The Arts Council of England: Development and Delivery of Training to ACE Line Managers

UK-Manchester: Management training services.

Section I: Contracting Authority

   I.1) Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
       Arts Council England
       The Hive, 49 Lever Street, Manchester, M1 1FN, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 1615374120, Email: procurement.services@artscouncil.org.uk
       Contact: Emma Kennedy
       Main Address: www.artscouncil.org.uk
       NUTS Code: UK

   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.4)Type of the contracting authority:
      Body governed by public law

   I.5) Main activity:
      Recreation, culture and religion

Section II: Object Of The Contract

   II.1) Scope of the procurement

      II.1.1) Title: Development and Delivery of Training to ACE Line Managers            
      Reference number: ACE 583 ITT

      II.1.2) Main CPV code:
         80532000 - Management training services.


      II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES

      II.1.4) Short description: Arts Council England is seeking to procure the design and delivery support of bespoke training for c200 Line Managers. The content of the training programme will cover a mix of leadership and personal skills development, alongside more practical managerial type skills that reflect ACE internal process and policy. We anticipate that ACE will deliver some of those elements internally, however the entire programme should feel coherent and as part of one package.
Preferred delivery method is a blended learning approach as best supports the objectives of the programme. Any e-learning needs to be fully accessible, branded and bespoke to ACE. Content and interactions should be innovative and use the latest e-learning practices and standards.
Due to the geographical spread of staff,  most instructor led sessions should ideally be designed as online group learning (e.g. Zoom or MS Teams) but we would also like to develop peer networks.
Full details are in the tender documents

      II.1.6) Information about lots
         This contract is divided into lots: No
            
      II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
          Value: 100,000
                  
         Currency:GBP            

   II.2) Description

      II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s):
      Not Provided

      II.2.3) Place of performance
      Nuts code:
      UK - UNITED KINGDOM
   
      Main site or place of performance:
      UNITED KINGDOM
             

      II.2.4) Description of the procurement: Arts Council England is seeking to procure both the design and delivery support of bespoke training for c200 Line Managers across the organisation. The content of the full training programme will cover a mix of leadership and personal skills development, alongside more practical managerial type skills that will need to reflect ACE internal process and policy. We anticipate that ACE will deliver some of those elements internally, however the entire programme should feel coherent and as part of one package.
The delivery method of preference is a blended learning approach as best supports the objectives of the programme. Any e-learning needs to be fully accessible, branded and bespoke to the Arts Council. Content and interactions should be innovative and use the latest e-learning practices and standards i.e. video, animation, interactions, gamification etc.
Due to the geographical spread of staff, the majority of delivery for instructor led sessions should ideally be designed as online group learning via a platform such as Zoom or MS Teams.   However, we would very much like to encourage the development of peer networks as part of this programme and ACE can facilitate in-person learning events to support this. We are keen to explore a cohort approach to learning to enhance the learner experience and create a sense of community.

In order to achieve high levels of engagement from staff we would require the provider to develop inspiring branding and promotional materials along with any programme resources. We also require potential suppliers to provide an evaluation approach to measure the success of the programme.
We would ideally like to include an option to transition to internal delivery as part of the service to ensure sustainability of this programme.

      II.2.5) Award criteria:
      Quality criterion - Name: Understanding the Brief / Weighting: 20
      Quality criterion - Name: Programme development / Weighting: 15
      Quality criterion - Name: Project management / Weighting: 10
      Quality criterion - Name: Expertise and capacity of the team / Weighting: 10
      Quality criterion - Name: Risk Management / Weighting: 10
      Quality criterion - Name: Social Value - supporting disabled people to develop new skills / Weighting: 10
                  
      Cost criterion - Name: Cost / Weighting: 25
            

      II.2.11) Information about options
         Options: Yes
         Description of these options:Option to extend by a further 12 months to 31st May 2027

      II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
         The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
         

      II.2.14) Additional information: To respond to this opportunity please click here: https://artscouncil.delta-esourcing.com/respond/PQ37KU5MFT


Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description

   IV.1.1)Type of procedure: Open


   IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
      The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No       
      

   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction
      An electronic auction has been used: No

   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 OJEU: 2024/S 000-007958
      
   

   IV.2.9) Information about termination of call for competition in the form of a prior information notice
      The contracting authority will not award any further contracts based on the above prior information notice: No

Section V: Award of contract

Award Of Contract (No.1)

   Contract No: Not Provided    
   Lot Number: Not Provided    
   Title: Not Provided

   A contract/lot is awarded: Yes


   V.2) Award of contract

      V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract: 03/06/2024

      V.2.2) Information about tenders
         Number of tenders received: 24
         Number of tenders received from SMEs: 22 (SME - as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC)          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: 0          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 0          
         Number of tenders received by electronic means: 24

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor

      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
         
         Contractor (No.1)
             First Ascent Group Limited, 03499793
             St John's Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
             Tel. +44 1223223807, Email: info@firstascentgroup.com
             NUTS Code: UKH12
            The contractor is an SME: Yes

      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
         Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: 100,000          
         Total value of the contract/lot: 99,550
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No
         
Section VI: Complementary information

   VI.3) Additional information: To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=881526947

   VI.4) Procedures for review

      VI.4.1) Review body
          Royal Courts of Justice
          Strand, London, WC2A 2LL, United Kingdom

      VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
          Royal Courts of Justice
          Strand, London, WC2A 2LL, United Kingdom

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
         Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures: Not Provided

      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
          Royal Courts of Justice
          Strand, London, WC2A 2LL, United Kingdom

   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 08/08/2024