London Universities Purchasing Consortium (LUPC) is a not-for-profit company owned by its Members, for its Members. Its primary purpose is to maximise value from the collaborative procurement of goods and services for over 60 Members, made up of universities and colleges, as well as government agencies, research organisations and museums and other cultural establishments. A full list of current Members may be found at: http://www.lupc.ac.uk/about/members-list.aspx.
In inviting expressions of interest to tender for the provision of temporary staff, LUPC is acting as a lead organisation on behalf of its Member Institutions. All agreements resulting from this tender should be made available to and apply to all current and future members of LUPC. Any other consortium or institution that wishes to participate in this framework agreement will only do so at the discretion of the LUPC. Providers’ attention is drawn to the fact that participating institutions may be subject to change in the future owing to strategic realignment of the above-named Consortium or the inclusion of new full or associate Members, who could be outside the education sector, but within the public sector.
The aim is to establish a highly competitive temporary staff framework agreement for Member Institutions, taking advantage of geographic concentration in and around London. The principle behind the agreement(s) is that they shall not themselves constitute contracts, but will establish a structure by which orders may be placed by participating institutions, each forming a separate contract under the terms and conditions set out in the framework agreement(s). Applicants are required to complete a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire in full. Shortlisted providers will then be issued the main Invitation to Tender and required to provide full details of how they would provide temporary staff under the framework.
This contract is divided into 7 lots and tenders may be submitted for one or more lots
- Lot 1 General clerical and administrative staff. This Lot is designed to provide office-based staff in support roles such as general administration, reception, customer services, PA, secretarial, filing or data entry. It will cover provision of temporary staff, as well as some introduction to permanent or fixed-term staff. It is intended to award this Lot to 3 Providers.
- Lot 2 Professional staff (including HR, Finance, Procurement). This Lot is designed for senior level professional staff, including staff in the Human Resources, Finance and Procurement functions and staff part or fully-qualified in these fields. It will cover roles such as audit and regulatory, specialist finance and procurement, HR professionals, estates professionals, specialist laboratory staff, professional library staff, communications and marketing, project management, senior secretarial and management and executive. It will cover the provision of temporary staff, as well as some introduction to permanent or fixed-term staff. It is intended to award this Lot to 3 Providers.
- Lot 3 IT staff. This Lot is designed to meet the requirements of all grades of IT staff, including IT service desk staff, web based experts, networks and systems designers and operators, and senior IT managers. It will cover provision of temporary staff, as well as some introduction to permanent or fixed-term staff. It is intended to award this Lot to 3 Providers.
- Lot 4 Operational staff (including cooks, cleaners, security staff). This Lot covers a range of operational roles including cooks, cleaners, security staff, electricians, plumbers and general maintenance staff. It will cover provision of temporary staff, as well as some introduction to permanent or fixed-term staff. It is intended to award this Lot to 3 Providers.
- Lot 5 Retail staff (including front-of-house staff). This Lot is aimed primarily at Member Institutions in the museum/gallery/library and related fields, though it may be used by other Institutions with similar requirements. It covers all grades of front of house staff with specific skills in dealing with the general public. It will include provision of temporary staff, as well as some introduction to permanent or fixed-term staff. It is intended to award this Lot to 3 Providers.
- Lot 6 One-stop-shop and payroll service. This Lot is designed for Providers that can offer a full range of temporary staff and have systems in place to administer high volume contracts and manage strategic relationships with Member Institutions. Providers in this Lot will be able to provide coverage of a wide range of roles, including general clerical and administrative, professional (including HR, Finance and Procurement), IT, operational and retail/front-of-house, directly and/or through a network or second-tier agencies. It will include provision of temporary staff, as well as some introduction to permanent or fixed-term staff. It is intended to award this Lot to 3 Providers.
- Lot 7 Administration of direct temping system. This Lot is designed for the management and administration of a Member Institution’s internal pool of temporary workers (likely drawn from student, graduate and other local casual worker population), using an electronic portal and management system. It will include provision for two delivery models: firstly, with temporary workers on the Provider’s payroll; and secondly with temporary workers on the Member Institution’s payroll. It is intended to award this Lot to either a single Provider or 3 Providers (to be decided at Tender stage).
The Contracting Authority intends to use an eTendering system in this procurement exercise.
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: London and South East.
Framework agreement with several operators. Maximum number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged: 21. It is envisaged that between 6 and 8 operators will be invited to tender for each Lot.
Contract Duration: 36 months with the facility to extend for a further 12 months
Contract Value: £40,000,000 – £100,000,000 (covering the entire duration of the contract). The value is likely to build up over time as existing contracts end and Member Institutions migrate across to the new agreement.
Deadline: 2pm, 17th September 2013
Name, addresses and contact point(s):
London Universities Purchasing Consortium
LUPC, Floor 2M, University of London Union, Malet Street
Contact point(s): https://lupc.bravosolution.co.uk
For the attention of: Suzanne Stokes
WC1E 7HY London
Telephone: +44 2076644838
E-mail: SStokes@lupc.lon.ac.uk
Fax: +44 2078631699
Internet address(es):
General address of the contracting authority: http://www.lupc.ac.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://lupc.bravosolution.co.uk
Supplier Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender:
1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once)
— Browse to the eSourcing Portal
— Click the link: ‘Click here to register’
— Accept the terms and conditions and click ‘continue’
— Enter your correct business and user details
— Note the username you chose and click ‘Save’ when complete
— You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure)
2. Express an Interest in the tender
— Login to the portal with the username/password
— Click the link: ‘PQQs Open to All Suppliers’. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires open to any registered supplier)
— Click on the relevant PQQ to access the content.
— Click the ‘Express Interest’ button in the Actions box on the left-hand side of the page.
— This will move the PQQ into your ‘My PQQs’ page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only)
— Click on the PQQ code, you can now access any attachments by clicking the Settings and Buyer Attachments in the Actions box
3. Responding to the tender
— You can now choose to ‘Reply’ or ‘Reject’ (please give a reason if rejecting)
— You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification
— Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ
— There may be a mixture of online and offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available)
If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.
