviser in terms of establishing the relationship with the business and building a platform for future interventions. The overall impact on productivity and inclusive growth of the local economy as a result of the FEAST project To conduct a business survey with a minimum of 50 businesses to assess impact of the project identifying at least 10 for case studies. A Summative Assessment is a specific requirement of our funders and must be completed by Sept 2018 at the latest. It will be impact based and undertaken according to the funder s common framework and methodology, a link to which is included in this specification. The summative assessment will be used to inform the national programme and will therefore include a simple logic model. The content of each of the logic chain steps will be prescribed in guidance provided by our funder. NB: This contract will be part funded by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Programme 2014-2020. Bidders should be aware that work undertaken under this tender would be subject to ERDF regulations including those relating to publicity. The contract will be subject to monitoring and audit by the Government and European Commission. 5
In addition bidders will need to take into account current ERDF guidance for Project Summative Assessments details of which can be found as part of the etender document set published: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/64213 5/ESIF-GN-1-033_ERDF_Summative_Assessment_Guidance_v1_updated.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/63714 6/ESIF-GN-1-034_ERDF_Summative_Assessment_Guidance_Appendices_v1.pdf 2.1 DELIVERABLES The Interim Evaluation Report covering the elements identified above and Final Summative Assessment Report and a presentation of findings to the FEAST project team likely to be in the Summer of 2018. Report format should include: Background and context Purpose Target audience Objectives and scope Questions and tasks Approach and methodology Timing and deliverables Management arrangements Inclusion of a counterfactual assessment as to how you would address this. The report will include reflections on: Service users experience Value for money The impact and added value of the project Lessons learnt from the project Costs against predicted costs (including a cost benefit analysis) The views of partner organisations Recommendations for future delivery and sustainability. 6
2.2 Reporting The contract will be managed by the Food and Drink Forum s Project Director. There will be a requirement for a regular monthly progress update via email. Two presentations to the FEAST project team and the Forum s Board are to be factored into the pricing schedule. 3. TERMS OF SERVICE The Food and Drink Forum is inviting a consultancy or organisation to carry out this piece of work. Appendix A provides a copy of the Consultants Terms of Service. 4. PERIOD OF CONTRACT This contract will run from 15 th January 2018 to 30 September 2018. 5. PRICE The price for the work is expected to be in the region of 10,000 (incl. VAT). You are required to provide a day rate, detailing any additional or sundry costs, such as travel, event costs for the activities you plan to deliver including a business survey and methodology. 5.1 Payments Three payments: 50% to be invoiced by 1 st March 2018 25% to be invoiced by 1 st June 2018 on satisfactory completion of the interim findings report 25% to be invoiced by 1 st September 2018 on satisfactory completion of the final evaluation report. N.B. Contracting will be through The Food and Drink Forum as the Accountable Body for the funding. 6. TENDER EVALUATION Tender responses will be scored by an evaluation panel consisting of The Food and Drink Forum s FEAST project team. 7
Quotations/bids should be no more than 8 A4 pages in 12pt Arial and must be submitted via email by noon on Thursday 4 th January 2018. Scoring and decisions will be made Friday 5 th and Friday 12 th January 2018 via a panel consisting of members of the FEAST project. Should interviews be required, these will be conducted on Friday 5 th and Friday 12 th January 2018. When emailing your tender, please send to; fay.davies@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk with the following email header: Tender for FEAST Summative Assessment & Evaluation (December 2017) 6.1 Assessment and Scoring Assessment will be based on the completion of the Proposal and completion of the required data on Standard Details Questionnaire at Annex A. Assessment will be made from information provided, scored as 0-5 below, with and explanatory narrative against the following: Value for money NB- any tenders over the budget will be disqualified Quality of support (weighting 60%) Ability to deliver the work in the given timeframe Methodology used in your proposed structure and approach: o methodology, sample numbers, questions & plan Knowledge and understanding of the business needs and gaps in provision Knowledge of national policy drivers and evidence of recommending successful actions plans to similar partnerships in order that they can sustainably develop Experience of doing this type of assessment and analysis work: experience of evaluating EU funded projects: o experience of evaluating multi-partner projects o experience of the people undertaking the evaluation Knowledge, experience and evidence of developing a partnership solution for services through the ethos of the Growth Hub Understanding and appreciation of the F&D and/or manufacturing industry Provision of your Sustainability Policy and describe how you will incorporate sustainability principles into your work on the evaluation. 8
