United Kingdom-Newcastle Upon Tyne: NEPO418 Library Books & Digital Content

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2021/S 000-020651/EN)
Nature of contract: Supply contract
Procedure: Not applicable
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Prior information notice without call for competition
Supplies

This notice is for prior information only
Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: THE ASSOCIATION OF NORTH EAST COUNCILS LIMITED
Postal address: Guildhall, Sandhill
Town: Newcastle Upon Tyne
Postal code: NE1 3AF
Country: United Kingdom
Contact Person: Marie Bartup
Telephone: +44 1916380040
Email: professional.services@nepo.org
Internet address(es):
Main address: www.nepo.org

The contract is awarded by central purchasing body
I.3) Communication
Access to the procurement documents is restricted.Further information can be obtained at:www.nepo.org
Additional information can be obtained from:
the above mentioned address
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
I.5) Main activity
General public services

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement:
II.1.1) Title: NEPO418 Library Books & Digital Content

Reference number: DN557273
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 22113000
II.1.3) Type of contract: Supplies
II.1.4) Short Description:
The Association of North East Councils Trading as the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) is seeking to establish a multi-lot, multi-supplier Framework Agreement for the provision and servicing of adult fiction and non-fiction books, children’s fiction and non-fiction books, multi media material and digital content including eBooks, eAudio, eMagazines and eNewspapers; delivered to central delivery points, individual branch libraries and other contracting authority establishments. The future Framework Agreement will replace the existing NEPO418 Library Books & eBooks Framework which expires 31 March 2022.
II.1.5) Estimated total value:
Value excluding VAT: 10000000 Currency: GBP
II.1.6) Information about lots:
The contract is divided into lots: Yes
II.2) Description:
II.2.1) Title: Adult Fiction & Non-Fiction Books

Lot No:1
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 22113000

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The purpose of the prior information notice (PIN) is to provide advance notice to the marketplace of the tendering opportunity and intentions of NEPO to hold market consultation activities with suppliers to help shape the future Framework Agreement. NEPO are not advertising this PIN as a mechanism to reduce future procurement timescales.
NEPO intends to publish a soft market testing questionnaire via the NEPO eTendering portal. The questionnaire will be used to assess interest in the tendering opportunity and to gain information and insight from the market to help shape the future NEPO418 Framework Agreement design. The soft market testing questionnaire will be made accessible via the NEPO eTendering portal on Monday 23 August 2021 with a submission deadline of 12 p.m. Friday 27 August 2021.
Suppliers wishing to access and complete the soft market testing questionnaire must first register on the portal using the following link
In addition, NEPO intends to hold individual market consultation meetings. Market consultation meetings advertised openly via this PIN are limited in number and will take place the week commencing Tuesday 31 August 2021. Suppliers wishing to register attendance must do so in writing to Marie Bartup (Marie.Bartup@nepo.org) no later than 12 p.m. on 27 August 2021. Appointments will be no longer than 1 hour and NEPO intend to conduct these sessions virtually through online meeting platform applications. NEPO anticipates these virtual meeting sessions will take place on Microsoft Teams or other secure meeting platforms. The time and location of each appointment will be confirmed following the registration deadline and places will be secured on a first come first serve basis. Suppliers wishing to attend the virtual market consultation meetings should be capable of meeting the requirements under any of the applicable lots as a whole within section II.2. NEPO reserves the right to seek assurances from interested suppliers prior to allocating a place.
Attendance at market consultation is optional and does not provide suppliers with an advantage in any future related procurement. Attendance also does not constitute as an intention to tender for any future related procurement. Please note the above dates may be subject to change depending on availability and supplier uptake.
II.2.5) Award criteria

