SSA_2024_COURIER SERVICES FRAMEWORK SERVICES

Tender description

Introduction and background to the tender <br /><br />This invitation to tender (ITT) seeks to obtain the most effective and efficient business courier services provider for the British Council Sub-Saharan Africa (British Council, SSA), as outlined in the Specification, Clause 7 of the ITT. This will comprise both international (within SSA and overseas) and local (in-country in some cases) courier service for our business courier needs as indicated in the Lots for this tender. <br /><br />The British Council is looking for a supplier with demonstrable expertise in delivering these services to a high standard, while offering excellent value for money effectively, efficiently, timely and safely. During our last financial year (2023/24), approximately GBP £2,100,000 was spent on courier services across 20 countries of operation, this excludes postage, visa, diplomatic luggage etc. The operations are in the various countries as outlined herein. <br /><br /> <br /><br />Country <br /><br />Address <br /><br />Nigeria <br /><br />Plot 3645 IBB Way, Maitama (PMB 550) ,Garki, Abuja <br /><br />20 Thompson Avenue ,Ikoyi, Lagos <br /><br />No 19/20 Lamido Road, Nasarawa Government Reserved Area. Kano. <br /><br />Plot 300 Obasanjo Way ,GRA II, Port Harcourt <br /><br />Kenya <br /><br />Upper Hill Road Nairobi <br /><br />Ethiopia <br /><br />Comoros Street, Addis Ababa <br /><br />Ghana <br /><br />Liberia Road, Accra <br /><br />Bank Road, Kumasi <br /><br />Sudan <br /><br />Abu Sinn Street ,Khartoum <br /><br />Country <br /><br />Address <br /><br />South Africa <br /><br />Dunkeld Corner ,275 Jan Smuts Avenue Dunkel, West, Johannesburg <br /><br />Associated Magazines House, 21 St John's Street, Cape Town <br /><br />Uganda <br /><br />Plot 4 Windsor Loop Road, Kampala <br /><br />Rwanda <br /><br />British Council Rwanda, KG5 Ave, Kigali <br /><br />Zimbabwe <br /><br />16 Cork Road, Belgravia,Harare <br /><br />Zimdef House, Bulawayo <br /><br />South Sudan <br /><br />Off Kololo Road, Tongping, Juba <br /><br />Malawi <br /><br />British High Commission Building, Capital City ,Lilongwe <br /><br />British Council, Blantyre <br /><br />Senegal <br /><br />Rue AAB-68, Amitié Zone A et B, (BP 6232) Dakar <br /><br />Mauritius <br /><br />Royal Road, Rose Hill <br /><br />Zambia <br /><br />Aquarius House, Katima Mulilo Road, Lusaka <br /><br />Mozambique <br /><br />No 269 Avenida Sociedade de Geografia, 2nd Floor, Hollard Building, Maputo <br /><br />Botswana <br /><br />British High Commission, Building, Queen’s Road, The Mall, Gaborone <br /><br />Sierra Leone <br /><br />British Council , Tower Hill, Freetown <br /><br />Tanzania <br /><br />Samora Avenue / Ohio Street, Dar Es Salaam <br /><br />Namibia <br /><br />116, Robert Mugabe Avenue, Windhoek <br /><br />Cameroon <br /><br />British Council, British High Commission, Avenue Winston Churchill, 2eme Rue, Hippodrome, Yaounde. <br /><br /> <br /><br />7.2 Objective <br /><br />4.2.1 The primary objective of this project is to contract capable service providers for end-to-end delivery of British Council consignments/ couriers. They include confidential materials such as (but not exclusively) exams papers that British Council conducts on behalf of respective boards and bodies. This is to be done in a timely, sufficiently fast, secure, effective and efficient manner while deriving saving from the quantities for the British Council. The contracted service providers will be expected to introduce further efficiencies, standardisation and scalability in the delivery process. All this shall be delivered under secure and confidential conditions, meeting British Council and Examinations Boards standards, which shall be shared with the successful suppliers. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.2.2 Expected outputs <br /><br /> <br /><br />The expectations are: - <br /><br />Delivery of Exams materials from source to in-country/ local, to the airport to British Council offices strong rooms countries. <br /><br />Notification of all arrivals with 48hrs’ notice in writing. <br /><br />Distribution of Exam materials to venues before the exams takes place as per a prior agreement with the British Council .There must be evidence of secure holding of Exams material prior and following the exam and secure collection from the venue at the end of an exam. <br /><br />Despatch of Question Papers/ Material to outreach centres/ venues based on provided schedules that will be shared in advance, it may include weekends or public holidays as well. <br /><br />Any late/ unexpected despatch/ receipt should be dealt with as the main consignment and the same workflow should be adopted. <br /><br />All boxes containing Exams materials will be transported in locked vehicles or suitable equivalence such as motor bikes where applicable. The vehicle or motor bikes must have a tracker to map out the journey details such as time taken, route adopted and number of timed stoppages. The vehicle (motor bike rider) should have a mobile phone in order to allow timely reporting of internal dispatch status including challenges. <br /><br />The courier company should have a backup vehicle/s (or motor bikes and motor bike riders) in case of emergencies or break–downs or down time. <br /><br />Airway bill should be valid for extended period of time to allow for the transaction to be complete at no extra cost. <br /><br />Time-bound deliveries that need to get to destination venues by 0730 hrs must be met which includes the provider having capability to safely store the material overnight waiting for on time delivery to in country locations. <br /><br />Provide advice and facilitate/ coordinate all customs processes such as declaration, clearance etc for all parcels and/ or materials that BC engages in from source point to destination. <br /><br />Timely consistent submission of invoices within the relevant month <br /><br /> <br /><br />Other expected outputs <br /><br />There must be bulk waybill creation and results management <br /><br />SLA's must be met with timelines <br /><br />Notifications must be made <br /><br />Third party outsourcing is allowable but same clauses in the BC agreement shall be extended to the 3Ps to be used <br /><br /> Bulk invoicing should also be incorporated in billing <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.2.3 Packaging of Exam materials/ consignment <br /><br /> <br /><br />Where BC does not provide special (water, fire and tamper proof at a minimum) packaging boxes with security seal/ lock, according to the venue requirements, the courier will provide boxes and packaging materials (that will be water, fire and tamper proof at a minimum) once a week (as per need). This is usually on Mondays - during the Exam periods. <br /><br />British Council staff will pack the material appropriately and hand it over to courier staff (with relevant receipting) for delivery to the UK or stated destination (by the courier company itself). <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.2.4 Customs clearance and procedures <br /><br /> <br /><br /> Both in-bound and outbound shipment’s customs clearing shall be coordinated and facilitated by the service provider where it is required in the most economical manner. