Branding Services for the North East Futures University Technical College

Invitation to Tender Branding Services for the North East Futures University Technical College

Tender Reference: NEF 001 Branding Tender

July 2015

North East Futures UTC c/o The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria Limited

Room 2.13, Biomedical Research Building

Nuns Moor Road

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE4 5PL Invitation to Tender

CONTENTS

1. GENERAL

2. INVITATION TO TENDER DOCUMENTATION

3. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

4. SPECIFICATION OF SERVICES REQUIRED

5. CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENTS

6. AWARD CRITERIA

7. ENQUIRIES

8. TENDER RETURN AND TIMETABLE

9. QUALITY ASSURANCE 1. GENERAL

1.1 Tenderers should read these instructions carefully before submitting their responses.

1.2 Failure to comply with these requirements for completion and submission may result in the rejection of your Tender response. Tenderers should acquaint themselves fully with the extent and nature of the requirement and are deemed to have done so before submitting a Tender.

2. INVITATION TO TENDER (ITT) DOCUMENTATION

North East Futures University Technical College (hereinafter referred to as “The Client”) reserves the right to modify or amend the ITT documentation at any time prior to the deadline for receipt of Tenders. Any such changes will be notified to Tenderers in writing. Where modifications or amendments are significant, The Client, may at its discretion, extend the deadline for receipt of Tenders.

3. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

North East Futures University Technical College

North East Futures University Technical College (UTC) is set to become a critical element of the regional economic strategy as defined by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NELEP), focussing upon the development of an ecosystem in which the region has “more and better jobs.” The Strategic Economic Plan published by the NELEP in 2014 highlights the “importance of increasing the volume of skills at a higher level to address a changing demographic in particular higher skills required by employers of younger people and those moving into and between work as a result of replacement demand and an anticipated demand for jobs requiring level 4 and above rising by 120,000 by 2020”. Accordingly, the creation of the North East Futures UTC is supported by the NELEP.

North East Futures UTC is a new school for 14-19 year olds which will open in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne in September 2017. The UTC will be aimed at students who are particularly interested in pursuing a career in IT or healthcare sciences, and would provide the students with a career focussed set of skills and qualifications, as well as the standard set of GCSEs which students are presented with in ordinary schools.

The development of the school’s vision, curriculum and ethos are set to create a paradigm shift in the educational experience of its students because of the sustained involvement of employers and academics from the earliest stages. North East Futures UTC will serve the whole North East Region. It is expected to become a beacon of vocational provision, serving both the needs of the region’s employers and those of its young people in ways which contribute significantly to the growing movement to inspire change in education and skills for the region.

Vision of the North East Futures UTC

The Department for Education is currently supporting a committed group of employers and academics (led on behalf of North East Futures UTC Trust by a Project Steering Group), who are working to make the UTC the best educational setting in the world for young people who have secured a place and who would like to follow a career in science and technology in the fields of IT and healthcare science.

North East Futures UTC will provide a world-class secondary education for young people from across the North East region who wish to pursue the best chances of success and build an exciting future in IT and healthcare science. The students will benefit from an exceptional curriculum, which will deliver the core elements of the broad and balanced subjects taught in all schools, enhanced significantly by the addition of practical projects and the experience of a range of exciting and real employment settings. They will benefit from a whole range of activity including the soft as well as the technical skills involved in all aspects of research, manufacture, service delivery and business and in extended relationships with employers, gaining additional qualifications which are fit for purpose. Employers themselves are fully involved in creating the curriculum and designing the projects which will bring it to life for our young people. Students will feel that the work they undertake and the skills they gain are of real value to real people. The UTC will offer its students a level of engagement with real scientific and technological contexts in IT and healthcare science which they could not access in an ordinary school.

The UTC will be housed in a new building situated in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne and will be well served by an excellent public transport network so that it is easy to reach from throughout the region.

