Purpose: For Decision
Committee: EXECUTIVE
Date: 5 JUNE
2002
Title: CONTRACT FOR
THE SUPPLY OF LIBRARY BOOKS
PORTFOLIO
HOLDER – EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING
Members are asked to consider the tenders received for the contract to supply library books for 2002-2005 (plus an optional one year extension) to the Council and to appoint a contractor for it.
The
Council have a statutory responsibility under the Libraries and Museums Act
1964 to provide a library service for all those resident, educated or working
on the Isle of Wight. In addition, the Council is required to meet the minimum
Public Library Standards issued by the Department of Culture Media and Sport by
the end of March 2004, which include standards relating to the range and
quality of stock and the speed of supply of library books.
The
current contract for the supply of books expired on 31st March this
year. Tenders have been sought under the European procurement legislation for a
new contract. So that all possible options were open to the Council contractors
were able to tender for each types of book to be supplied or any combination of
types. It was, however, made clear to tenderers that the contract could be
awarded as a whole or as individual packages.
Tenders
were evaluated on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender.
Factors taken into account, other than price, included the speed of supply, the
quality and range of the suppliers’ stockholdings, the availability and quality
of access to electronic databases and resources, the ability of the supplier to
undertake supplier selection and any other value added services the supplier
may be able to provide. As part of the evaluation procedure all tenderers were
visited to establish these qualitative factors. A comparison of the evaluation
criteria is shown in Appendix A and a matrix of evaluation scores in Appendix B
The
library supply industry is very competitive and there are a limited number of
contractors Five contractors tendered of which two tendered only for the whole,
one tendered for the whole or parts and the other two tendered for parts only.
Contractor
A tendered to supply all types of books and also to supply each separate
category. In terms of price alone it is the lowest tenderer. However, there is
a concern that the company has recently lost a number of key senior managers
and that the speed of supply and customer service declined during recent months
as result. The company traded at a loss in its last set of trading accounts.
Contractor
B tendered to supply all types of books only. It would appear to have the
resources and commitment to deliver the contract and particularly in terms of
speed of supply, access to electronic databases and added value services. Also
it would seem that it has the systems in place to assist the library service in
achieving the minimum library standards in terms of speed of supply. The range
and quality of Contractor B’s book stock in its showroom is the best of all the
tenderers. The company traded at a profit in its last set of accounts
Contractor
C tendered to supply all types of books only.
The range and quality of the book stock in its showroom was the least
impressive of all of the tenderers. The company traded at a loss in the last
set of accounts.
Contractor
D tendered to supply junior, teenage and schools library service books as
individual bids. Its range of
stockholdings is good. The company traded at a loss in the last set of
accounts.
Contractor
E tendered for reference and requested books only. Its record for the speed of supply of books was very good. The
company traded at a profit in the last set of accounts.
The
qualitative analysis of each tenderer as set out in Appendix B shows that
tenderer B ranks top in 5 of the evaluation areas and second in the other
2. Overall it ranks as the best tender
on the basis of quality.
The table below represents a financial breakdown of all the bids received across the main supply areas. “The value of spend” figures represent the cost of the books at the publisher’s recommended retail price. Therefore the greater this figure the better the value of the tender’s offer to the Council. The Council’s potential spend with each tenderer being the same at £195,000
|
|
Tenderer |
||||
|
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
|
Discount Adult Fiction |
30% |
30% |
30% |
|
|
|
Discount Adult Non-fiction |
30% |
28% |
27% |
|
14% |
|
Discount Junior |
30% |
25% |
25% |
21% |
|
|
Discount Schools |
30% |
25% |
21% |
21% |
|
|
Discount Young Adult |
30% |
25% |
25% |
21% |
|
|
Cost of Stock Selection |
£6,000 |
£6,000 |
£2,500 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Cost of Junior Approvals |
£2,250 |
NIL |
£4,750 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Value of Adult Spend * |
£150,000 |
£149,000 |
£152,000 |
N/A |
|
|
Value of Junior Spend * |
£95,250 |
£93,750 |
£87,320 |
£90,000 |
|
|
Total Value of Spend * |
£245,250 |
£242,750 |
£239,320 |
|
|
Discount
shown is off the publisher’s recommended retail price.
*
excluding discount
The
value of the contract is £195,000 per year spread across Adult Fiction, Adult
Non-fiction, Reference material, School Library Service books, Junior books and
Teenage books.
