Export Support Programme - West Midlands Combined Authority - £2,551,500

Tender

Export Support

• West Midlands Combined Authority UK4: Tender notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2026/S 000-032598

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-067bac

Published 2 April 2026, 12:10pm

Last edited 9 April 2026, 4:53pm

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• 9 April 2026, 4:53pm (this version)
• 2 April 2026, 12:10pm

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Contents

Scope Participation Submission Award criteria Other information Procedure Contracting authority

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• Copy link Print this notice Report concerns about this procurement ## Changes to notice

This notice has been edited. The previous version is still available.

This is an edited notice - the enquiry deadline and deadline for submission have both now been amended as per this notice.

Scope

Reference

PRT-ECDVDE-ESG-2025-0004

Description

The Export Support Programme aims to support high-growth businesses in the West Midlands (WM) manage their exporting activity more sustainably, to increase the pace of growth and its duration. It will do this through a range of potential interventions including, but not limited to, intensive one-to-one coaching, peer-to-peer support, and workshops.

Initial contract period is for September 2026 - March 2027.

x2 additional 12-month extension options for:

1st April 2027 - 31st March 2028

1st April 2028 - 31st March 2029

Total value (estimated)

• £2,126,250 excluding VAT
• £2,551,500 including VAT Above the relevant threshold

Contract dates (estimated)

• 2 September 2026 to 31 March 2027
• Possible extension to 31 March 2029
• 2 years, 6 months, 29 days Description of possible extension:

x2 12 Month extension period available from:

01/04/2027 - 31/03/2028

01/04/2028 - 31/03/2029

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

Business and management consultancy and related services

Contract locations

• UKG3 - West Midlands

Participation

Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation

1.6.1 - Insurance Cover

Please confirm whether you already have, or can commit to obtain, prior to the commencement of the contract, the levels of insurance cover indicated below:

Employer's (Compulsory) Liability Insurance = £10,000,000

Public Liability Insurance = £5,000,000

Professional Indemnity Insurance = £2,000,000

1.6.2 - Confirmation of or intent to secure insurance

Please attach a copy of an existing Insurance certificate that meets or exceeds the requirements above for the duration of the contract or a letter/quotation from an insurance company confirming that they would offer the required level of insurance to the supplier.

If you cannot produce either one of the above at this stage you will be deemed to have failed the WMCA's Conditions of Participation in relation to this opportunity and will not have your Technical or Commercial submissions evaluated.

1.7.1 - Supplier Declaration

Please acknowledge your acceptance and understanding of the Financial Self-Assessment process, and provide confirmation that:

• You have completed your self-assessment in line with the guidance provided, using the most recent set of financial results available through the CDP.

• You understand that if you fail any metric of the self-assessment you will need to engage with the WMCA Finance Team immediately (via the ProContract messaging facility) to agree a range of mitigations that will enable you to either progress to the shortlisting stage or have your tender submissions evaluated.

1.8.2 - Terms and Conditions

The Terms and Conditions related to this contract are non negotiable, either during the clarification period, standstill or post award. Please confirm that you agree to the terms and conditions we have provided you with in full.

WMCA reserves the right to amend the published terms and conditions if for example an error has been identified. In this case all suppliers will be notified of the amendment immediately. The WMCA also reserves the right to extend clarification and/or tender submission dates resulting from a change to the Terms and Conditions if we feel that the amendment warrants it.

Suppliers providing a 'no' response will be deemed to have failed the WMCA's Conditions of Participation in relation to this contract

• You understand that any engagement with the WMCA Finance Team can only take place during the clarification period, if you cannot agree suitable mitigations then you should not submit a Tender response as it will be rejected.

Any supplier answering 'No' will be deemed to have failed the WMCA's Conditions of Participation in relation to this opportunity and will not have their PSQ/ITT responses evaluated further.

Technical ability conditions of participation

5.1 - Please demonstrate previous experience of supporting exporting businesses within the West Midlands region which enabled them to achieve positive growth.

Please provide two separate contract examples, and for each contract example, you must cover and evidence all three of the listed evidence points below:

Positive growth achieved by the business supported (please make specific reference to outcomes such as jobs created, increased productivity and other relevant metrics)

The support offered and its direct impact on this growth

Businesses within the targeted clusters as set out in the Plan for Growth

5.2 - Please demonstrate recent experience of supporting exporting businesses.

Please provide two separate contract examples, and for each contract example, you must cover and evidence all two of the listed evidence points below:

Delivery of an Export Support Programme to SME's in the last 3 years

Delivering small group (to between 5-10 individuals) / peer to peer workshops to SME's and 1-2-1 business support during the programme(s)

Particular suitability

• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
• Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)

Submission

Enquiry deadline

23 April 2026, 4:00pm

Submission type

Tenders

Tender submission deadline

11 May 2026, 4:00pm

Submission address and any special instructions

https://procontract.due-north.com/Procurer/Advert/View?advertId=c757f6f4-88f7-f011-813c-005056b64545&fromAdvertEvent=True

Tenders may be submitted electronically

Yes

Languages that may be used for submission

English

Award decision date (estimated)

20 August 2026

Award criteria

Name	Type	Weighting
Technical	Quality	60.00%
Commercial	Price	30.00%
Social Value	Quality	10.00%

Other information

Applicable trade agreements

• Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

Conflicts assessment prepared/revised

Yes

Procedure

Procedure type

Competitive flexible procedure

Competitive flexible procedure description

​This competitive flexible procedure will be conducted in seven (6) stages. The six (6) stages are described in more detail below.

​Stage 1 - Preliminary Check

• ​Verification that the submission is complete and compliant with the instructions in this Invitation to Tender.

​Stage 2 -Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ), Conditions of Participation Assessment (COP) and Financial Assessment Checks

• Pass and Fail review of Procurement Specific Questions and ensure the Supplier satisfies the criteria outlined in the Procurement Specific Questionnaire including Mandatory and Discretionary Exclusion Grounds.  Those who fail any of the COP/ PSQ Questions, will not be taken through to the technical quality assessment (Stage3). Suppliers will be notified at this point if they have passed/failed.

​​Stage 3 Technical/ Quality and Social Value Assessment

​- Completion of independent quality evaluation by the Panel and Moderation.  Completion also of social value assessment as per Appendix E.

​Stage 4 - Commercial (Price) Assessment

• ​Assessment of Financial submission.

​Stage 5 - Total Score & Ranking

​- Final Quality Score and Commercial Score are combined and Bids ranked to identify the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT).

​Stage 6 - Notification & Due Diligence

• ​Notification of the tender outcome and due diligence checks completed with successful supplier prior to entering into contract.

Justification for not publishing a preliminary market engagement notice

No market engagement has taken place for this contract due to that this will be the third iteration of the programme tendered. This ensures that there is a confident knowledge of the market and supplier base, and no further input is required into the specification of need to shape and finalise this.

Contracting authority

West Midlands Combined Authority

• Public Procurement Organisation Number: PGMD-1353-PZVX West Midlands Combined Authority

Birmingham

B19 3SD

United Kingdom

Contact name: Emily Sutton

Email: procurement.team@wmca.org.uk

Website: https://www.wmca.org.uk /

Region: UKG31 - Birmingham

Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government