Application Pack
Specification and application instructions for strategic associates
Table of contents
page1. Introduction / 3
2. About reachfor / 3
3. Our offer to strategic associates / 4
4. Requirements of strategic associates / 5
5. Instructions and information for applicants / 7
6. Evaluation of applications / 8
Appendices
1. Pen pictures of reachfor members / 11
2. Application form / 19
3. Applicant’s declaration / 31
4. Application checklist / 32
1. Introduction
1.1. reachfor is a national joint venture (established in March 2011) of eight regional social enterprises[1] delivering information advice and guidance (IAG) and related services to young people and adults. Our purpose is to work together to deliver high quality services to support young people and adults (particularly those who are vulnerable) through key life changes, in particular to achieve positive destinations in employment, education and/or training.
1.2. reachfor has a number of strategic associates with whom it works on a range of products and services and is interested in finding other, like-minded organisations with whom it can extend the reach of its services and products across England.
1.3. This document provides background information on: reachfor. its members and the services they provide; details of reachfor’s offer to, and requirements of strategic associates; and an application form to be submitted with supporting documentation (see checklist).
2. About reachfor
2.1. reachfor is a social enterprise passionate about making a difference in the lives of the people we serve and in society at large. Our aim is to offer services at a fair price. Any surpluses generated are reinvested to offer improved services – we do not distribute any surplus to our members. Our consortium approach aims to give our members access to wider markets than they could access alone, simplify commissioning and contracting for funders and to provide a vehicle for members to share services (including service overheads) and learning to increase both efficiency and service quality. Brief pen-pictures of each of our members are provided at appendix 1.
2.2. In our first year we secured two delivery grants, £2.4m over two years from the Department for Education (DfE) for our Right Track programme to support vulnerable young people to build their resilience and £1.6m from the Cabinet Office to deliver the National Citizen Service in a number of areas. We have also secured over £220,000 from the DfE for capacity building and since March 2011 members have made a considerable investment of finance and in-kind support to develop the company and its offer.
2.3. Our mission is to work together to reach and help people of all ages to move positively through uncertain periods of change and on to happier, more fulfilling lives.
2.4. Our vision is to become the national social enterprise provider of choice for services that support people through periods of change, to be respected as an efficient and high quality service provider and to be able to influence the development of national policy and service provision.
2.5. Our strategic aims are to:
2.5.1. To increase turnover substantially and diversify income to include non-governmental sources and direct sales of products and services.
2.5.2. To build a recognised brand and increase media profile.
2.5.3. To establish a robust, effective, efficient and innovative consortium with genuine national reach.
2.6. Strategic associates will be critical to our ability to achieve these aims. A copy of our latest business plan can be downloaded from www.reachfor.org.uk/mission.
2.7. Central to everything reachfor does are our values:
· We are passionate about making a difference for all our customers and selfless in how we do this; putting service users’ needs first and engaging with them in the design and delivery of services.
· We are ambitious and dedicated to achieving the very best we can for our customers with bold plans to grow our services and the impact we can make in society.
· We are committed to providing locally relevant services within a credible organisation that has the advantages of national reach and scale.
· We are professional and strive for excellence, innovation and continuous improvement in all that we do.
· Our approach is inclusive both to the services we provide and in working collaboratively, creatively and flexibly with partners to ensure the best possible outcomes for the people we serve.
· We are agile and responsive to changing circumstances including through the intelligent use of data and information to tailor services to the specific needs of particular localities of user groups.
· We have a relentless focus on ensuring value for money through minimising overheads and a social enterprise approach, with a strong ethical focus with surpluses reinvested in the development and delivery of services.
3. Our offer to strategic associates
3.1. As a national joint venture of organisations with distinguished track records and with a growing reputation in its own right, reachfor is able to offer strategic associates access to commercial opportunities that they might not, on their own, either be eligible for or have the capacity to access. This includes bidding for large scale contracts and grants, including opportunities only available at a national level and the opportunity to use and help develop new products and services as part of a wider consortium of organisations with shared values.
