Official UK procurement notice
Hosted Events and Conferencing Services (NIHR)
Authority: University of Southampton (Charity / VCSE)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe University of Southampton - NETSCC ((NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research), Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre) manages the events management contract on behalf of the NIHR for the organisation of approved meetings and researcher training events.
The events range in size and duration from small, on day meetings, to large meetings and conferences spanning multiple days.
Alongside those events initiated by the NIHR, there will be third party events where it is necessary to ensure that the NIHR has an appropriate and consistent presence and appearance at an agreed programme of events.
NETSCC is looking to commission several events annually alongside production of digital literature.
The department is looking for an events management supplier that can demonstrate experience of working with a large and complex organisation with multiple stakeholders.
The University conducted this procurement using the open Procedure in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations for the purpose of procuring the services described in the Specification.
It should b noted that the current contract between the NETSCC and University of Southampton expired 30th April 2027. In the event that the University is not re-awarded, there may be the need for services to be provided to the University of Southampton under this contract for up to 6-months of the 2-year extension period.
The contract will be effective upon signing.
The estimated value of the contract was between £600,000.00 and £1,000,000.00 excluding VAT. This was the maximum contract value for the full contract period including any extension periods. This value included all related services, but did not include fees paid by the University directly to venues.
CPV: Hotel meeting and conference services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£1,000,000
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Highly Desirable Requirements: 30%
- Desirable Requirements: 50%
- Event Setup, Management & Resource Development and Production Costs: 20%
Published award criteria (4)
- Mandatory Requirements: Pass/Fail
- Highly Desirable Requirements: 30.00%
- Desirable Requirements: 50.00%
- Event Setup, Management & Resource Development and Production Costs: 20.00%
- Suitability
To support the financial assessment, the University will obtain a Business Risk Report for all Tenderers and every organisation that is being relied on to meet this procurement, using an independent company called Creditsafe.
The University reserves the right to exclude a Tenderer or request provision of further assurances such as parent company / bank guarantee where a Tenderer's Business Risk Score is: ''Moderate Risk''; ''High Risk''; ''Very High Risk''; or ''Not Rated'', based on the rating provided by Creditsafe.
Where a Business Risk Score from our external system is not available, then an alternative method of assessing financial standing will be used.
This method is detailed within the Invitation to Tender document set.
- Condition of participationno text publishedMinimum: Tenderers are advised that a requirement of this procurement is to have in place, or commit to obtain prior to the commencement of the contract, the following minimum insurance levels: Employers (Compulsory) Liability: £ 10 Million GBP per occurrence. Product Liability: £ 10 Mill…
- Technical & professional ability
Tenderers attention is drawn to the MANDATORY requirements of the award criteria:
Grounds for mandatory exclusion
- Mandatory technical requirements M1 to M2
- Failure to meet the minimum requested score for Highly Desirable requirements 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2 and 4.1
Grounds for discretionary exclusion
- Economic & Financial Standing
- Insurance
- Compliance with equality legislation
- Health & Safety
- Legal requirements
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 1 Oct 2024, 11:06 BST
- Last source update
- 31 Mar 2025, 12:11 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 5 Nov 2024 – …
- Authority reference
2023UoS-0816- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-011984- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04a478Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
Publisher note: E-Tendering Portal: The University is utilising an electronic tendering tool, In-Tend (https://intendhost.co.uk/ universityofsouthampton) to manage this procurement and to communicate with potential suppliers and/or tenderers (as appropriate). All documentation in relation to this tender can be downloaded from In-Tend. Tenderers are advised that there will be no hard copy documents issued and all communications with the University, including the submission of Selection Stage and/or Invitation to Tender responses will be conducted via In-Tend. Regular monitoring of the portal is the responsibility of the tenderer. If you are not already registered as a supplier with the University of Southampton, you will need to register in In-Tend in order to access the procurement documentation. Once you have logged in as a supplier: click on 'Tenders'; locate the relevant project; and click 'View Details'. Once you are in the project screen, you will be able to register your organisation against the project and access all documentation by clicking 'Express Interest'. Potential suppliers/tenderers are advised that formal expressions of interest in the project must be by way of completion and return of the relevant documents via In-Tend. Further instructions for the submission of responses are below: To submit your return: 1. Log in. 2. Click 'Tenders'. 3. Locate the relevant project. 4. View details. 5. Click on the tab relating to the relevant project stage (e.g. 'Invitation to Tender'). 6. Click on the 'Attach Documents' button and upload your return. 7. Check ALL your response documents are uploaded and displayed in the 'My Tender Return' panel. The system will only permit your organisation to make one return. 8. Click the red 'Submit Return' button. Please note, to preserve the integrity of the procurement, all communications with the University must be made via the correspondence function within In-Tend. Publication of Award Details: In accordance with Regulation 50, paragraph (2) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the University intends to publish the value of any resulting contract at the award stage, and reserves the right to do so. By submitting a response, tenderers are consenting to publication of this information unless otherwise agreed in advance with the University. Costs and Expenses: Tenderers are solely responsible for their costs and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation and submission of responses and participation in this and all future stages of this procurement. Under no circumstances will the University be liable for any costs or expenses borne by tenderers or any of their supply chain, partners or advisers in this procurement process. The University is not liable for any costs in the event of the cancellation of this procurement process.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 5 Nov 2024, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 120 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 5 Nov 2024, 12:01 GMT
Timeline
5 Nov 2024 → 31 Mar 2025 · 3 dates- Submission deadline5 Nov 2024, 12:00 GMT
- Bids opened5 Nov 2024, 12:01 GMT
- Notice published31 Mar 2025, 12:11 BST
Notice history
1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender- Status changed to complete31 Mar 2025, 12:11 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarity Travel Limited | £800,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Hosted Events and Conferencing Services (NIHR) · Clarity Travel Limited
- Signed
- 3 Mar 2025
- Value
- £800,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Clarity Travel LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.