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Scottish Borders Council announces Provision of Subcontracting Services Framework

Scottish Borders Council has announced a Subcontracting Services Framework, which will include landscaping, fencing and ground working, and additional services. The proposed Framework Agreement will support and supplement in-house capital projects and the delivery of the roads maintenance programme on an as and when required basis, to meet the demands of work and to utilise specialist contractors.

The Framework Agreement will have multi-value and multi-supplier Lots, and the Lot structure will be confirmed in a forthcoming Contract Notice on PCS.

Scottish Borders Council is committed to maximising community benefit from its procurement activities. Under this procurement, the supplier and its supply chain will be required to actively participate in the achievement of the councils social and economic objectives.

Interested suppliers are asked to note interest on Scottish Borders Council's Prior Information Notice (PIN) on the Public Contracts Scotland website.

Support from the Supplier Development Programme

Local micro, small and medium sized businesses can access free training with SDP Scotland to prepare for this upcoming opportunity. Of particular interest may be free webinar training on Finding and Understanding Framework Opportunities and Using PCS and Other Portals.

Scottish Borders Council also plans to work in partnership with the Supplier Development Programme to deliver free aligned tender training for this future bidding opportunity. This training, with a date to be announced, will help break down the tendering process for those who have limited or no experience using the PCS and PCS-Tender websites, and showcase the key points of the upcoming framework opportunity.

Building on a Model of Successful Supplier Engagement

In 2019, SDP delivered similar free aligned tender training to suppliers with Scottish Borders Council for its Repairs and Maintenance Framework Agreement, which was so successful that it recently won a 2020 GO Award for Excellence in Public Sector Procurement in the Best Procurement Delivery category.

Scottish Borders Council procured a multi-trade, framework for a reactive repairs and maintenance service to a wide ranging property estate of over 800 buildings throughout the region, with an estimated £4.7million annual budget for repairs and maintenance.

The Council partnered with the Supplier Development Programme to promote the tender opportunity to local businesses, and align and deliver free tender training.

Local SME businesses, ranging from single contractors to builders, electricians, and joiners, landscaping companies, roofers and more, attended one of two free evening SDP training sessions, which were delivered by Intend Business Development, to become more familiar and comfortable using the PCS and PCS-Tender portals. SDP’s registration data showed that there were 59 bookings from 47 unique businesses. In total, 51 SME suppliers from 41 unique businesses attended the bespoke, aligned SDP training on PCS and PCS-Tender.

After the SDP training, 81% of suppliers reported that they felt much more confident that their tender would be stronger than it would have been without the training, and 81% also reported that they felt more positive about potentially working with Scottish Borders Council.

Crucially, 91% of the suppliers that attended SDP's tender training responded that they were more likely to bid for the framework opportunity as a result.

After the tender training with the Supplier Development Programme on the upcoming framework opportunity, one local supplier said: “The course was a great insight to tendering, as there is lots still to learn as a new business. I feel much more confident that my tender will be stronger than it would have been without the training.”

Another supplier said: “I feel a bit more confident. Will tender.”

Councillor Mark Rowley, Scottish Borders Council’s Executive Member for Business and Economic Development, said: “These events were a great opportunity to help our local businesses get up to speed with what’s required to bid for the framework and we are delighted to have once again worked with the Supplier Development Programme to support our contractors and encourage new ones to get on board and benefit from the work available through the Council.”

Next Steps

Suppliers interested in potentially bidding for Scottish Borders Council's future Subcontracting Services Framework are asked to note interest on Scottish Borders Council's Prior Information Notice (PIN) on the Public Contracts Scotland website.

Suppliers should also register for free tender training and support on the Supplier Development Programme's website.