Whilst the establishment of any new school can pose a recruitment threat to other established schools in its vicinity, it is intended that the North East Futures UTC will be seen as an enriching addition to the complement of schools in the region, and one which will provide extra capacity and capability to our North East education landscape.

North East Futures UTC Project Steering Group

The North East Futures UTC is directly supported by an Educational Trust whose members are Accenture, the Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria Limited and the University of Sunderland. Furthermore, North East Futures UTC is currently governed by a Project Steering Group (PSG) whose membership includes a number of representatives from the following organisations: Accenture, The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria Limited, University of Sunderland, the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, and Newcastle City Council. Further, membership of the PSG includes the North East Futures Director of Project Development and Educational Strategy, who has a significant educational background.

In order to progress the opening of the UTC, the PSG is supported by a number of sub-groups and these are illustrated in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Project Steering Group for the North East Futures University Technical College and how it is supported by a number of sub-groups

Marketing Sub-Group

This ITT document and associated process will be led by Dr Nicola Wesley, Innovation Director for The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria Limited, and will be overseen by Alison Shaw, North East Futures Director of Project Development and Educational Strategy. The involvement of Alison will ensure that there is strong alignment between the overall character of the UTC and its educational offer. The marketing sub-group will be supported by Roy Sandbach, who benefits from over thirty years of branding and product development expertise at Procter and Gamble. The marketing sub-group will support and monitor the development of the UTC and will report into the PSG.

The Tenderer will form part of the marketing sub-group and may interact with the PSG where appropriate.

4. SPECIFICATION OF SERVICES REQUIRED

The Client requires the Tenderer to deliver marketing and branding services for the UTC, which includes creating an associated brand based upon the vision of the UTC with the aim of raising awareness and increasing its profile amongst stakeholders including prospective students, parents, and employers ready for its opening in September 2017. The branding and marketing of the UTC is extremely important given the challenges associated with persuading parents and the students themselves of the benefits of leaving their current school to join the UTC at the beginning of the critical GCSE years; it is critical that the UTC achieves its student recruitment targets reaching into key defined demographics. Moreover, the brand is a critical tool in the building of support from employers within the IT/digital, NHS, and other healthcare science sectors, as well as the harnessing of support from key decision makers in the North East region. The ultimate aim is the building of a positive public perception of the UTC and the laying of groundwork for the recruitment of the best possible staff.

The North East Futures UTC will be one of a growing network of University Technical Colleges across England, which are directly sponsored by the Baker Dearing Trust. Accordingly, all branding and marketing literature must be compliant with the national UTC brand and the Baker Dearing Trust guidelines.

The Tenderer shall provide the services in accordance with the requirements and standards set out in Section 4.1 and the Award Criteria set out in Section 6 provide details of how each Tender will be evaluated. 4.1 SERVICES

The successful Tenderer will be expected to deliver the following services to the UTC (“The Services”): -

 A review of the target audience, which encompasses children, their parents, and employers;

 Customer profiling;

 Development of a well recognised and defined brand;

 Online marketing (to include the development and ongoing content management of a website, social media, and blogging);

 Offline marketing (including the development of brochures, pamphlets and associated graphic design); and

 Generation of appropriate key messages based upon the UTC vision.

Tenders are invited from potential contractors and the Tenders themselves should include: -

(i) a well-defined strategic project plan including appropriate milestones and timescales for the above Services, and discussion of the risks of delivery and associated plans to mitigate. The project plan should also set out the methodology of the Tenderer in the generation of a well recognised and defined brand, which addresses the core challenges;

(ii) a full cost breakdown of the proposal. This should include details of the number and status of the employees involved, their time and associated costs; and

(iii) evidence of a strong track record in branding and marketing, including examples of other recent successful branding and marketing projects.

Also, Tenderers should demonstrate the quality of their delivery team by providing details of: -

(i) the structure of the team that will manage and deliver the contract; and

(ii) the relevant skills, experience and capacity of the team to ensure the effective delivery of the contract and an explanation as to why these individuals are suitable for this contract.