The
value of the book stock that the Council is able to purchase within its budget
from each tenderer through a single contract is: -
Contractor
A £245,250
Contractor
B £242,750
Contractor
C £239,320
1.
To award the contract
to the most economically advantageous tenderer, Contractor B.
2.
To award the contract
to another tenderer.
On
the basis of the tender evaluations it is recommended that Option 1 be
approved.
Tender Submissions
Point
of Contact: Tim Blackmore ( 825717
|
A G KAYE Strategic Director Education and Community Development |
J WAREHAM Portfolio Holder - Education and
Lifelong Learning |
APPENDIX A: CONTRACTOR
COMPARISONS
|
Contractor |
Speed of supply Weighting – 3 |
Showroom Stockholdings Weighting – 2 |
Access to databases Weighting- 2 |
Approvals Weighting– 3 |
Added Value Services Weighting– 2 |
Cost of Servicing Weighting-1 |
Financial Information Profit (Loss)
after taxation Weighting - 1 |
|
A |
Wide
database with links to Bertrams and Borders Apparently
disorganised stock control systems Recent
track record of poor delivery times Score
3 |
Good
quality stock holdings Very
good on computing Good
on populist subjects Poor
breadth of stock evidenced by science and history sections Average
junior and teenage sections Score
4 |
Access
to bibliographic information only No
access to management information No
access to order tracking Score
3 |
Standard
approvals only 12
weeks in situ Score
4 |
Publishers
posters In-house
printing of leaflets and posters for promotions Score
4 |
39p
per hardback 78p
per paperback Score
4 |
2000(£841,000) 1999(£232,000) 1998(£718,000) Score
2 |
|
B |
High
Stock holdings Access
to Wholesalers Items
in stock supplied within 7 days Clear
stock control systems Score
4 |
High
stockholdings Excellent
junior and teenage sections Broad
breadth of adult non-fiction coverage evidenced by science and history
sections Up
to date material as evidenced by computing and travel sections Generally
good and up-to-date Score
5 |
Access
to bibliographic databases Access
to order tracking Access
to order and account information Some
access to management information, further in development Score
4 |
Standard
and tailored approvals 12
weeks in situ Score
5 |
Publishers
posters Point
of sale material Reader
development material Support
of reading groups Support
for author visits Themed
promotions Score
4 |
50p
per book Score
4 |
2001£520,704 2000£549,062 1999£296,991 Score
4 |
|
C |
Fast
track supply for requested items New
automated stock control systems Score
3 |
Large
stock holdings Quality
poor Many
out of date books (Win 3.1, 10 year old travel books, out of date management
books) Good
teenage section Average
junior section Good
history section Average
science section Score
2 |
Access
to bibliographic database Access
to order tracking No
access to management or account information New
system in development Score
3 |
Standard
or key copy approvals 5
weeks in situ Score
2 |
Publishers
posters Help
with author visits Score
3 |
35p
per book Score
5 |
2001(£172,001) 2000(£591) Score
2 |
|
D |
Clear
stock control systems Broad
stock holdings Score
4 |
Excellent
paperback holdings Good
coverage Good
quality Score
3 |
Access
to bibliographic database No
access to order tracking No
access to management or account information New
system in development Score
3 |
Online
approval service with only exceptional material available for hardcopy
approvals Score
2 |
Themed
promotions Reader
development material Point
of sale material Score
5 |
40p
per book Score
5 |
2001(£296,141) 2000£122,603 1999£13,826 Score
2 |
|
E |
No
stock holdings Access
to wholesalers and publishers Clear
stock control systems 7
day turn round of orders Score
5 |
No
stockholdings Score
0 |
Access
to bibliographic databases, order tracking, management and account
information. Score
5 |
Not
Applicable Score
0 |
Not
applicable Score
0 |
78p
servicing £1.00
bibliographic records Score
2 |
2000£226,989 1999£143,188 Score
4 |
Appendix B : Contractor’s scoring
matrix – Weighting x Score
|
Contractor |
Speed of
supply |
Showroom
stockholdings |
Access to
databases |
Approvals |
Added Value
Services |
Cost of
Servicing |
Financial
Information |
TOTAL SCORE |
|
A |
9 |
8 |
6 |
12 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
49 |
|
B |
12 |
10 |
8 |
15 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
61 * |
|
C |
9 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
38 |
|
D |
12 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
5 |
2 |
47 |
|
E |
15 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
31 |
*
Most economically advantageous tenderer