Buyers have the ability to direct award or undertake a further competition. Check your organisation’s internal policies and controls processes before engaging with suppliers to make sure you are following your standard operating procedures.
For more information on further competitions and direct awards, we recommend that you read the customer guidance document in the documents tab below before using this agreement.
Further competition
In the majority of cases you will need to run a further competition for your requirements to ensure best value for money. If you want to allow suppliers to develop proposals or a solution in respect of your requirement; and/or you need to amend or refine the terms of the call-off contract to reflect your requirements (to the extent permitted by and in accordance with the procurement regulations), you will need to undertake a further competition.
To award a call-off contract under the framework through a further competition you should:
- Develop a statement of requirements identifying the framework suppliers capable of providing the goods and/or services.
- Amend or refine the template call-off form and call-off terms to reflect the goods and/or services required.
- Develop evaluation criteria and scoring methodology.
- Publish invitation to tender pack, along with award criteria and further competition process.
- Invite all capable suppliers under a Lot to tender by conducting a further competition in accordance with the regulations.
- Evaluate tenders, score and provide feedback to bidders.
- Sign the call-off form with the successful supplier including any supplementary terms or schedules that you identified in the tender.
Direct award
Suitable if there is only one supplier that meets your requirements, or you can clearly establish which supplier meets your needs at the lowest price. You cannot use any supplementary terms and conditions with the agreement and you must accept the maximum framework prices if you choose this option.
To direct award under the framework without holding a further competition you should:
- Develop a statement of requirements and determine whether this can be met by the mandatory/core goods and/or services of the framework.
- Confirm that all the terms of the framework and the call-off terms do not require amendment or any supplementary terms and conditions.
- Review the price schedule for all capable suppliers under the Lot to determine the most economically advantageous solution.
- Award to the successful framework supplier and sign the completed call-off form.
Please contact us for support in accessing the agreement. A detailed process map can be found in the customer guidance document.
Aggregation and eAuctions:
You could get a better deal by aggregating your requirements with other public sector organisations that need the same thing and/or competing price using an eAuction.
Read the eAuctions guidance in the documents tab below or contact the eAuctions team to find out more about this option.
Alternatively, contact our Customer Service Centre or phone 0345 410 2222 to discuss your requirements in more detail.
Framework pricing:
Framework prices are accessible by specific request.
Lot 1 provides a pre-discounted list of franking machines, consumables and additional options available from a single supplier.
Prices for lots 2 to 10 (inclusive) are maximum prices payable under the agreement. In a further competition, suppliers should offer prices that are equal to or less than the agreement prices.
*The pricing for this agreement is considered to be commercially sensitive and could prejudice the commercial interests of suppliers if the information was made publicly available.
Sourcing tools:
We have a choice of eSourcing tools available for buyers to run and manage their further competitions under this agreement. It is not mandatory to use these tools and we recommend that buyers check their organisation’s internal policies and procedures.
CCS
YPO
ESPO