3.2. reachfor intends that its strategic associates will be “preferred suppliers” for delivery of its services (though either or both of the two modes described below) in the areas of the UK in which the associate has capability to deliver. reachfor may have more than one strategic associate for a particular geographical area (e.g. where each organisation has different but complimentary expertise) and does not intend that preferred supplier status should imply exclusivity. For of the avoidance of doubt, reachfor does not intend that strategic associates will become members of the joint venture company.
3.3. reachfor also intends to offer strategic associates preferential rates for use of the products reachfor has developed and is developing for use in delivering its own services (i.e. beyond delivery of reachfor’s services). Furthermore, reachfor may invite strategic associates to participate in the development of new products and services in which they would (through variation to the preferred supplier agreement – see below) obtain intellectual property rights.
4. Requirements of strategic associates
4.1. reachfor’s primary aim in recruiting strategic associates is to extend the reach of its services across England. We are confident that existing members can (or already do) have the capability to deliver services across large areas of England. We are looking for strategic associates with the capacity and capability to deliver in the following areas:
· East of England
· Greater London
· Lancashire
· North East England
· West Sussex, Southern Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
· South Yorkshire and the Humber
4.2. Applicants must have an annual turnover of over £1m and be able to demonstrate clearly that they have a strong track record of delivery of IAG and related services to young people and adults in one or more of these geographical areas. Applicants also need to carry the following levels of insurances:
4.2.1. Public Liability cover of £5m per claim
4.2.2. Employers Liability cover of £10m per claim
4.2.3. Professional Indemnity cover of £1m per claim
4.3. Strategic associates will need to demonstrate that they share reachfor’s values including (but not limited to) demonstrating that they do not distribute surpluses other than for investment for the benefit of the community/society at large. They will also need to show that they have strong financial track record, secure financial future (short and medium term) and the capacity to take on new work.
4.4. We are looking for strategic associates that are able to support delivery of reachfor services through two principle modes:
4.4.1. For services provided under contracts from public authorities (or others) or for services paid for directly by the end-user, reachfor intends (but is not limited to) secure delivery through sub-contracts to its members and strategic associates with pricing tailored to reflect full-cost recover to the extent that the market will bear it.
4.4.2. For services funded through grants from public authorities (or others) reachfor will generally (unless there are sound operational reasons to do otherwise) employ its own staff to deliver the services, with those staff hosted by its members and strategic associates at marginal cost. Hosting is intended to include at least use of the hosts premises, IT facilities/systems and databases for recording management information etc.
4.5. reachfor is also interested in developing new products and services for young people and adults. We are keen to work with strategic associates on these developments and use their expertise in delivering services to young people and adults that complement the existing expertise of reachfor and its members.
4.6. In return for preferred supplier status and access to preferential rates, reachfor and strategic associates will enter into a preferred supplier agreement (a form of which is available on request and includes a form of sub-contract). This agreement, as well as specifying the benefits of being a reachfor strategic associate and dealing with the usual issues of confidentiality, intellectual property etc, includes a competition protocol as follows:
4.6.1. The strategic associate and reachfor agree to inform each other of any opportunity for which they intend to bid for funding (grant, contract or similar) in the area in which the associate has capability to deliver.
4.6.2. The strategic associate and reachfor will use best endeavours to reach agreement on whether or not they would bid in competition with each other or in collaboration.
4.6.3. Should the strategic associate decide to bid in competition with reachfor, without reachfor’s consent then reachfor reserves the right either to revoke the associates preferred supplier status in respect of the bidding opportunity in question or, in the case of a fundamental breakdown in relationship, to terminate the preferred supplier agreement in its entirety).
4.7. Applicants should indicate in the appropriate place on the application form any terms of the form of preferred supplier agreement and sub-contract that they are not prepared to accept as drafted, their proposed alternative and the rationale for this proposal. Whilst we will consider any reasonable alternative, reachfor reserves the right to reject, at its sole discretion, applications that propose extensive or unreasonable amendments to the form of preferred supplier agreement or sub-contract.
