---
title: "ID 1678809 - DFE TOURISM NI BUSINESS SUPPORT"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-02ded7"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02ded7"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02ded7.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02ded7.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DFE TOURISM NORTHERN IRELAND"
published: "2021-09-09"
---

# ID 1678809 - DFE TOURISM NI BUSINESS SUPPORT

Buyer: DFE TOURISM NORTHERN IRELAND  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-02ded7

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## Summary

The procurement process concerns the DfE Tourism Northern Ireland, which is managing a contract titled "ID 1678809 - DFE TOURISM NI BUSINESS SUPPORT". This pertains to the tourism industry and is located in Belfast, UK. The procurement is currently in the Award stage, following the approval of a contract modification that increases the contract value by £2,250,000 to support the tourism sector's recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The contract was originally signed on 19 February 2019 and is set to expire on 18 February 2022. This process was executed using a limited procurement method, which did not require prior publication of a call for competition.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses within the consultancy and tourism support sectors, particularly those able to provide expertise in business management services. Companies with skills in project management, methodology development, and social considerations in economic recovery are particularly suited to compete. As tourism businesses recover post-pandemic, there is a sustained demand for consultancy services to navigate the evolving landscape, making this contract a valuable opportunity for small to medium enterprises looking to expand in this area.

## Notice

Following a competition advertised in the Official Journal of the EU on 30/11/18 the Department for the Economy Tourism NI entered into a Business Support Programme contract but due to the impact of Covid-19 the level of support required by tourism businesses has been unprecedented and unforeseen at the time of securing the contract. In continuing to support the sector recover via the roll out of the Tourism Recovery Action Plan, it is anticipated that the 8 months remaining will require an ongoing high level of support for the tourism sector businesses therefore Tourism NI requires a variation to the value of the contract to ensure it is able to deliver the required level of support to the industry. Tourism NI wishes to increase the value of the contract by PS2,250,000 ex VAT (50% of the original contract value), to cover requirements until the end of the contract (18/02/2022). Tourism NI is relying on the Regulation 72(1)(c) provision as the need for change could not have been foreseen by a "diligent" contracting authority. This is on the basis that the level of support required by tourism businesses has increased dramatically due to the impact of the pandemic which could not have been predicted and these increased requirements could not have been foreseen or accounted for when estimating the contract value at the time of tender. This additional funding will continue to support the sector recover via the roll out of the Tourism Recovery Action Plan. The changes required do not affect the overall nature of the contract.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board trading as Tourism Northern Ireland appointed a Contractor to provide a Managed Business Support Service to the Tourism Industry. The Contractor was required to ensure a full supply of Industry experts to act as business support personnel to meet the requirements of the specification. Additional information: This voluntary transparency notice has been published to alert economic operators of the Department. for Economy intention to further modify the DFE Tourism NI Business Support Programme contract under Regulation 72(1)(c) of the Public Contract Regulations (as amended). The modification will take the form of an increase in spend over the last 8 months of the contract at a cost of PS2.25 million. A modification notice will be published after the modification has been formalised.

Options: This contract commenced on 19 February 2019 for one year. The Client took up both annual options to extend until expiry of contract on18 February 2022.

### Procurement Information

Regulation 72(1)(c) provision 'the need for change could not have been foreseen by a "diligent" contracting authority' based on the level of support required by tourism businesses increasing dramatically due to the impact of the pandemic which was unprecedented and unforeseen at the time of contract award. This additional funding will continue to support the sector recover via the roll out of the Tourism Recovery Action Plan. The changes required do not affect the overall nature of the contract.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/022376-2021 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 9 Sep 2021 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 19 Feb 2019 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £6,750,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DFE TOURISM NORTHERN IRELAND |
| Locality | BELFAST |
| Post town | Northern Ireland |
| Postcode | BT2 7ES |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland |
| ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland |
| ITL 3 | TLN06 Belfast |
| Local authority | Belfast |
| Electoral ward | Central |
| Westminster constituency | Belfast South and Mid Down |
| Delivery location | TLN0 Northern Ireland |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | WHOLESCHOOL SOFTWARE |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79411000 - General management consultancy services

## Release History

- 9 Sep 2021 at 10:54 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/022376-2021

## Notice URLs

- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:088605-2019:TEXT:EN:HTML
- https://tourismni.com/
- https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
- https://www.whole.school/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02ded7. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02ded7.json.