II.2.1) Title: Children’s Fiction & Non-Fiction Books

Lot No:2
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 22113000

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The purpose of the prior information notice (PIN) is to provide advance notice to the marketplace of the tendering opportunity and intentions of NEPO to hold market consultation activities with suppliers to help shape the future Framework Agreement. NEPO are not advertising this PIN as a mechanism to reduce future procurement timescales.
NEPO intends to publish a soft market testing questionnaire via the NEPO eTendering portal. The questionnaire will be used to assess interest in the tendering opportunity and to gain information and insight from the market to help shape the future NEPO418 Framework Agreement design. The soft market testing questionnaire will be made accessible via the NEPO eTendering portal on Monday 23 August 2021 with a submission deadline of 12 p.m. Friday 27 August 2021.
Suppliers wishing to access and complete the soft market testing questionnaire must first register on the portal using the following link
In addition, NEPO intends to hold individual market consultation meetings. Market consultation meetings advertised openly via this PIN are limited in number and will take place the week commencing Tuesday 31 August 2021. Suppliers wishing to register attendance must do so in writing to Marie Bartup (Marie.Bartup@nepo.org) no later than 12 p.m. on 27 August 2021. Appointments will be no longer than 1 hour and NEPO intend to conduct these sessions virtually through online meeting platform applications. NEPO anticipates these virtual meeting sessions will take place on Microsoft Teams or other secure meeting platforms. The time and location of each appointment will be confirmed following the registration deadline and places will be secured on a first come first serve basis. Suppliers wishing to attend the virtual market consultation meetings should be capable of meeting the requirements under any of the applicable lots as a whole within section II.2. NEPO reserves the right to seek assurances from interested suppliers prior to allocating a place.
Attendance at market consultation is optional and does not provide suppliers with an advantage in any future related procurement. Attendance also does not constitute as an intention to tender for any future related procurement. Please note the above dates may be subject to change depending on availability and supplier uptake.
II.2.5) Award criteria

II.2.1) Title: Digital Content

Lot No:3
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 48160000

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The purpose of the prior information notice (PIN) is to provide advance notice to the marketplace of the tendering opportunity and intentions of NEPO to hold market consultation activities with suppliers to help shape the future Framework Agreement. NEPO are not advertising this PIN as a mechanism to reduce future procurement timescales.
NEPO intends to publish a soft market testing questionnaire via the NEPO eTendering portal. The questionnaire will be used to assess interest in the tendering opportunity and to gain information and insight from the market to help shape the future NEPO418 Framework Agreement design. The soft market testing questionnaire will be made accessible via the NEPO eTendering portal on Monday 23 August 2021 with a submission deadline of 12 p.m. Friday 27 August 2021.
Suppliers wishing to access and complete the soft market testing questionnaire must first register on the portal using the following link
In addition, NEPO intends to hold individual market consultation meetings. Market consultation meetings advertised openly via this PIN are limited in number and will take place the week commencing Tuesday 31 August 2021. Suppliers wishing to register attendance must do so in writing to Marie Bartup (Marie.Bartup@nepo.org) no later than 12 p.m. on 27 August 2021. Appointments will be no longer than 1 hour and NEPO intend to conduct these sessions virtually through online meeting platform applications. NEPO anticipates these virtual meeting sessions will take place on Microsoft Teams or other secure meeting platforms. The time and location of each appointment will be confirmed following the registration deadline and places will be secured on a first come first serve basis. Suppliers wishing to attend the virtual market consultation meetings should be capable of meeting the requirements under any of the applicable lots as a whole within section II.2. NEPO reserves the right to seek assurances from interested suppliers prior to allocating a place.
Attendance at market consultation is optional and does not provide suppliers with an advantage in any future related procurement. Attendance also does not constitute as an intention to tender for any future related procurement. Please note the above dates may be subject to change depending on availability and supplier uptake.
II.2.5) Award criteria

II.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice:2021-11-12
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: yes
IV.2) Administrative information

Section VI: Complementary information
VI.2) Information about electronic workflows
VI.3) Additional information:
NEPO is a Central Purchasing Body as defined in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR15). The agreement will be available for use by all NEPO Members. A list of member organisations is available in the About section of the NEPO website at: www.nepo.org
This agreement will also be made available to all current and future NEPO Associate Members. Current Associate Members are listed in the Associate Member section of the NEPO website at: www.nepo.org/associate-membership/list
NEPO intends to make the resulting agreement available for use by all Contracting Authorities throughout all administrative regions of the UK (as defined by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015) including but not limited to Government Departments and their Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Central Government, NHS Bodies, Local Authorities, Emergency Services, Coastguard Emergency Services, Educational Establishments, Registered Social Landlords and Registered Charities who have a need to purchase the above services.
Please see the following websites for further details:

A complete list of permissible users is shown on the NEPO website below:

Organisations wishing to access the NEPO agreement will be required to register as a NEPO Associate Member in the first instance.
Further information can be found at: www.nepo.org

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:2021-08-23