The Litmus Partnership: Icknield High School ~ Catering Services Tender

UK-Bedfordshire: School catering services.
Section I: Contracting Authority
      I.1) Name and addresses
             Icknield High School
             Riddy Lane, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU3 2AH, United Kingdom
             Tel. +44 1276673880, Email: tenders@litmuspartnership.co.uk
             Main Address: https://www.icknield.beds.sch.uk/
             NUTS Code: UKH2
      I.2) Joint procurement
      The contract involves joint procurement: No.
      In the case of joint procurement involving different countries, state applicable national procurement law: Not provided       
      The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body: No.
      I.3) Communication
      The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: https://litmustms.co.uk/respond/H47D99GDKM
      Additional information can be obtained from: the abovementioned address
      Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to the abovementioned address       
      Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at: Not provided
      I.4) Type of the contracting authority
            Body governed by public law
      I.5) Main activity
            Education

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
      II.1.1) Title: Icknield High School ~ Catering Services Tender       
      Reference Number: Not provided
      II.1.2) Main CPV Code:
      55524000 - School catering services.

      II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES
      II.1.4) Short description: The successful supplier will provide catering services at Icknield High School.       
      II.1.5) Estimated total value:
      Value excluding VAT: 1,120,000       
      Currency: GBP
      II.1.6) Information about lots:
      This contract is divided into lots: No       
   
II.2) Description
      
      II.2.2) Additional CPV codes:
      Not Provided       
      II.2.3) Place of performance:
      UKH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
      
      II.2.4) Description of procurement: Catering at Icknield High School (the School) is currently being operated in-house, and is generally regarded by stakeholders as being competent but frustratingly far away from the offers presented by other local schools. The catering service does seem to be lacking in confidence and style, which should be standard additional components for a large secondary school in 2022, post Covid.

The kitchen facility and available front of house areas, are functional and traditional, and are in need of some investment and refresh to underpin better quality in food and merchandising but there is potential to develop the service in a number of ways:

•A menu offer that is more attractive to more pupils - offering more variety and more on trend content to satisfy government guidelines for secondary feeding
•Increased skills and confidence in the catering team
•Increased compliance and control of supply chain
•Improved food hygiene and food safety practices
•Better communication and with pupils and parents to develop trust by improving all aspects of the customer journey, from card loading, menu presentation, marketing and merchandising to point of sale

All the above factors are components in providing a future catering offer that the school can be proud of, along with a confident and skill-enhanced catering team and improved commercial outputs for the school.

The tender project is seeking to appoint a Supplier whose initiative and innovation will be welcomed for the provision of service within the existing facilities. Commencing in January 2023, the Supplier will deliver catering services to around 1450 pupils and 125 staff, with a focus on exciting new food concepts to satisfy a wide range of pupil tastes and dietary requirements. The School would wish the successful Supplier to review the current range of services offered, as well as to looking at the delivery of the current catering service and make recommendations accordingly.

The contract being tendered is for three years and two terms in duration - from 1st January 2023 to 31st August 2026 with the option to extend for a further two years, the extension would only be for 1 year at a time and will operate as a cost plus with guarantees contract, with the successful Supplier offering the Trust guaranteed lines or the caterer offering a guaranteed annual return for the provision of catering services. The school will maintain sovereignty of tariff throughout the contract and will work in partnership with the contractor to address any operational issues.

