Invitation to Tender - Travel Management Company
Overview
Westminster Foundation for Democracy (“WFD”) is the UK public body dedicated to supporting democracy around the world. Operating internationally, WFD works with parliaments, political parties, and civil society groups as well as on elections to help make political systems fairer, more inclusive and more accountable.
. We are a problem-solving, practitioner-led organisation that offers:
- High quality and impactful regional and country programmes that directly support the full spectrum of institutions in political systems to develop inclusive political processes, more accountable political systems, protection of rights and freedoms, and more pluralistic societies;
- Specialist analysis, research, and advice to inform policy makers on a range of democratic governance issues via its Centre of Expertise; and
- International elections observation on behalf of the UK.
Aim of this Invitation to Tender
WFD is issuing this Invitation to Tender (“ITT”) to a range of potential suppliers of services and would welcome a bid from your organisation.
Due to the nature of the work WFD carries out, more than 50% of our staff and consultants travel on a regular basis both locally in and to the UK and overseas within or to a diverse range of countries. Our travel needs are often short-notice or subject to last-minute changes due to the changing needs of travellers.
For the logistical arrangements of these business trips, WFD needs the services of a provider that can facilitate both an individual’s travel arrangements, complex group trips, and VIP travel. The successful bidder will provide the following services: visas; air travel (preferably with access to both global and local fares); rail travel (UK, Europe, and international); ground transportation (e.g. transfers); event venue/meeting space finding and booking; and hotel bookings with no guaranteed minimum annual expenditure on travel and accommodation. This will need to be reflected in a flexible cost and billing structure.
In particular, WFD is looking for a provider that has an effective online booking tool that conforms with our Safe & Sustainable Travel Policy and Expenditure Authorisation requirements, to enable staff to book their own travel if they wish to, bookable from international and UK points of sale. Additionally, we require dedicated agents on hand to help with any queries or to fulfil offline travel bookings for staff and sponsored third party travellers and specialist agents to support with group, VIP, and complex booking needs.
Bid submission
All bids should be submitted by 23:59 on Sunday 8th October in writing, must comply with the requirements of this ITT, and must include the information requested in the Bid Requirements below.
The bid should be sent electronically and addressed to: Selina Anand at procurement@wfd.org.
The same email address should be used for any questions related to this ITT.
WFD’s standard terms and conditions for tendering and key policies are found at Policies | Westminster Foundation for Democracy (wfd.org) and you can find a copy of WFD’s Code of Conduct at Code of Conduct | Westminster Foundation for Democracy (wfd.org).
Detailed Specification
Objective
WFD acknowledges that, to achieve its mission and goals, WFD staff, volunteers, experts, or Governors may, from time to time, be expected to travel or host delegations attending meetings or events in the UK and overseas. WFD requires the services of an outsourced Travel Management Company to ensure that all business travel is booked, approved, and managed in a way that represents value for money, keeps people safe, and mitigates negative environmental impact.
Scope of work
When submitting their proposal the travel provider will have demonstrate how they aim to meet the following specification:
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Functional area |
Requirement description |
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Essential Requirements |
Desirable Additional Requirements |
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Service Levels |
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Services |
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Online and Mobile Booking |
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Value for Money – travel |
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Value for Money – accomodation |
The provider should continuously look to negotiate prices on behalf of WFD, including bespoke rates for WFD in destinations with high travel volumes (e.g. London).
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Visas |
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Group travel |
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Security / duty of care |
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Environmental Impact
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Cancellation Policy |
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Compliance |
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Reporting |
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Finance |
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Process Map
Deliverables
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Online booking system
Specifications
- Development (including configuration or customisation to meet WFD’s requirements and WFD branding look and feel) of the online booking tool must be included
- Training and rollout plan for the implementation of the online booking platform to be included.
- Reporting dashboard for selected WFD admin users to generate reports on an ad hoc basis
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Booking and enquiry line (24/7 desirable), enabling our staff to contact travel provider at times (not just in an emergency) that are convenient for them, regardless of their geographical location.
- Contactable via phone, email and live chat
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24 hour emergency contact line for out of hours bookings (including weekends).
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Quarterly Account Management review meetings
Working arrangements
The Supplier will be expected to always work remotely with WFD colleagues in our offices around the world in different time zones. Regular Account review meetings will be scheduled quarterly with the WFD UK office with a clear path of escalation.
Minimum experience and expertise
The Supplier and its staff assigned to the Contract shall be expected to have worked on a global platform providing quality international travel booking services. Prior experience working with the public sector is preferrable.
Bid process
Timescale
Below is the proposed timescale for the tendering process. Please note the dates are indicative and subject to change.
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Description |
Date |
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Issue ITT |
11 September |
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Deadline for supplier questions |
17:00 BST, Tuesday 3 October |
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Closing date for receipt of completed tender proposals |
23:59 BST, Sunday 8 October |
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Shortlisting of bids |
w/c 9 October |
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Supplier interviews/presentations to tender committee (if applicable) |
w/c 23 October and w/c 30 October |
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WFD announces preferred supplier |
10 November |
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Contract finalised and signed |
17 November |
Bid requirements
In general, the bid should include the following:
- Organisational profile
- Proposed solution and how it meets the specification
- Financial proposal
- References
- Confirmation of compliance with General Terms and Conditions of Tendering
Organisational profile:
- Company profile, including brief history and financial overview
- Case studies/credentials demonstrating relevant experience and skills profile
- Commitment to corporate social and environmental responsibility
- Names and brief biographies of key staff
WFD is particularly keen to receive bids from organisations which are – or are working towards becoming – living wage employers and that have a broadly representative and balanced Board from gender and ethnicity perspectives.
