British Business Bank Plc: Support Contract for EFG Portal

UK-Sheffield: Information technology services.

Section I: Contracting Authority

   I.1) Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
       British Business Bank Plc
       Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 02039051462, Email: procurement@british-buisness-bank.co.uk
       Contact: Procurement
       Main Address: http://british-business-bank.co.uk/, Address of the buyer profile: http://british-business-bank.co.uk/
       NUTS Code: UKE32

   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:
      General public services

Section II: Object Of The Contract

   II.1) Scope of the procurement

      II.1.1) Title: Support Contract for EFG Portal            
      Reference number: Not Provided

      II.1.2) Main CPV code:
         72222300 - Information technology services.


      II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES

      II.1.4) Short description: Provision of the development resources to build and support Guarantees Portal software which is used to register loans that BBB have provided guarantees for including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans. The current scope for these requirements covers CBILS 2.0 and the Claims and Arrears process

      II.1.6) Information about lots
         This contract is divided into lots: No
            
      II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
          Value: 960,000
                  
         Currency:GBP            

   II.2) Description

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

      II.2.3) Place of performance
      Nuts code:
      UKE32 - Sheffield
   
      Main site or place of performance:
      Sheffield
             

      II.2.4) Description of the procurement: At short notice in March 2020, BBB was designated by HM Treasury as the body responsible for administering the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme, the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Scheme, and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme ("Coronavirus Loan Schemes").
BBB required certain software support and development services at extremely short notice to handle the requirements of the Coronavirus Loan Schemes. There was not enough time to carry out a competitive procurement in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("PCR 2015"), but BBB concluded that regulation 32(2)(c) permitted it to contract directly with Thoughtbot.
Thoughtbot was already providing similar services to BBB in connection with the Enterprise Finance Guarantee ("EFG") Scheme. BBB therefore contracted with Thoughtbot so that the software solution being used for the EFG Scheme could be adapted to support the Coronavirus Loan Schemes.
The Coronavirus Loan Schemes were each intended to be open for applications for a period of six months. The Coronavirus Loan Schemes have since been extended due to further unforeseen developments in the context of the pandemic forcing further suppression of social and commercial freedoms. In particular, on 17 December 2020 the Chancellor announced that the Coronavirus Loan Schemes had been extended to 31 March 2021. Accordingly, BBB will require technical support (i) for applications for financial support up to at least 31 March 2021 and (ii) in connection with the management of the portfolio of loans for at least five years. As a result, BBB has concluded that it needs to continue contracting with Thoughtbot to avoid any interruption to the Coronavirus Loan Schemes.

      II.2.5) Award criteria:
                  
      Price - Weighting: 0
            

      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 (please complete Annex D1)


   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
       Not Provided
   

   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: 31/01/2021

      V.2.2) Information about tenders
         Number of tenders received: 1
         Number of tenders received from SMEs: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received by electronic means: Not Provided

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor

      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
         
         Contractor (No.1)
             Thoughtbot Ltd, 05943167
             3Rd Floor Griffin Court 15 Long Lane - Barbican -, London -, EC1A 9PN, United Kingdom
             NUTS Code: UKI
            The contractor is an SME: No

      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
         Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: Not Provided          
         Total value of the contract/lot: 960,000
         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=574920461

   VI.4) Procedures for review

      VI.4.1) Review body
          High Court
          London, WC24 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
         Not Provided

   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 01/03/2021




ANNEX D

   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
          Regulation 32(2)(c) of the PCR 2015 applies for the following reasons:
BBB needs to ensure that it can provide uninterrupted financial support to businesses whose operations have been impacted by restrictions resulting from the introduction of lockdown measures in response to further waves of COVID-19 infections. It cannot provide that financial support without the necessary software, which is supported by services provided by Thoughtbot. BBB is therefore reacting to a current situation that is a genuine emergency.
The need for extreme urgency has been caused by unforeseeable events. The COVID-19 situation is so novel that the impact of further waves of infections could not have been predicted.
Thoughtbot's current contract expired on 31 January 2021. Having regard to the time it would take to prepare for and carry out a procurement in compliance with the PCR 2015, and to transition to a new supplier, it was impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR 2015 and to transition to a new supplier before 31 January 2021.
BBB has acted promptly in responding to the current situation of extreme urgency and has proceeded to make this direct award without delay.
The duration of the contract has been limited to the minimum necessary period required to implement and to transition to a longer term solution in compliance with the PCR 2015. In particular, the contract has been set up to enable that transition from 31 January 2022 and to require it to take place before 31 January 2023.