Defence Estates plans estates procurement events

24 March 2011

Defence Estates (DE) is holding a series of estate procurement industry events, and launched an online directory of potential bidders to assist subcontractors and supply chain companies identify possible commercial opportunities.

As part of DE's Next Generation Estate Contracts (NGEC) programme, the MOD will hold an industry day for each prime contract and each national and regional Capital Works Framework, following the expressions of interest (EOI) stage.
Defence Estates (DE) is responsible for managing the MOD estate, and delivering maintenance, capital works and services. The estate is worth £15.3bn, spans 240,000 hectares, and in addition to 49,000 family homes, also contains 45,000 other buildings, including barracks, airfields, naval establishments, military training estate, workshops, offices, messes, as well as 1,300 scheduled monuments and 289 sites of special scientific interest. From 1 April 2011, DE will become part of a new single organisation bringing together all those working on estate and infrastructure activity from across the MOD. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) will manage Defence property aiming to deliver better strategic management of the military estate as well as savings of £1.2 billion over the first four years alone.
These one-day events will be held at Defence venues (to be confirmed) around the UK. They will be held on an invitation-only basis, principally for companies which have submitted expressions of interest as potential prime contractors or framework main contractors.
In addition companies which have requested places at specific industry days as potential subcontractors or supply chain members during the EOI period, and military customer representatives, will also be invited to attend. Each industry day will provide delegates with an overview of the Defence estate organisation; Defence estate user requirements; the overall NGEC programme; the contract scope and requirement; the procurement process; required industry partner characteristics. There will also be a business networking session, and a question & answer session with key MOD estate representatives.
Industry days will be followed by a ‘bidders' conference’ for each contract after the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) stage, exclusively for those companies short-listed to tender bids.
DE has also launched an online NGEC Potential Bidder Directory providing details of potential bidders - subject to their agreement - for each contract, to facilitate supply chain networking between potential subcontractors, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and potential main/prime contractors. Details of the potential bidders for each contract will be added to the directory as the corresponding industry day is held.
Steve Rice, head of the NGEC programme, said: "During this period of significant change across Government, sound engagement and communication with industry are essential to the procurement process. I am determined that through these industry days we should be setting out our requirements clearly and openly, to ensure that potential bidders get the best possible chance to demonstrate their merits. We also want to support small and medium-sized enterprises in identifying and researching supply chain opportunities, and the online NGEC Potential Bidder Directory is one way in which we hope to achieve this."
The first industry day is to be staged at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh later this month, for companies which have expressed an interest in the Regional Prime Scotland & Northern Ireland contract to provide facilities management services.
John Brennan, project manager for the Regional Prime Scotland & Northern Ireland, said: "The Defence estate in Scotland and Northern Ireland offers a unique and challenging opportunity for innovative and dynamic contractors and supply chain companies. It is encouraging to see strong market interest in the maintenance and development of facilities for the Defence frontline."
The Next Generation Estate Contracts (NGEC) programme is developing a new suite of contracts for the UK Defence estate, comprising four Regional Prime contracts for facilities management, one national and six regional Capital Works Frameworks for construction projects, a National Housing Prime contract, and a new contract for the Defence training estate.
The Regional Prime Scotland and Northern Ireland contract will replace the current Regional Prime Contact (RPC) for Scotland and two estate contracts covering estate service delivery in Northern Ireland.
　
　