In assessing the answers to the questions, posed with this tender, the Food and Drink Forum will be seeking evidence of the potential provider s suitability to deliver the requirements of the contract, including responses to the questions/scope/specification which will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation approach detailed below. In the event that none of the responses are deemed satisfactory, the Food and Drink Forum reserves the right to consider alternative procurement options. The provision of false information will disqualify organisations from further consideration. SCORING PRINCIPLES Required data All questions must be answered unless there is an acceptable reason for its omission. The data will be scored as pass or fail. PASS/FAIL Pass The information has been assessed and judged to be acceptable. Fail The standard of the information is unacceptable or does not comply with the minimum acceptable standard. Scored (0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5) 0 The information is either omitted or fundamentally unacceptable. 1 The information submitted has some omissions or demonstrates only limited technical, ability and/or capacity. 2 The information submitted just meets the Food and Drink Forum s expectations in demonstrating technical experience, ability and/or capacity to deliver the services. There are significant reservations, but not sufficient to warrant rejection. 3 The information submitted meets the Food and Drink Forum s expectations in demonstrating technical experience, ability and/or capacity to deliver the services. 4 The information submitted meets the Food and Drink Forum s expectations and provides strong evidence of technical experience, ability and/or capacity to deliver a quality service. 5 The information submitted exceeds the Food and Drink Forum s expectations and provides evidence of high quality technical experience, ability and/or capacity to deliver a quality service. 9
6.2 Submitting your proposal Please ensure that all the required documentation is completed along with any supporting documentation. Potential bidders should note that in the event that a bid is considered to be fundamentally unacceptable on a key issue, regardless of its other merits, the bid will be rejected. Tenders submitted after the stipulated time and date will be rejected and returned to the bidder, unless clear evidence of posting (by first class post on a day proceeding the closing date) is available. 7. SELECTION OF PROVIDER A provider will be selected by virtue of the highest score from the evaluation. Successful and non-successful providers will be notified in accordance with the Timetable for Submission detailed at section 11. 8. TENDER QUESTIONS If you require further information about the requirements of the contract or the tendering procedures, please email the question and this will then be posted on the website with a response for all to view. No questions will be answered that provide a competitive advantage to any party tendering. Should questions arise during the tendering period which in our judgement are material significant, we will inform all providers to explain the nature of the question, and our formal reply. All providers should then take that reply into consideration when preparing their own proposals, and we will evaluate proposals on the assumption that they have done so. 9. TENDERS EXCLUDED It must be recognised that the Food and Drink Forum reserves the right to withdraw this tender document and all funding contained within it without notice. 10
No tender will be considered for acceptance if the potential provider has indulged or attempted to indulge in any corrupt practice or canvassed the tender with a member of staff employed by the Food and Drink Forum or partners within the FEAST project. If the successful provider has indulged or attempted to indulge in such practices and the tender is accepted, then grounds shall exist for the termination of the contract and the claiming of damages from the successful provider. It is unlikely that any tender will be accepted which (a) is incomplete or inaccurately or inadequately completed or which purports to impose conditions other than those provided in the contract documents and (b) is delivered out of time or in a manner other than specified in the specification. In submitting a tender against this contract, the potential provider confirms that he has not fixed or adjusted the amount of the tender by or under or in accordance with any agreement or arrangement with any other person. The potential provider also certifies that at no time, before or following the submission of the tender, has the tenderer carried out any of the following acts: Entering into any agreement or arrangement with any person that he shall refrain from tendering or as to the amount of any tender to be submitted Offering, paying, giving or agreeing to give any sum of money or valuable consideration directly or indirectly to any person for doing, having done, causing or having caused to be done in relation to any other tender or proposed tender for the said work any act or thing of the sort described above. The context of this clause the word person includes any persons and anybody or association, corporate or unincorporated, and any agreement includes any such transaction, formal or informal, and whether legally binding or not. 10. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Information in relation to this tender may be made available on demand in accordance with requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Potential providers should state if any of the information supplied by them is confidential or commercially sensitive or should not be disclosed in response to a request for information under the Act. Potential providers should state why they consider the information to be confidential or commercially sensitive. This will not guarantee that the information will not be disclosed, but will be examined in the light of the exemptions provided in the Act. 11
