---
title: "Provision of PR Services for Advanced Forming Research Centre and Lightweight Manufacturing Centre"
ocid: "ocds-r6ebe6-0000603991"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000603991"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000603991.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000603991.json"
source: "Public Contracts Scotland"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE"
published: "2020-03-23"
---

# Provision of PR Services for Advanced Forming Research Centre and Lightweight Manufacturing Centre

Buyer: UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-r6ebe6-0000603991

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## Summary

The University of Strathclyde, located in Glasgow, is conducting an open procurement process for the provision of public relations services for the Advanced Forming Research Centre and the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre. This contract, valued at £154,800, aims to enhance communication and visibility for these centres, which are integral components of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland. The tender submission period closed on 17 December 2019, and the contract was awarded shortly thereafter, on 6 March 2020. The procurement falls under the services category, specifically focusing on enhancing the profile in manufacturing and engineering industries.

This procurement opportunity presents significant prospects for agencies with expertise in public relations, particularly those familiar with manufacturing and engineering sectors and having established connections with Scottish media. Businesses that can demonstrate experience in managing trade media, creating compelling content, and executing strategic campaigns will find this tender particularly attractive. The University encourages partnerships and involvement of subcontractors, allowing smaller firms to compete effectively even if they do not fulfill every requirement independently.

## Notice

The University is seeking to appoint a public relations (PR) agency to provide PR services that will cover both the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) and the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC), which is a sister centre within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS). The services are required to continue and build on the progress made in the first generation of this contract.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The AFRC requires an agency with deep knowledge and experience within the manufacturing and engineering industry, as well as strong relations with Scottish media outlets. The AFRC is encouraging bidders to consider partnership bidding or the use of subcontractors if they feel they can offer one of the key requirements (e.g. access to Scottish media) but not the other (e.g. knowledge of the manufacturing and engineering industry). There shall be five key areas of work for the appointed PR agency: - Trade media - engineering, materials, manufacturing along with the vertical markets - aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, renewables and food and drink (not limited to these sectors). Typical trade media campaign, comment pieces, by-lined thought leadership articles, news stories, case studies etc. The AFRC and LMC should be a 'go to' for articles and quotes for key trade publications such as Professional Engineer and Eureka. - Scottish business media - this is a crucial and highly successful part of the AFRC's current PR activity. Its excellent relationships with the Scottish business press need maintained and grown to help spread awareness of the AFRC and LMC to businesses across the country and enhance its reputation across other key stakeholder audiences, such as the Scottish Government and other funders. - Global trade media - the AFRC is a global research centre. It works with globally recognised companies and FutureForge, a huge 19m GBP facility launching in 2020, is aimed at a worldwide market. Both the AFRC and LMC need to grow their global profile and reputation. - Content creation - the day to day management of the AFRC and LMC's digital communications channels will remain in house but the agency will be expected to create content. This content will be used on a multitude of channels - create once publish everywhere - for example, case studies, news stories, opinion pieces, blogs etc. - Profile raising opportunities - the agency will be expected to identify other opportunities for the centres to raise their profile in the key target areas such as sponsorships, awards, speaking opportunities, advertorials, round tables etc.

Options: The Contracting Authority reserves the right to request additional deliveries by the Successful Tenderer, either intended as partial replacement of supplies or installations or as extensions of existing supplies and installations. The Contracting Authority may at it's sole discretion exercise this option.

Renewal: This contract includes one (1) twelve (12) month extension option

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Public Contracts Scotland |
| Latest notice | https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAR384184 |
| Notice type | PCS Notice - Website Contract Award 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 | 23 Mar 2020 |
| Submission deadline | 17 Dec 2019 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 6 Mar 2020 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | This requirement my be re-tenderd in November 2022 assuming all optional extensions are utilised. |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £154,800 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £154,800 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE |
| Locality | GLASGOW |
| Post town | Glasgow |
| Postcode | G1 1QE |
| Country | Scotland |
| ITL 1 | TLM Scotland |
| ITL 2 | TLM3 West Central Scotland |
| ITL 3 | TLM32 Glasgow City |
| Local authority | Glasgow City |
| Electoral ward | Anderston/City/Yorkhill |
| Westminster constituency | Glasgow North East |
| Delivery location | TLM82 Glasgow City |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | BIG PARTNERSHIP |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79416000 - Public relations services

## Release History

- 23 Mar 2020 at 00:00 - Award - PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAR384184
- 22 Nov 2019 at 00:00 - Tender - PCS Notice - Website Contract Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=NOV372968

## Documents

- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=NOV372968
  Provision of PR Services for Advanced Forming Research Centre and Lightweight Manufacturing Centre - The University is seeking to appoint a public relations (PR) agency to provide PR services that will cover both the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) and the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC), which is a sister centre within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS). The services are required to continue and build on the progress made in the first generation of this contract.
- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAR384184
  Provision of PR Services for Advanced Forming Research Centre and Lightweight Manufacturing Centre - The University is seeking to appoint a public relations (PR) agency to provide PR services that will cover both the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) and the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC), which is a sister centre within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS). The services are required to continue and build on the progress made in the first generation of this contract.

## Notice URLs

- http://
- http://www.strath.ac.uk/
- https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000603991
- https://www.publictendersscotland.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/esop/pts-host/public/pts/web/login.html

## 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-r6ebe6-0000603991. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000603991.json.