How to undertake business with the Borough Council - A guide for Suppliers and Contractors

This guide has been produced to assist suppliers and contractors who wish to supply the Council with goods, materials and works.  It helps in the following ways.

• It outlines the rules that the Council must follow
• It alerts companies to the opportunities to supply the Council
• It explains how to bid for Council work

It also enhances the Council's standard procedures and ensures that we obtain value for money.

We encourage competition and welcome bids from new and established contractors and suppliers.

The Council does not support 'unsolicited sales phone calls'. We believe that the policy of 'cold calling' is an inefficient process for our Officers and consequently do not condone such action. If you have specific product information that you feel the Council could benefit from, please email your particulars and product information to the appropriate Officer:-

• ICT Communications and Supplies - chris.taylor@shrewsbury.gov.uk
• Paper Supplies and Printing Consumables - steve.murphy@shrewsbury.gov.uk
• General Procurement Enquiries - graham.jenner@shrewsbury.gov.uk

What are the benefits of working with the Borough Council?

We are:

• Fair
• Non-discriminatory
• Professional
• A long established organisation
• Prompt to pay

If you are interested in pursuing business opportunities you should respond as requested in the advertisement.  You may also wish to view the current tenders page of this site.

The Council deals with contracts of varying types from one-off purchases to contracts for supplies, servcies or works that will last for a specific period of time before coming up for renewal.  These are also known as term contracts or framework contracts.

The importance of effective procurement

Effective procurement supports the Council's aims and objectives helping the Council to deliver high quality services which meet the current and future needs of local people, based both on value for money and "added value"

How to find out about opportunities to work with the Borough Council

The Council does not operate a select list for contractors, consultants or suppliers.  All tenders are advertised in the Shropshire Star, relevant trade publications and online at Current Tenders section.

Goods and Services contracts over £153,376 and works contracts over £3,834,411 are tendered under European Union rules and are advertised in the European Journal (OJEC)

Applying for contracts that are advertised

The contract notice or advertisement will invite companies to submit an expression of interest for a contract.  The advertisement will detail the procedure and what information is required.  It is important that companies supply all of the requested information and respond by the due date.

The general information requested is to provide basic details about your organisation, and to verify that it can be identified as a legitimate discrete trading organisation (details of the company's office address, registration number and company group information if applicable).  We will also require details regarding the ecomonic and financial standing of the company including references.  We will also seek details that your company promotes good practice in areas of equal opportunities, environmental protection and health and safety.

Further details of information and criteria are as follows:

• Financial Information
• Experience and Technical Ability 
• Health and Safety
• Equal Opportunities  
• Environment
• Quality Assurance

Tendering for Contracts

Following your response to the invitiation to tender (where an open tendering procedure is to be followed) or expression of interest you will either be invited to tender or be sent a pre-qualification questionnaire.

The purpose of this pre-qualification questionnaire is to assess a company or suppliers suitability to supply the Borough Council and its ability to satisfy the contract before tenders are issued.  This saves time and effort being unnecessarily spent on completing tenders on the part of the contractors and suppliers.

Tender evaluation and contract award

Returned tenders will be evaluated against pre-determined criteria as specified in the tender documentation.  Evaluation will focus on examining how the tender proposals will deliver the service (quality) and the cost of the service (price).  The balance between quality and price will depend on the particular contract.

The successful tenderer will be notified in writing.

Debriefing

Within the limits of commercial confidentiality and the Freedom of Information Act, the Council will always endeavour to offer unsuccessful tenderers feedback.  This information can be used to help with any future bids, as being unsuccessful in one contract does not mean that a company will not be successful in a future one.

Contract Performance

The Borough Council has to monitor its performance as part of its duty under Best Value, and suppliers and and contractors to the Council are monitored to assess their compliance with pre-defined performance criteria.  Contracts have to be performed in accordance with the requirements set out in the contract documentation.

The Council is continuously striving to improve its own performance and it expects its contractors to do the same.

Contract Rules

Please see our Contract and Procurement Rules.