Sovini Ltd: Cyber Threat Defence Software and Appliance

UK-Bootle: Security services.

Preliminary Questions
   This notice is published by:
   Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority/entity

I.1) Name and addresses
       Sovini Ltd
       Unit 1, Heysham Road, Bootle, L30 6UR, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 3337331200, Email: procurement@sovini.co.uk
       Main Address: https://sovini.co.uk/, Address of the buyer profile: www.sovini.co.uk
       NUTS Code: UKD72

I.4) Type of the contracting authority (in the case of a notice published by a contracting authority)
      Body governed by public law

I.5) Main Activity (in the case of a notice published by a contracting authority)
      Housing and community amenities


Section II: Object

II.1) Scope of the procurement
   
   II.1.1) Title: Cyber Threat Defence Software and Appliance.
      Reference number: Not Provided
      
   II.1.2) Main CPV code:
      79710000 - Security services.
   
   II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES
   
   II.1.4) Short Description: Software and Appliance cyber security system to provide protection to The Sovini Group (Sovini) and its members within the structure. Due to the increased risk of recent other like minded organisation being hacked, given the complex group structure and several members, this has resulted in Sovini reviewing the market offering quickly to install cyber threat security system to minimise risk and provide protection.
   
   II.1.6) Information about lots
      This contract is divided into lots: No

   II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
      Value: 567,408      
      Currency: GBP


II.2) Description

   II.2.2) Additional CPV codes:
      Not provided

   II.2.3) Place of performance:
      UKD7 Merseyside
   
   
   II.2.4) Description of the procurement:
    Software and Appliance cyber security system to provide protection to The Sovini Group (Sovini) and its members within the structure. Due to the increased risk of recent other like minded organisation being hacked, given the complex group structure and several members, this has resulted in Sovini reviewing the market offering quickly to install cyber threat security system to minimise risk and provide protection. Given this supplier is a ingle source provider with a unique offering a VEAT notice is the best solution for this procurement.    
   
   II.2.5) Award criteria
   (Directive 2014/24/EU / Directive 2014/25/EU)
               
    Not provided       
      
      
   II.2.11) Information about options:
      Options:    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

   II.2.14) Additional information:
    Not provided    
      
Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description
   
   IV.1.1) Type of procedure: Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below         
   
   IV.1.3) Information about framework agreement
         The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No    
   
   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
         The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
         
IV.2)Administrative Information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure:
      Notice number in OJ S: Not provided       
   
Section V: Award Of Contract/Concession
      
Award of Contract/Concession No: 1
Contract No: Not Provided    Lot Number: Not Provided    Title: Cyber Threat Defence

V.2) Award of contract/concession
      
      V.2.1) Date of contract award decision: 16/12/2021.
      
      V.2.2) Information about tenders
      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No .

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire, No. 1:
          Darktrace Holdings Limited, 08562035
       Maurice Wilkes Building, St Johns Innovation Park, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DS, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 1223394100, Email: info@darktrace.com
       Internet address: https://www.darktrace.com/en/
       NUTS Code: UKH12
   The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: No    
   
         
      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession:
         Initial estimated total value of the contract: Not Provided          
         Total value of the contract/lot/concession 567,408         
         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=651937997
GO-20211217-PRO-19411073 TKR-20211217-PRO-19411072   
   VI.4) Procedures for review
   
      VI.4.1) Review Body
          Sovini Ltd
       Unit 1, Heysham Road, Bootle, L30 6UR, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 3337331200
   
      V1.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures:
         Not Provided .

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
      Not Provided    
      
      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
         Not Provided
   
   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 17/12/2021


Annex D1 - General Procurement
Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
Directive 2014/24/EU


2. Other justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union

   The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive: Yes

3. Explanation

   Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union is
   lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive: (500 words maximum)
   Within the last several months, a number of similar organisations to Sovini have experienced cyber-attacks. Through research, it has been identified that a cyber breach can present an approx. £2.75m cost to an organisation, a 5% loss in customer retention and an average of over 200 days to detect and respond to. Sovini's current risk of a cyber-attack is now indicated as a high risk scoring 16 (likelihood 4 x impact 4). Thus, cyber threat security is an urgent function for Sovini to implement the right solution for protection and risk mitigation.

From reviewing the market, Darktrace has created a self-learning artificial intelligence system for cyber defence, its functionality provides a unique cyber security solution. The sole source supplier: Darktrace are able to provide support to Sovini during the Christmas period shut down to minimise the cyber risk, through its unique capabilities such as learning techniques to create bespoke protection, total coverage for the entire digital estate, AI-driven investigations and rapid, on-demand triage of high-fidelity incident identification and 24/7 SOC.

Darktrace has offered Sovini a competitive offer that provides economic value to Sovini by entering into the agreement with the sole source provider. Given the market research has identified no other competitors can provide this solution, a tender would potentially result in delays to getting a solution in place, increasing the risk to Sovini and less of an economic advantageous price being received.