Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College
Egham Hill
Egham
TW20 0EX
UK
Telephone: +44 1784917645
E-mail: procurement@rhul.ac.uk
NUTS: UKI
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Education
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Agent Channel Student Recruitment Services
Reference number: RHUL-23029
II.1.2) Main CPV code
80300000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Management of Agent Channel student recruitment for the university, and the admission of these students in the majority of territories the university operates in
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
25 000 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKI
Main site or place of performance:
LONDON
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The exclusive third-party provider of the Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions Solution to International Students on behalf of the University recruited through the agent channel with the exclusion of Australia, New Zealand, North America and Western Europe
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: Please see Annex D
/ Weighting: 100
Cost criterion: Please see Annex D
/ Weighting: 100
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
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition
Justification for selected award procedure:
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation
The contract value is gross of onwards agent commission and taxes and provides target levels for increased international student recruitment of over the contract duration, including certain minimum guaranteed financial performance levels in the first two Academic Years of the contract.
Increasing overseas student recruitment immediately is critical to the success of our strategic vision. The University currently contracts with 100 different agents across the world, all of whom have contracts with Study Group for the recruitment of students to the Royal Holloway University of London International Study Centre (operated in collaboration with Study Group). Study Group in turn works with circa 2,900 agents worldwide. Contracting with Study Group Limited to provide the majority of our agent-based recruitment activity will deliver an immediate and substantial increase in scale without the need for additional training of staff or agents.
It is our view that it is not possible for another provider to achieve the required performance in the timescale required which would deliver the immediate increase in scale of this contract for Agent Channel recruitment. The University’s pathway programmes are run by Study Group Limited who operate out of the University’s premises and with whom the University already has a long-standing and established working relationship developed over the past 10 years. The University considers that Study Group has the specific expertise at its disposal to deliver the service, given that it already has a dedicated admissions team and sales and marketing resources located in over 40 global locations devoted to the recruitment of students for the University via the Royal Holloway University of London International Study Centre and the necessary systems in place to be able to deliver the services seamlessly without the need for further training.
The Negotiated Procedure Without Prior Publication has been utilised for the above reasons. It is expected that any future requirement for this service after the end of this contract will be openly procured if the approach is successful and the market for these services has matured.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
11/09/2022
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Study Group Limited
02325576
Brighton Study Centre 1, Billinton Way
Brighton
BN1 4LF
UK
NUTS: UKJ21
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:
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 25 000 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=715078701
GO Reference: GO-2022912-PRO-20942632
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
12/09/2022