Digital Open Access Publishing Platform and Associated Publishing Services

Official notice

Authority: University Of York (Pelican) (Education)

GoodsAward procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Sectors: Software Packages & ERP (48)Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)

Budget not disclosedValue not published

Awarded 4 Sept 2024no call for competition

Awarded to Ubiquity Press Ltd2 awards

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The White Rose University Press (WRUP) is a non-profit, open access digital publisher of peer-reviewed academic journals and books, publishing across a wide range of academic disciplines. WRUP has entered into a five-year contract with a single established service provider for the provision of technical and publishing services to support the operation of the press. This involves system provision (platform and infrastructure) as well as a full range of publishing services.

CPV: Electronic publishing software package · Publishing services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Lot #1The contract covers the provision of an established publishing platform, and all…Awarded

The contract covers the provision of an established publishing platform, and all necessary infrastructure for the publishing of open access digital journals, books, research data and conference proceedings under the institution's own university press branding. Additional services will be provided to support editorial management, peer-review, anti-plagiarism checking, copyediting, typesetting, design and layout, long-term preservation, and indexing, alongside content promotion, an online portal for making publications available for free download, and capacity to support print-on-demand hardcopy distribution of books through a range of channels.

Delivery: Yorkshire & Humber · White Rose Libraries (University of York, University of Leeds, University of Sheffield)

79970000 Publishing services

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record · publisher note attached

Procedure method: Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Legal basis: CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
Procurement category: Goods
Notice status: Awarded without competition
Procurement threshold: Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime: Standard
Commercial structure: Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type: Direct award (no call for competition)
GPA / WTO covered: Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement: Unspecified in notice
First published: 15 Jan 2024, 11:55 GMT
Last source update: 11 Nov 2024, 11:53 GMT
Authority reference: UY PROC 1037
FTS notice number: 2024/S 000-036386
Classification (CPV): Electronic publishing software packagePublishing services
Delivery area: Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)
Official registry OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-042d0b Find a Tender

Why no open competition: The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons
Published justification: While individual elements of the service are available from various suppliers, the University doesn't have the resource/capacity to implement and manage separate supply contracts. A VEAT notice was published earlier this year and this affirmed there is currently only one supplier currently in the market capable of providing all of the required elements of the contract.

Publisher note: Value: Note the values quoted above are for the full five-year period, include VAT and cover the fixed platform fees, the fees for our five existing journals, and also an estimation of our book project costs over the whole duration of the contract. The latter is difficult to predict as a number of book projects were delayed by the pandemic but are now expected to go ahead within the next three years. Therefore the highest figure provided allows for an increase in throughput which we hope to achieve during the contract period. In reality, the five-year contract could be closer to the lower value if this is not realised. Also note that a proportion of the book/journal costs are invoiced directly to external funders, but they have been included in the value as they are all part of the total value of the business that the contract brings to the contracted supplier.

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast

Awards 2

Bids received 1

Contracts signed 2latest 4 Sept 2024

Awarded to	Value	Date	Status
Ubiquity Press LtdDigital Open Access Publishing Platform and Associated Services	—	—	Awarded
Ubiquity Press Ltd	—	—	Awarded

Contracts

Contract 036386-2024-UY PROC 1037-1 · Ubiquity Press Ltd
Signed
4 Sept 2024
Value
—
Status
active
Digital Open Access Publishing Platform and Associated Services · Ubiquity Press Ltd
Signed
15 Jan 2024
Value
—
Status
active

Bid statistics published by the authority

Lot	Bids	SME	VCSE	Valid bid range
The contract covers the provision of an established publishing platform, and all…	1bids	—	—	£490,000 – £790,000
Whole notice	—	—	—	£490,000 – £790,000

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

UNIVERSITY OF YORK

Contracting authorityEducationBody governed by public lawEducation GB-COH: RC000679 Heslington, YORK, Yorkshire & Humber, YO105DDContact name, email, phone

Dispute resolution & review bodies

University of York (Legal Services Team)Review body York

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Ubiquity Press LtdAwarded supplierGB-COH: 06677886 London, London

Official documents & specifications

Official links; attachments are not copied

No document links were published on the notice.