Proposed solution:
- Clear explanation as to the proposed approach to meeting the specification set out in this ITT.
- Detailed project plan for the onboarding and implementation process, including timelines, assumptions and dependencies, resourcing and risks.
Financial proposal:
- Full breakdown costings for the proposed solution in GBP
- Separate accounting of VAT and/or any other applicable tax, duty, or charge.
- Detailing of any discount applied in view of WFD’s not-for-profit status.
References:
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The bid should include details of two references relating to similar goods/services provided in the last three years. Please note – referees will only be contacted once Preferred Bidder status is assigned.
Confirmation of acceptance of General Terms and Conditions of Tendering:
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By submitting a bid, you confirm acceptance to WFD’s General Terms and Conditions for Tendering which can be found on our website.
All bidders should also note the following:
- all bids should be submitted in English;
- all bids should be submitted in electronic form only;
- this ITT and the response may be incorporated in whole or in part into the final contract;
- only information provided in response to questions set out in this documentation will be taken into consideration for the purposes of evaluating the ITT;
- bids which are poorly organised or poorly written, such that evaluation and comparison with other submissions is notably difficult, may exclude the bidder from further consideration; and
- any bids which do not fully comply with the requirements of this ITT may be disregarded at the absolute discretion of WFD.
Evaluation criteria
WFD intends to shortlist providers based on their response to this ITT and will use the following scoring criteria.
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Description |
Score |
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Service offer and fit to specification |
30 % |
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Indicative Service Level Agreement |
20 % |
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Value for Money |
30% |
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Relevant experience and commitment to corporate social and environmental responsibility |
20 % |
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Total Weighting |
100 % |
WFD will score each criterion using the following table:
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0 |
The proposal submitted omits and fundamentally fails to meet WFD’s scope and specifications. Insufficient evidence to support the proposal to allow WFD to evaluate. Not Answered |
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1 |
The information submitted has a severe lack of evidence to demonstrate that WFD’s scope and specifications can be met. Significant omissions, serious and/or many concerns. Poor |
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2 |
The information submitted has some minor omissions in respect of WFD's scope and specifications. The tender satisfies the basic requirements in some respects but is unsatisfactory in other respects and raises some concerns. Satisfactory. |
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3 |
The information submitted provides some good evidence to meet the WFD’s scope and specifications and is satisfactory in most respects and there are few concerns. Good. |
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4 |
The information submitted provides good evidence that all of WFD's scope and specification can be met. Full and robust response, any concerns are addressed so that the proposal gives confidence. Very Good. |
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5 |
The information submitted provides strong evidence that all of WFD's scope and specification can be met and the proposal exceeds expectation i.e. exemplary in the industry. Provides full confidence and no concerns. Outstanding |
Tender Queries
Any questions related to this tender should be addressed to Selina Anand at procurement@wfd.org.
Equal Information
Should any supplier raise a question that is of general interest, WFD reserves the right to circulate both question and answer to other respondents, either via WFD’s website or by email. In this event, anonymity will be maintained.
Annual reports
Please provide a link or copy of your company’s latest audited annual accounts with the bid.
Expected contract duration
WFD expects to award a contract for a three year period, subject to an annual review.
Other information
If the potential supplier believes that there is additional information that has not been requested in the ITT but is relevant to your bid, please include that information as a separate attachment and explain its relevance to this ITT.
Supplier FAQs
We will add questions and answers to this section as we receive queries, please check back regularly. The deadline for receipt of queries is 17:00 BST, 3 October.
Q: The management booking tool which is the preferred option, would be built bespoke for WFD and would require some scoping to ensure that the app and website are fit for purpose. Will the client allow a scoping exercise if the potential supplier gets through to 'preferred supplier' status? This would be planned in line with the go-live/project rollout date.
A: Yes we will allow a scoping session prior to the onboarding process if chosen as a 'preferred supplier'.
Q: Most clients will confirm that they are happy to work with SMEs however I was not able to find anything in relation to this in the notes, can I safely assume this is the case?
A: This tender opportunity has not been reserved for SMEs however we are open to working with an SME in line with our fair and transparent procurement process.
Q: Please can you provide more information with respect to your combined travel volumes, expenditure, and most travelled routings and airlines?
A: Our total ticket count for the last financial year was approximately 1400, our total approximate spend was £635,000, and our most travelled region is Asia-Pacific and the Americas.
Q: Please can you share more information with regards to your tender scoring methodology, in particular the weighting of the financial proposal?
A: We are unable to provide further information on the tender scoring methodology however we will be reviewing proposals against the minimum criteria set out in the tender.
Q: Please can your current travel policy or any relevant parts of it be shared so we can use it to inform our responses?
A: We are unable to share our travel policy due to security reasons.