5. Instructions and information for applicants
5.1. Any organisation interested in applying to become a reachfor strategic associate should first contact reachfor informally. You can contact Viveen Taylor, our Business Development Manager on 0161 856 2063 or 07964 112 661
5.2. Organisations wishing to apply to become a reachfor strategic associate must submit a completed application form (appendix 2), applicant’s declaration (appendix 3) and associated documentation (see checklist at appendix 4). Applications submitted in any other format or with missing information may be rejected without being evaluated.
5.3. Applications should be submitted electronically, by email to or on a CD-ROM to David Barlow, c/o GMCP, Strand House, 21 Strand Street, Liverpool L1 8LT with one hard copy of the signed application form and declaration sent by post to the same address.
5.4. reachfor may contact applicants by email or telephone after submission to clarify any aspect of their application.
5.5. reachfor is not bound in any way to accept any application submitted in response to this opportunity and reserves the right to accept an application for the whole or part of the geographical area in respect of which the applicant has submitted the application.
5.6. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that any conflicts of interest between their organisation and reachfor or any of its members are openly declared on the application form. reachfor reserves the right, in its absolute discretion, to reject any application in respect of which reachfor considers there are conflicts of interest that cannot be satisfactorily managed or overcome.
5.7. reachfor further reserves the right to:
5.7.1. waive or amend this application pack from time to time without giving prior notice;
5.7.2. disqualify any applicant that is guilty of misrepresentations in relation to its application or the application process;
5.7.3. disqualify any applicant that offers any inducement of any kind in relation to this application process;
5.7.4. disqualify any applicant where reachfor considers (in its absolute discretion) that:
5.7.4.1. there have been adverse changes in the applicants circumstances (including financial standing) since submission of the application;
5.7.4.2. the applicant does not meet any of the eligibility requires set out in the evaluation section of this application pack; or
5.7.4.3. The applicant cannot comply with the terms of the form of preferred suppliers agreement or sub-contract.
5.7.5. discontinue the application process at any time and not to appoint any strategic associates.
Costs and expenses
5.8. Applicants must bear their own costs of submitting an expression of interest and/or application whether or not their application is successful, and whether or not reachfor exercises its right to discontinue the application process.
6. Evaluation of applications
6.1. reachfor aims to complete assessment of applications as quickly as possible and reach decisions with 3-6 months of submission (depending on the timing of our Board meetings).
6.2. As this is effectively a selection process for strategic associates reachfor is not seeking any pricing information from applicants and therefore there is no evaluation of pricing at this stage (prices will be negotiated on a sub-contract, by sub-contract basis).
6.3. reachfor has determined a methodology for evaluation of applications which involves scoring responses to questions on the application form as follows:
Questions / Approach to scoring/evaluation /1-13 / Not scored
14 / Yes = Pass
No = Fail
18, 19 / Pass if at least one box is checked and explanation is considered to show a strong track record in the areas indicated
23 / Pass if turnover in last accounting period is greater than £1m per annum
Fail if otherwise
29-36, 42 and 43 / No = Pass
Yes = Fail unless a satisfactory explanation is provided
37 and 38 / Yes = Pass
No = Fail unless a satisfactory explanation is provided
39 / Pass if cover of £5m per claim or higher
Fail if otherwise
40 / Pass if cover of £10m per claim or higher
Fail if otherwise
41 / Pass if cover of £1m per claim or higher
Fail if otherwise
44 / Pass if all boxes checked
Fail if any one box is not checked
46 / Yes = Pass
No = Fail
47 / No = Pass
Yes = Fail unless a satisfactory explanation is provided
20 + references / Scored together out of 50 as an assessment of the extent of shared values between reachfor and the applicant
15, 16, 17, 22, 24-27, 45, 48 + references / Scored together out of 40 as an assessment of the applicant’s capability, capacity to take on new work and financial track record (including having secure financial future in the short to medium term)
21 + references / Scored out of 10
6.4. Therefore, applicants that achieve passes in responses to all questions with pass/fail criteria will be allocated a score out of 100 combining assessments of: values fit; capability, capacity and financial health; and complimentary expertise.