See SQ Document for further information.
      II.2.5) Award criteria:
            Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents            
      II.2.6) Estimated value:
      Value excluding VAT: 1,120,000       
      Currency: GBP       
      II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system:
      Start: 01/01/2023 / End: 31/08/2028       
      This contract is subject to renewal: No       
      Description of renewals: Not provided
      II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited:
             Envisaged minimum number: 5
            / Maximum number: 10       
      Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates: A minimum of 5 suppliers and a maximum of 10 suppliers will be taken forward to the tender stage of the process. Where less than 5 suppliers meet the minimum standards, only those that meet the minimum standards will be taken through to the tender stage. Where more than 5 suppliers meet the minimum standard, those suppliers with the highest scores will proceed to the tender stage.
      II.2.10) Information about variants:
      Variants will be accepted: Yes
      II.2.11) Information about options:
      Options:       No             
      Description of options: Not provided
      II.2.12) Information about electronic catalogues:
      Tenders must be presented in the form of electronic catalogues or include an electronic catalogue: No
      II.2.13) Information about European Union funds:
      The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No       
      Identification of the project: Not provided             
      II.2.14) Additional information: Not provided       


Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial And Technical Information
   III.1) Conditions for participation
      III.1.1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
      List and brief description of conditions:          
      Not Provided       
      III.1.2) Economic and financial standing          
      Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents       
      List and brief description of selection criteria:       
      Not Provided    
      Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required (if applicable) :       
      Not Provided    
      III.1.3) Technical and professional ability    
      Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
      List and brief description of selection criteria:       
      Not Provided      
      Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required (if applicable) :          
      Not Provided   
      III.1.5) Information about reserved contracts (if applicable)   
      The contract is reserved to sheltered workshops and economic operators aiming at the social and professional integration of disabled or disadvantaged persons: No       
      The execution of the contract is restricted to the framework of sheltered employment programmes: No    
      
   III.2) Conditions related to the contract
      III.2.1) Information about a particular profession    
      Reference to the relevant law, regulation or administrative provision:          
      Not Provided    
      III.2.2) Contract performance conditions          
      Not Provided          
      III.2.3) Information about staff responsible for the performance of the contract
      Obligation to indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to performing the contract: No

Section IV: Procedure
   IV.1) Description RESTRICTED
      IV.1.1) Type of procedure: Restricted   
   
   IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system    
         The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement - NO        
         The procurement involves the setting up of a dynamic purchasing system - NO    
         In the case of framework agreements justification for any duration exceeding 4 years: Not Provided    
   
   
   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction:
      An electronic auction will be used: No
      Additional information about electronic auction: Not provided
   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
      The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes       
   IV.2) Administrative information
      IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure:
         Notice number in the OJ S: Not provided       
      IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
       Date: 05/08/2022 Time: 12:00
      IV.2.3) Estimated date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates: 22/08/2022       
      IV.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted: English,       
      IV.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender: Not Provided      
      

Section VI: Complementary Information
   VI.1) Information about recurrence
   This is a recurrent procurement: No    
   Estimated timing for further notices to be published: Not provided
   VI.2) Information about electronic workflows
   Electronic ordering will be used No       
   Electronic invoicing will be accepted No       
   Electronic payment will be used No       
   VI.3) Additional Information: The contracting authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement.

It will be the supplier's responsibility to obtain any necessary documents in order to submit a response by the closing date and time.

The contracting authority reserves the right not to award any or part of the contract which is the subject of this contract notice and reserves the right to terminate the procurement process at any time.

The contracting authority will not be liable for any costs incurred by those expressing an interest in tendering for this contract opportunity.

The contracting authority will consider variant bids, evaluating them (so far as the variant or the evaluation of the variant is in the opinion of the contracting authority practicable) on the same basis as a conforming bid, but shall not be obliged to accept any such bid in preference to a conforming bid even if the variant bid scores more highly. No variant will be considered unless the bidder simultaneously submits a conforming bid.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
https://litmustms.co.uk/tenders/UK-UK-Bedfordshire:-School-catering-services./H47D99GDKM

To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
https://litmustms.co.uk/respond/H47D99GDKM
   VI.4) Procedures for review
   VI.4.1) Review body:
             Icknield High School
       Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
   VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures:
Not provided
   VI.4.3) Review procedure
   Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:    
    Not Provided    
   VI.4.4) Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained:
Not provided
   VI.5) Date Of Dispatch Of This Notice: 01/07/2022

Annex A