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.2.5 E-shipment and tracking facility <br /><br /> <br /><br /> The service provider shall have a facility to enable shipment documentation to be online unless where there is evidence that the same is not possible. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.2.6 Tracking <br /><br /> <br /><br /> Latest tracking information must always be available online and/ or with the courier company until the consignment reaches its main destination. Tracking system must have alerts functionality to the shipment journey (i.e. where it has reached on its way to UK, for how long it stayed at a specific location/port, what was the reason for the stoppage, was consignment checked physically by opening boxes and packets, if it was checked was it done in the presence of the staff of the courier company etc) are disseminated to the relevant BC office. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.2.7 Collection, transportation, tracking & safety of consignment <br /><br /> <br /><br />British Council shall inform the supplier of a schedule of dispatch at least two weeks earlier or as soon as it is reasonable known before. <br /><br />Supplier to arrange pick up of the material as per agreed schedule and times from the location, provide a receipt with tracking number etc. <br /><br />Supplier to ensure timely, safe and secure transport of the materials with and updated online tracking system. <br /><br />In case of any loss/ damage to the packets/ boxes, the courier company should inform the British Council immediately with mitigating plans to recover the lost/ damages packets/boxes within 48 hours. Suppler to share incident reporting / escalation processes. <br /><br />For outbound shipments, supplier to ensure only the specified recipient, signs for shipment and can be tracked or traced to mitigate against wrong deliveries. <br /><br />All consignments are confidential hence the courier will be expected to put in place systems and processes to ensure safe and secure delivery of the British Council consignment. <br /><br />Suppler to ensure secure handling of inbound and outbound shipements from origin to destination, ensuring confidentiality and preventing tampering, mishandling or unauthorized access. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.2.8 Technology: <br /><br /> <br /><br />At a minimum, the supplier must demonstrate to the extent possible that there is; <br /><br />Safety and/ or security monitoring with tamper detection and reporting mechanism that has proven track record. <br /><br />Vehicles Tracking and Monitoring System; o The vehicle must have a tracker to map out journey details such as time taken, route adopted and number of timed stoppages. <br /><br />o The tracking system should allow timely reporting and monitoring by the British Council. <br /><br />E-Shipping functionality that automates all alerts such as alert for pick up, online shipping form, way bill etc <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.2.9 Geographical coverage: <br /><br /> <br /><br />Courier Company should have operational presence, offices, confirmed partnerships (that are mature operationally) and in all countries British Council has operations in SSA and must be able to deliver consignments in rural areas in the said countries for the Lot tendered for. <br /><br /> <br /><br />The model being adopted by British Council in managing her courier service is a cluster approach where the service provider is to provider service in accordance with the cluster groupings as far as possible. The clusters are WA - West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Gambia and Cameroon centre), SA - Southern Africa (South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, & Mozambique) and EHA - East/ Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda). Agreed service levels must be consistently met; if, for any reason this is not possible, the British Council must be informed immediately and Service Credits will apply. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.3 Participation and contracting modalities <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.3.1 The Lots for the tender are; <br /><br />Lot 1 – International (overseas and SSA) courier services; <br /><br />Lot 2 - National courier services provision ; <br /><br />Lot 3 – International and domestic (overseas and SSA) courier services; <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.3.2 A supplier is permitted to tender for one or more lots so long there is clear demonstration of competitiveness, enhanced discounts in services provided and compliance to the <br /><br />requirements of the tender. A response will only be evaluated for the Lot for which it is tendered for. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.3.3 A supplier may be contracted for more than one Lot depending on the response competitiveness and compliance with the requirements. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.3.4 In-country/ national lots could be tendered individually and should comply with all the incountry/ national requirements but should be able to provide the service in at least two countries in the said cluster. <br /><br /> <br /><br />4.4 Grounds for disqualification <br /><br /> <br /><br />The British Council may disqualify a potential supplier when it is substantially established that they do not demonstrate capability to the following; <br /><br />On-time delivery, at 7.30 a.m., local time for exam materials with practicable demonstrated capability. <br /><br />Security and safety due to the confidentiality of the materials BC is in business of. <br /><br />Traceability such that at any one point, BC is able to locate where the consignment is etc. d) E-shipment capability. <br /><br /> Capacity to generate cost avoidance and cash savings<br /><br />Capacity to take on liability for lost shipments or breaches in transit