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Support for Communities Framework 2026-2030

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Tender

06 Aug 2026 at 14:04

Tender Notice
Award

19 May 2022 at 16:10

Award Notice
Tender

25 Jan 2022 at 12:04

Tender Notice
Planning

07 Dec 2021 at 16:25

Planning Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Highlands and Islands Enterprise established the Support for Communities Framework 2026–2030 to provide practical, hands-on support for community organisations and social enterprises that lack the capacity or skills to progress opportunities promptly. The work is consultancy and related support rather than general advice, and must complement rather than duplicate existing support from HIE, Business Gateway, Just Enterprise and other public or publicly supported organisations. The single service lot covers organisation development, project development, impact measurement, and financial and procurement support. Fair Work, Net Zero and sustainability apply across the activities, including possible commissions focused specifically on those themes. Services are delivered across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The requirement is classified as business and management consultancy and related services (CPV 79400000).

This procurement has been awarded through an open procedure as a framework agreement with up to seven participants. The award was made on 9 May 2022 to Aquatera Ltd, CEL Trading Ltd, CJM Project Financial Manaagement Ltd, Delfinity Ltd, Hall Aitken Associates Ltd, M2 Procurement and Commercial Services Ltd, SLIKK7 Ltd and SKS Scotland Community Interest Company. The contract is active and valued at £600,000 excluding VAT. It covers an initial three-year period, with HIE able to extend it by periods totalling up to 12 months. Evaluation combined price at 40% with management and delivery methodology at 25%, core team at 25%, additional resources at 5%, and Fair Work practices at 5%; prompt payment, cyber security, real Living Wage and community benefits were pass/fail requirements. Bidders needed specified insurance and staff details.

This award shows demand for flexible, hands-on consultancy supporting community organisations and social enterprises across the Highlands and Islands. A credible future competitor would need to combine practical delivery with expertise in organisational development, project development, impact measurement, financial management and procurement. Relevant capability in Net Zero, sustainability and Fair Work would be important, including the ability to handle focused commissions as well as broader support. Suppliers should be able to provide named, suitably qualified core staff and additional resources, manage work across a geographically dispersed area, and demonstrate robust delivery methods. The successful field included eight small and medium-sized suppliers, indicating that the requirement can be delivered by specialist SMEs as well as larger consultancies. Financial, procurement, environmental and project-management expertise are all relevant routes into this type of framework.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Support for Communities Framework 2026-2030

Notice Description

The Framework is an alternative means of providing a range of practical hands-on support (not advice, which is available through HIE's Specialist Advice Framework) to community organisations and social enterprises that lack the capacity or a particular skill-set to timeously progress an opportunity. This is added value support and must complement the existing social enterprise support ecosystem and, therefore, must not duplicate services already available via other HIE Frameworks e.g. Board Healthcheck and Skills Training or other public sector/public sector supported organisations, e.g. Business Gateway, Just Enterprise, etc. It is expected that these services will be required from November 2026 for an initial period of 3 years, with HIE having the option to extend for a period or periods together not exceeding 1 year following the Initial Term. The 3 year budget currently available to deliver this service is between GBP 400,000 and GBP 450,000 (excluding VAT). The total estimated value of the framework for the full framework duration including the extension is GBP 600,000, which is the value stated in this notice.

Lot Information

Lot 1

The main Types of support across a range of sectors are as below: - Organisation Development - Project Development - Impact Measurement - Financial and Procurement Cutting across all of these activities will are the themes of Fair Work, Net Zero and Sustainability. It should be noted that there may be specific project commissions with a clear focus on Net Zero, Fair Work and Sustainability activity. See Appendix A - Scope of Requirements for full requirement details. Additional information: Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in Regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

Options: HIE reserves the right, on giving reasonable written notice from time to time, to require changes to the Services under the Framework Agreement, including the removal of Services, the addition of new Services, increases or decreases to the Services, or changes to the order in which the Services are to be performed or the locations where the Services are to be provided. HIE shall not require any such change other than where it is permitted by Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. HIE may also modify its call-off contracts, where permitted by Regulation 72, and in accordance with the terms of the relevant call-off contract. Such modifications may include, but are not limited to: -Changes to budget availability. -HIE bringing the services in-house (fully or partially) such that the services are no longer required or reduced services are required. -Reduction or removal of services are required for example where services are no longer required due to changes in organisational strategy or priorities. -Cancellation or pausing of a call-off contract due to changes in the project status. -The addition of similar services, e.g. due to increased demand; where significant inconvenience and/or substantial duplication of costs to HIE can be avoided. -Increases to the volume of the services required. -Change in legislative requirements resulting in increased, reduced or amended services.

Renewal: The Framework will be awarded for an initial period of 3 years with HIE having the option to extend for a period or periods together not exceeding 12 months following the Initial Term.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-02fe39
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/074781-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

66 - Financial and insurance services

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

90 - Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services

CPV Codes

66171000 - Financial consultancy services

71314300 - Energy-efficiency consultancy services

72224000 - Project management consultancy services

79400000 - Business and management consultancy and related services

79410000 - Business and management consultancy services

79411000 - General management consultancy services

79412000 - Financial management consultancy services

79418000 - Procurement consultancy services

90713000 - Environmental issues consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£600,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
£600,000 £500K-£1M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£600,000 £500K-£1M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
6 Aug 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
10 Sep 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
25 Jan 2022Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
HIE reserves the right to re-tender for these services upon termination of the contract or at the end of the contract period, including any extension period.

Notice Status

Tender Status
Active
Lots Status
Active
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
INVERNESS
Postcode
IV2 5NA
Postcode Area
Inverness
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM2 Highlands and Islands
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM20 Highlands and Islands
Delivery Location
TLM6 Highlands and Islands
Local Authority
Highland
Electoral Ward
Inverness South
Westminster Constituency
Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
8
Supplier Names

Aquatera Ltd

CEL Trading Ltd

CJM Project Financial Manaagement Ltd

Delfinity Ltd

Hall Aitken Associates Limited

M2 Procurement & Commercial Services

SLIKK7 Ltd

SKS Scotland

Further Information

Notice URLs

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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