How we select potential suppliers

We use a wide-range of sources to select potential suppliers. We do not, however, maintain approved supplier lists. Our mainly suppliers' sources include:

• our knowledge of the market in question
• existing suppliers to the  FCO or other Government Departments
• suppliers who have expressed an interest in bidding for FCO business
• the Internet, advertisements and suppliers' catalogues
• replies to contract advertisements
• trade shows and exhibitions
• trade associations, Chambers of Commerce and professional organisations
• trade directories and specialist journals. 

Terms and conditions

We have a standard sets of terms and conditions covering various types of goods and services. Below are examples of model contracts and invitations to tender for FCO goods, services and consultancy:

Model FCO Goods Contract (Short Form - value not exceeeding £100,000)  (PDF, 42.8K) 
 
Model FCO Contract for Services/Consultancy (Short Form – value not exceeding £15,000)  (PDF, 58.1K) 
 
Model FCO Consultancy/Services Contract (Medium Form – value between £15,000 and £100,000)  (PDF, 168K) 
 
Model FCO Invitation to Tender for Services Contracts (Medium Form) (Above £15,000 and below £100,000)  (PDF, 234K) 
 
Model FCO Invitation to Tender for Consultancy Contracts (Medium Form) (Above £15,000 and below £100,000)  (PDF, 229K) 
 
Model FCO Invitation to Tender documents for Services (long form - value over £100,000)(PDF, 193K) 

The terms and conditions for Information Communication Technology and Works projects are likely to be based on the Office of Government Commerce model agreements and the GC Works suite of contracts, respectively.

Current Contracts

By clicking on the following link) you can view a summary of our current contracts with lifetime values in excess of £250,000 (PDF, 15K). 

Invitation to tender process

Contracts for goods/services and works are let under the EU Procurement Directives, if the estimated lifetime value exceeds £90,319  and £3,497,313 respectively. Relevant contract advertisements are published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). The relevant supplement to OJEU is available from UK agents such as The Stationery Office and Business Information Publications Ltd.

Many of our contracts are also advertised on our contracts adverts page and in trade or professional journals or we use the supplier selection process (described above) to identify the companies we invite to bid for the business in question.

When we invite a company to tender, we:

• specify our requirements in terms of outputs, whenever appropriate, to encourage innovation;
• invite tenders from enough suppliers to ensure there is genuine competition, at the same time restricting the field to those who have a reasonable chance of success;
• make sure that procedures and documentation are clear and concise, and only ask for information necessary to evaluate bids;
• provide all tenderers with the same information and opportunity. 

Suppliers are given clear instructions on how tenders should be submitted. They should ensure these steps are followed carefully. For example, tenders received after the stated deadline will be rejected even if the delay occurred in transit.  

Our standard procurement process is summarised below:

• define requirement
• carry out market research and prepare advertisements
• prepare tender documents and decide evaluation criteria
• select potential suppliers and issue Invitation to Tender package
• open tenders at specified date and time
• evaluate tenders final selection and contract award
  debriefing of unsuccessful tenderers 

Recommendations are put before senior managers for approval at key stages of the process to ensure a fair and transparent process. Records are maintained throughout the process so a full audit trail of contract award decisions are on record.

Tender evaluation

Our tender evaluation process is designed to identify the supplier(s) who will provide the best value for money for a particular purchase. This is not necessarily the bid at the lowest price as we take full account of both quality issues and whole life costs to generally identify the most economically advantaged tender.

The evaluation process is strictly controlled and objectively carried out against agreed award criteria. Each of the various criteria are weighted to reflect their relative importance. The nature of the award criteria and their weightings will vary depending on the specific contract being considered.

During the evaluation process we may ask bidders to demonstrate their products or services. We may also ask to visit their premises and possibly take up appropriate references.

Contract award

We notify successful and unsuccessful bidders in writing as soon as we have reached our decision. We are happy to provide a debriefing to unsuccessful suppliers and offer constructive feedback which might improve their prospects of winning future business. We also welcome any comments on our own performance, procedures or processes. 

Prompt payment

We are committed to pay suppliers in accordance with the terms of their contract with us. This is normally within 30 days of the receipt of a valid invoice or from the receipt of the goods/services. We rely on suppliers to ensure their invoices provide the details needed to match them quickly to the original order or contract. The required information will be set out in the contract documentation.

Where a supplier lets a sub-contract in connection with an FCO contract they must include similar prompt payment terms to those above in respect of payments to their sub-contractors.

Government Procurement Card

We sometimes prefer to pay for lower value goods and services with the Government Procurement Card, a Visa-based corporate purchasing card. Suppliers should be prepared to accept this form of payment.