4.2 TENDER VALUE

4.2.1 The maximum value of this Tender to undertake the work outlined in Section 4.1 is £40,000 (excluding VAT) plus reasonable disbursements to be agreed with the Client and not to exceed £1,000 (excluding VAT). 4.2.2 Tenderers shall ensure that before submitting a Tender, all arithmetical calculations are checked for accuracy, at the same time as ascertaining that forms have been completed and signed and all necessary information supplied.

4.3 TENDER COSTS

4.3.1 Tenderers will not be entitled to claim from the Client any costs or expenses that may be

incurred in the preparation of their Tender. This applies whether or not the Tender is successful and it also applies to any additional costs that may be incurred if the Client modifies or amends the Tender requirements or the specification of the required services.

4.3.2 Tenderers are responsible, at their own expense, for obtaining all information necessary for the preparation of their Tender.

5. CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS

5.1.1 In their Tender document, Tenderers should provide a cost quote for delivery of the services in full.

5.1.2 The Client agrees that 50% of the agreed contract value will be paid to the successful Tenderer at the outset of the provision of services, with the remaining 50% becoming payable upon completion.

5.1.3 All invoices should be addressed for the attention of the RTC North Limited, 1 Hylton Park, Wessington Way, Sunderland SR5 3HD for the attention of Alison Shaw.

6. AWARD CRITERIA

Tenderers will be evaluated against the Award Criteria set out below. Following this exercise, short listed Tenderers may be invited to attend an interview and make presentations to the Marketing Sub-group of the PSG. Award Criteria Weighting % Well defined strategic project plan including appropriate 35 milestones and timescales, setting out methodology, core challenges; understanding of the target audience and what the UTC hopes to achieve Evidence that the Tenderer has a proven track record as well 30 as the skills and capacity to meet the core challenges and deliver the services to the satisfaction of The Client Value for money and evidence of delivery to time and on 35 target

7. ENQUIRIES

7.1 All enquiries in connection to this ITT document should be addressed to: Dr Nicola Wesley, Innovation Director for The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria Limited, [email protected].

7.2 Tenderers should note that all enquiries must be made in writing and The Client at their discretion reserves the right to circulate any response to all Tenderers. All enquiries must be clearly marked ENQUIRY with the question and Tenderer details clearly set out.

7.3 To ensure a fair and transparent tender process, no other approach of any kind in connection with this Tender should be made to anyone associated with The Client other than through the formal tender documentation. Failure to comply with this may result in disqualification from the tender process.

8. TENDER RETURN AND TIMETABLE

8.1 Two hard copies of the completed Tender and associated documents must be submitted, to arrive no later than 12.00pm on 11th September 2015. The completed Tender should be addressed to Dr Nicola Wesley, Innovation Director, The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria Limited, Room 2.13, Biomedical Research Building, Nuns Moor Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5PL.

8.2 Hard copies must be in a sealed envelope marked “CONFIDENTIAL – TENDER DOCUMENTS” and showing the tender reference NEF 001 Branding Tender. An electronic copy, also marked “CONFIDENTIAL – TENDER DOCUMENTS” should be emailed to Dr Nicola Wesley at [email protected] to arrive no later than 12.00pm on 11th September 2015. 8.3 The Client does not accept responsibility for the premature opening or mishandling of Tenders that are not submitted in accordance with the above instructions.

8.4 The Client reserves the right to amend or modify the ITT document prior to the awards of Contract. All Tenderers will be notified of such amendment.

8.5 The key dates in the tender timetable are set out in the table below. However, please note that these dates are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.

Deadline for receipt of completed Tenders 12.00pm 11th September 2015 Short listing process Tuesday 15th September Short listed Tenderer interviews and Tuesday 22nd September presentations Decision making process Tuesday 22nd September Award of Contract Tuesday 22nd September Contract commencement date Friday 25th September

9. QUALITY ASSURANCE

Tenderers should describe their procedures for quality assuring their work.