Background
Funded by Sunderland Council using UK Shared Prosperity funds, and led by North East Business and Innovation Centre (North East BIC), Enterprising Sunderland is a consortium of voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, in conjunction with public sector partners, all of whom have a vested interest in supporting enterprise and all of whom have a local base and an inherent commitment to the economic and social wellbeing of Sunderland, its residents and its businesses. The consortium has been drawn together to build on and strengthen the existing ecosystem through this collective approach, to best support the development of enterprising people, in enterprising places and in enterprising businesses. There are currently a number of strands to Enterprising Sunderland:
Awareness Raising – we raise awareness of the opportunities around entrepreneurship. The aim is to get people thinking about enterprise as an option and to promote the availability of project activity.
Engagement and Animation – this is activity designed to help people consider the benefits of enterprise as an option and to start to formulate their approaches.
Enterprising People – specific training and one-to-one advice is available on the various aspects of starting a business.
Enterprising Businesses – encouraging and supporting enterprise and innovation in Sunderland businesses, currently through the provision of growth labs and innovation roadmap workshops.
Grant support – allocated in response to business growth plans.
The aim of this approach is to engage a wide range of target groups, with a view to providing more intense support to those wishing to pursue their idea further.
This is a relatively short-term project, with funding secured through to March 2025 and is therefore considered to be a pilot project to test an innovative approach to enterprise delivery, which will inform how this is delivered from 2025 and beyond.
Within that context, North East BIC are seeking to commission a suitable organisation(s) to provide specified activity throughout this pilot project between the date of appointment and 31st March 2025.
Note that this tender is currently advertised subject to Enterprising Sunderland securing funds. In the event that we are unable to do so, then these commissions will not be let. However, insofar as we are able to do so, we expect confirmation of this shortly.
Requirements
Much of the rationale behind Enterprising Sunderland is its ambition to increase entrepreneurial activity, which was one of the main drivers behind the inclusion in the consortium of locally based, grass roots organisations such as Back on the Map, Princes Trust, Sunderland BME Network and Sunderland Bangladeshi International Centre. This has proved particularly successful in allowing the project to reach particular demographics, which is often only possible through initial engagement by trusted local partners. We would very much like to increase this activity, and given a longer timeframe, we would have ideally looked to introduce a further delivery partner(s) who could support engagement with other geographical or demographic sectors. However, time constraints are such that this can most easily be achieved through procurement of a supplier(s) appointed through a tendering process which would involve seeking Expressions of Interest from organisations who can demonstrate a particular reach into target demographic groups in the Sunderland area. We would not seek to be prescriptive in identifying the target demographics, but could envisage interest from organisations working, for example:
- In a particular area of Sunderland where enterprise is traditionally under represented. This may include, but not necessarily be restricted to, parts of Washington such as Lambton, Ayton, Harraton, Sulgrave and Concord; Hetton and Houghton; Millfield; Pallion and Southwick
- With neuro-divergent residents
- With residents with mental and physical health issues
- With ex-service men and women
- With students in the FE sector
- With people engaged in cultural and creative activity
- With members of the LGBTQI community
This list is not intended to be exhaustive and is provided for illustrative purposes; the commission itself seeks Expressions of Interest from any local organisation able to work with a particular demographic to stimulate enterprising behaviour and activity.
Outputs and Outcomes
On the basis of a procured commission or commission totalling up to £49,999, which will need to include irrecoverable VAT if the commissioned deliverer is required to charge this (thus a nett of c£41,500), and based on the requirement to engage with interested clients to the extent that they attend a non-committal exploratory meeting with Enterprising Sunderland.
- Carry out animation activity to stimulate interest and demand.
- Work with identified individuals from your community of interest to encourage them to seek further information on a non-committed, exploratory basis.
- Work closely with Enterprising Sunderland management and other delivery partners to align activity where that is beneficial to the overall success of Enterprising Sunderland.
- Attend meetings of delivery partners as required – normally on a monthly basis.
We estimate that a minimum of 60 socially excluded clients will be registered with Enterprising Sunderland as a result of this investment. We are open to receiving Expressions of Interest which contribute towards that total of 60, requiring a portion of the budget, and envisage that we may enter into a number of contracts on the basis of this overall Expression of Interest.
Please note that, given that this activity is publicly funded, this will involve clients providing personal details to Enterprising Sunderland.
Budget
The maximum budget for this activity is £49,999 inclusive of all expenses and any VAT which the successful tenderer is required to charge. Payment will be made to the successful tenderer on the basis of an agreed hourly rate required to implement the contracted workplan as it is signed off by Enterprising Sunderland management. Your hourly rate should include all your office and travelling costs and incidental expenses. Payment terms will be discussed with the preferred supplier at mobilisation but will be based on a mixed consumption/output based model.
Response requirements
Please set out in detail in a quotation:
- A delivery plan including timelines, milestones and a breakdown of costings. Include information on the particular demographic you are anticipating engaging with and an indicative plan of how you would deliver that engagement. Note that this should be proportionate in detail to the level of funding you are requesting.
- Set out the number of socially excluded clients who will be registered with Enterprising Sunderland as a result of this activity.
- Set out who would be undertaking the work, and, if this is a team of people, clearly identify specific roles and responsibilities. Provide CVs for all team members. Provide specific detail on the team’s experience of undertaking similar activities.
- What added social value you would agree to bring to delivery.
- The hourly rate you would charge for the work and an estimate of the number of hours that would be required to complete the work as suggested. This should be inclusive of VAT and of any incidental expenses such as travelling or your office costs.
- Confirmation, assuming delivery commences in October 2024, that you have capacity to fully resource delivery immediately or, if you would require lead-in time, what precisely would be required
Please submit your response electronically to contracts@ne-bic.co.uk by 5pm on 17th September 2024. Late submissions will not be accepted. Requests for clarification will only be accepted and answered through this email address, and the requests and responses will be openly published here with these tender details, and thus available to any interested party.
Please note that the winning tenderer will be required to attend an inception meeting online on the afternoon of 23rd September 2024, and please take account of this when preparing your response.
Scoring
Quotations will be scored by a Panel consisting of representatives of Enterprising Sunderland. In selecting the winning quotation, the panel will employ the following weighting to its scores:
Quality criteria (90% of overall score):
Delivery methodology of requirement / Project plan and timeline (40% weighting)
Evidence of Delivering Similar Projects and of the Team (40% weighting)
Social Value (10% weighting)
Price criteria (10% of overall score)
Scoring Grades will be utilised as follows:
| Unacceptable | Unanswered or failed to adequately address the requirement. | 0 |
| Poor | The information submitted is very limited, inconsistent with the rest of the submission, and/or no supporting documentation has been provided. | 1 |
| Fair | The information submitted is limited, has some inconsistencies with the rest of the submission and/or insufficient supporting documentation has been provided. | 2 |
| Satisfactory | Satisfactory response to the requirements which provides adequate evidence but contains inconsistencies. | 3 |
| Good | Good response to the requirements which provides evidence which is clear but has minor inconsistencies. | 4 |
| Excellent | Excellent response to the requirements which provides detailed evidence which is clear, complete and consistent. | 5 |