Digital Dairy Chain (DDC) Project Evaluator

Tender description

Working under the direction of the Digital Dairy Chain (DCC) Programme Director, SRUC seeks external project expertise to undertake a formal independent evaluation of the DDC project. This should include an interim evaluation and a final summative evaluation. The DDC project commenced in February 2022 and is a five-year UKRI Strength in Places (SIPF) project, with a budget of GBP21.3 million to transform the dairy sector and uplift economic growth, via grant funding, business support, skills development and technology innovation. The Project Team is working with the dairy industry to develop and implement technologies for sensing and data handling, as well as infrastructure to support innovation and growth for local businesses, nurturing young entrepreneurs and supporting the development of new skills and capabilities. It is developing advanced manufacturing processes to create a fully integrated and traceable supply chain as well as helping businesses to develop new products and explore new markets. Further details of the project can be obtained here: www.digitaldairychain.co.uk Lot 1: SRUC seeks to appoint a specialist consultant to support SRUC colleagues working on DDC project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities with an independent evaluation of the economic and non-economic impact of the DDC project. The purpose of this evaluation will be to: 1) generate and collate high-quality evidence to demonstrate the programme’s economic and non-economic impacts. This will entail synthesis and review of existing evidence, as well as execution of new analyses to fill any gaps; 2) provide a clear picture of successes, limitations and learnings to inform subsequent place-based programme(s); and 3) aid evidence submission to future government spending reviews and other requests by UKRI. The independent evaluation should include an interim evaluation and a final summative evaluation. The evaluation should cover both process and impact elements of the project including: - Appropriateness of initial project design. - Progress against Work Package Deliverables as set out in the Project Plan. - Progress against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as set out in the DDC Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan. - Contribution towards SIPF programme-level indicators as set out in the KPI Dashboard. - Project delivery and management. - Outcomes and impact (short-, medium- and long-term), including an assessment of impact attribution. - Value for money. - Lessons learnt and Recommendations.. SRUC will be hosting an on-line (Teams) pre-tender meeting for interested suppliers from 14.00 - 14.30 on 27 May 2025. If you wish to participate in this meeting please email procurement@sruc.ac.uk by 12.00 on 27 May 2025 and include the email address for your attendee so an invite can be issued. Please quote Ref. No. 36780 in your email title.