---
title: "FTS047 Pathways to Start - Lot 1 Argyll and Bute"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-058131"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-058131"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058131.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058131.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS ENTERPRISE"
published: "2025-10-20"
---

# FTS047 Pathways to Start - Lot 1 Argyll and Bute

Buyer: HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS ENTERPRISE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-058131

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## Summary

The procurement process led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) focuses on the provision of "FTS047 Pathways to Start - Lot 1 Argyll and Bute", an initiative targeting the education and training services industry. This process is concluded, with the award made to Skillfluence. The initiative is aimed at supporting underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship through tailored training and mentoring programs in Argyll and Bute, specifically excluding areas like Arran, Cumbrae, and Helensburgh and Lomond. The initial tender was published with a service start date of 20th October 2025, running until 31st March 2026, and now transitions into the award stage following the contract award notice dated 20th October 2025. The procurement was executed via an open procedure under the legal framework of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, emphasising stringent quality and pricing criteria.

This tender presents substantial opportunities for companies specialising in educational and training services, particularly those supporting entrepreneurship and personal development within regional communities. Businesses capable of delivering comprehensive training programs, project management consultancy, and those with a robust inclusivity practice are particularly well-suited to leverage this opportunity. Given the sizeable contract budget and further allowances for increased participant numbers, scalable service providers can benefit greatly, especially those that align with high-quality service delivery standards and effective engagement methodologies. The emphasis on adult and vocational education underscores potential demand for companies with expertise in bespoke training and adult learning services.

## Notice

THIS IS THE CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE FOR LOT 1 ARGYLL and BUTE. HIE procured a supplier to deliver a programme to support underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship. The programme will inspire participants to increase their ambition, confidence and capability to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and enter pathways for starting a business through a programme of entrepreneurial training and mentoring tailored towards underrepresented groups/individuals specific learning needs. HIE's current requirements are divided into two geographical Lots: - Lot 1: Argyll and Bute, covering HIE areas only - Lot 2: Moray Note, Lot 1 covers Argyll and Bute geographical area i.e. excluding Arran, Cumbrae, and Helensburgh and Lomond. The services are required from 20 October 2025 until 31 March 2026, unless terminated in accordance with the provisions of the Contract. The delivery of the services, submission of all invoices and completion of all reports must be complete by 20 March 2026.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Key tasks are: 1. Programme design 2. Outreach, stakeholder engagement and participant recruitment 3. Training delivery 4. Programme administration and monitoring. Please refer to the Scope of Requirement and Guidance document for full 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 (whether by way of the removal of Services, the addition of new Services, or increasing or decreasing the Services or specifying 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. Examples of contract modifications are but not limited to: -Additional funding is obtained (beyond the GBP20,000 contingency included in the total contract value of each lot) and used e.g. to increase the number of participants. Tendered rates will apply to any increases. -Envisaged number of participants could not be recruited, resulting in reduced service requirements/volumes. -Less than 16 participants could be recruited for the programme - HIE reserves the right not to proceed with the programme and terminate the contract. -Recruited participant numbers exceed 45 for the lot. In this case (some of) the allowance of GBP20,000 will be utilised to provide services to further participants, as per tendered rates per participant. -Where HIE determines (at our sole discretion) that demand for the programme under a lot is lower than expected, HIE reserves the right to re-allocate the budget for that Lot to the other Lot subject to the maximum total budget of GBP480,000 (i.e. the maximum total of the two lots). -If Special Category Personal Data and/or other sensitive personal information requires further/different procedures, the supplier will be required to comply with these.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/066815-2025 |
| 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 | 20 Oct 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 8 Sep 2025 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 8 Oct 2025 |
| Contract period | 19 Oct 2025 - 31 Mar 2026 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £240,000 |
| Lots value | £240,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £211,500 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS ENTERPRISE |
| Locality | INVERNESS |
| Post town | Inverness |
| Postcode | IV2 5NA |
| Country | Scotland |
| ITL 1 | TLM Scotland |
| ITL 2 | TLM2 Highlands and Islands |
| ITL 3 | TLM20 Highlands and Islands |
| Local authority | Highland |
| Electoral ward | Inverness South |
| Westminster constituency | Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire |
| Delivery location | TLM63 Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh, Arran and Cumbrae, and Argyll and Bute |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | SKILLFLUENCE |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 72224000 - Project management consultancy services
- 79400000 - Business and management consultancy and related services
- 79410000 - Business and management consultancy services
- 79411000 - General management consultancy services
- 79411100 - Business development consultancy services
- 80000000 - Education and training services
- 80210000 - Technical and vocational secondary education services
- 80400000 - Adult and other education services
- 80500000 - Training services
- 80521000 - Training programme services
- 80522000 - Training seminars
- 80532000 - Management training services
- 80570000 - Personal development training services

## Release History

- 20 Oct 2025 at 14:59 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/066815-2025
- 5 Aug 2025 at 08:41 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/045970-2025

## Notice URLs

- http://www.hie.co.uk
- http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse40.pdf
- http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk
- https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000805237
- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00313
- https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/court-locations/inverness-sheriff-court-and-justice-of-the-peace-court

## 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-058131. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058131.json.