It is important to note that information may be commercially sensitive for a time (e.g. during a tender process) but afterwards it may not be. The timing of any request for information may be extremely important in determining whether information is exempt. However providers should note that no information is like to be regarded as exempt forever. 11. TIMELINE FOR SUBMISSION Tender opened Friday 8 th December 2017 Tender return deadline: 12PM on Thursday 4 th January 2018 Evaluation of bids: Friday 5th/Friday 12th January 2018 Interviews by phone/in person (if Friday 5th/Friday 12th January 2018 required): Award contract to successful bidder: Friday 12 th January 2018 All bidders informed of outcome: Friday 12 th January 2018 Indicative contract signing date: Monday 15 th January 2018 12
ANNEX A - STANDARD DETAILS QUESTIONNAIRE Please complete the standard details questionnaire which will be scored. If the question does not apply, please write N/A; if you don t know the answer please write N/K. Please forward with your completed Tender to: bryony.whiley@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk Completing and returning this documentation does not in any way guarantee any work. Section 1 BASIC DETAILS OF YOUR ORGANISATION 1.1 Name of organisation: 1.2 Contact name: 1.3 Job title: 1.4 Name of consultant if different from above: 1.5 Company address and post code: 1.6 Telephone number: 1.7 Email address: 1.8 Social media references: 1.9 Website address: 1.10 Company registration number (if applicable): 1.11 Charities, housing association or other registration number (if applicable): 1.12 Date of incorporation or registration: 1.13 Registered address if different from the above: 1.14 VAT registration number: 1.15 Is your organisation: i) A public limited Yes / No company? ii) A limited company? Yes / No iii) A partnership? Yes / No iv) A sole trader? Yes / No v) Other (please specify): Yes / No 1.16 Name of (ultimate) parent company (if this applies): 1.17 Companies House Registration number of parent company (if applicable): 13
1.18 How many staff does your organisation employ? (If you are a sole trader, please say so) Section 2 FINANCIAL INFORMATION 2.1 Please provide details of your turnover and net profit for the last two financial years: Year: Turnover: Year: Turnover: 2.2 Can you provide copies of your audited annual accounts for the last two years: Net profit: Net profit: Yes/No 2.3 Has your organisation met the terms of its banking facilities/loan agreements (if any): Yes/No 2.4 If No what were the reasons, and what has been done to resolve? 2.5 Has your organisation met all its obligations to pay its creditors and staff during the past year? 2.6 If No please explain why not: Yes/No Section 3 REFERENCES Please provide details of two recent contracts that are relevant to this tender Reference 1 Reference 2 3.1 Name of customer: 3.2 Contact name and phone number: 3.3 Contract dates: 3.4 Contract value: 3.5 Brief details about the service you provided: 3.6 Brief details about targets achieved: 3.7 Have you had any contracts terminated for poor performance in the last three years, or any contracts where damages have been claimed by the coactor? 3.8 If Yes, please give details: Yes / No 14
Section 4 INSURANCE Please provide details of your current insurance cover: Value 4.1 Employer s Liability: 4.2 Public Liability: 4.3 Professional Indemnity: 4.4 Other (please provide details): Section 5 POLICIES 5.1 Does your organisation have a written health and safety at Yes / No work policy? 5.2 Does your organisation have a sustainability policy? Yes / No 5.3 Does your organisation adhere to the Equality Act 2010 and Yes / No your policy reflect this? 5.4 If No, to either of the above please explain why: 5.5 Does your organisation hold a recognised quality management certification for example BS/EN/ISO 9000 or equivalent? 5.6 If not, do you/your organisation have a quality management system? 5.7 Does your organisation have an environmental management system? 5.8 If No, to the above quality systems please explain why: Yes / No Yes / No Yes/No Section 6 PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS STANDING Do any of the following apply to you/your organisation, or to any director(s)/partners/ proprietor(s)? 6.1 Is in a state of bankruptcy, insolvency, compulsory winding Yes / No up, receivership, composition with creditors, or subject to relevant proceedings? 6.2 Has been convicted of a criminal offence related to business Yes / No or professional conduct? 6.3 Has committed an act of grave misconduct, in the course, of Yes / No business? 6.4 Has not fulfilled obligations related to payment of social Yes / No security contributions? 6.5 Has not fulfilled obligations related to payment of taxes? Yes / No 6.6 Is guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying Yes / No information? 6.7 Is not in possession of relevant licences or membership of an appropriate organisation where required by law? Yes / No 15
6.8 If the answer to any of these is Yes please give brief details below, including what has been done to put things right: Section 7 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 7.1 Please identify if any of your staff personnel has been employed by the East Midlands Chamber and/or related to any member of staff employed by the East Midlands Chamber? If so, please provide further details? Section 8 SIGNED DECLARATION I declare that to the best of my knowledge the answers submitted in this document (and any supporting information) are correct. I understand that the information will be used in the evaluation process to assess my suitability to provide the services described. Electronic signatures or typed names are acceptable. In the event that your organisation is successful you will be required to resign this form with an original signature. FORM COMPLETED BY: 8.1 Name: 8.2 Position: 8.3 Date: 8.4 Tel number: 8.5 Signature: 16