---
title: "DfE - Invest NI Small Business Loan Fund III"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-047338"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-047338"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-047338.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-047338.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "INVEST NORTHERN IRELAND"
published: "2024-09-17"
---

# DfE - Invest NI Small Business Loan Fund III

Buyer: INVEST NORTHERN IRELAND  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-047338

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## Summary

Invest Northern Ireland has awarded the contract for managing the "DfE - Invest NI Small Business Loan Fund III" to ULSTER COMMUNITY FINANCE LTD., based in Belfast, with a contract value of £2,700,000. The procurement process, commenced with an open procedure, covers financial and insurance services, specifically focusing on micro-credit granting and banking services. This contract is for a term of ten years, extendable by two optional periods of one year each, should an extended period be required to manage the loan book. Key procurement dates included the award date of 17th September 2024, with the tender process being completed and the contract status marked as active. The buying organisation, Invest Northern Ireland, is located at Bedford Square, Belfast.

This tender offers significant growth opportunities for firms specialising in financial management and investment services. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) with expertise in fund management, banking, credit granting, and micro-financial services are well-suited to compete for such contracts. The selected fund manager will gain long-term engagement with a public sector authority, facilitating stable and potentially lucrative business operations through managing and delivering the Small Business Loan Fund. Firms positioned to maximise returns, develop robust marketing strategies, and ensure efficient governance will find this an attractive opportunity for expansion and enhancing their footprint in public sector financial services management.

## Notice

Invest NI is seeking to appoint a fund manager to manage and deliver NISBLF III on behalf of Invest NI for a ten-year period with an option to extend for two periods of 1 year, if required at the end of the fund, to exit from the loan book in an orderly fashion.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Invest NI is seeking to appoint a fund manager to manage and deliver NISBLF III on behalf of Invest NI for a ten-year period with an option to extend for two periods of 1 year, if required at the end of the fund, to exit from the loan book in an orderly fashion. Additional information: The figure indicated in Section II 1.5 represents an estimated contract value. This value reflects thepotential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional servicesas detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation. Neither CPD nor theAuthority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself toaccept the lowest or any tender. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any thirdparty acting under instructions from the Economic Operator in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardlessof whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by theContracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise and an Economic Operator shall. have no legitimate expectationthat a contract will be entered into until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the. Contracting Authority. EconomicOperators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified. in this notice and theprocurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them.

Options: option to extend for two periods of 1 year

Renewal: Option to extend for two periods of 1 year

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029742-2024 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 17 Sep 2024 |
| Submission deadline | 31 Jul 2024 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 16 Sep 2024 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £2,700,000 |
| Lots value | £2,700,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £2,700,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | INVEST 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 | TLN Northern Ireland |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | ULSTER COMMUNITY FINANCE |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 66 - Financial and insurance services

### Codes

- 66000000 - Financial and insurance services
- 66100000 - Banking and investment services
- 66113000 - Credit granting services
- 66113100 - Micro-credit granting services

## Release History

- 17 Sep 2024 at 15:01 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029742-2024
- 28 Jun 2024 at 08:11 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019749-2024

## Notice URLs

- https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

## 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-047338. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-047338.json.