Renfrewshire Council

Every year, Renfrewshire Council spends about £280m on goods, services and works.

We want to make sure as many local firms as possible are able to get a share of this spend. We want to make it as simple as possible for you to do business with Renfrewshire Council. 

On this page:

• Register with Public Contracts Scotland
• Tenders and contracts
• Bidding for contracts
• Invoicing the Council
• Useful contacts

Register with Public Contracts Scotland

The first step in supplying to us is to register with the Public Contracts Scotland website.

This is the single most important thing you can do. It will put you in a position to find out about contracts and to bid for them.

This website has a live contracts register where you can view any live contract notices over £50,000.

Tenders and contracts

All current tenders for goods, services and works are advertised on the Public Contracts Scotland website.

We don't evaluate a tender purely on price. We are looking for the best balance of price and quality. We have an obligation to offer the best value for money to taxpayers and require an exceptional standard of performance from contractors and suppliers. Selecting a supplier, we must ensure they will provide value for money, and that services will be delivered effectively.

Tenders are evaluated based on these factors:

• financial viability
• quality
• competence
• experience
• technical merit and backup
• after sales service
• delivery date
• adherence to council policies and protocols
• corporate social responsibility (social, economic and environmental factors)
• integrity
• innovation
• communication

Bidders convicted by final judgement of money laundering, fraud, corruption or participation in a criminal organisation must be excluded. 

Tenders must be returned by the date advertised. Any received after the deadline will not be considered. All tender documents are opened at the same time to ensure a fair process.

Details of the specific evaluation criteria and the relative weighting of the criteria are included in the tender documents. At any time during the tender process, you may be invited to give a presentation or product demonstration, or attend a meeting or interview, full details will be provided within the tender documents. The council may also conduct site visits to see how potential suppliers organise their work.

The process is formal to make sure honesty and integrity are maintained throughout and that all tenders are handled in a consistently fair and competitive manner. We are always happy to answer questions specifically about a tender and specification. We will ensure consistency in the information provided to contractors and in our communications.  Any questions relating to a live tender must be posted on the Messaging Area, as per the tender document instructions.

The contract notice or the contract documents or, in the case of the competitive dialogue the descriptive document accompanying the contract notice, will state the relative tender weightings given to each of the award criteria.

Brands can only be specified, exceptionally, when it is not feasible to specify the requirement in technical or performance terms. Reference to the brand will be accompanied by the words 'or equivalent'.  Tenderers must ensure their bid explains how the alternative brand offered is equivalent and complies with the published specification.  Full details will be available within the published tender document.

Bidding for contracts

If you see a council contract advertised that you or your company is interested in tendering for, you should lodge an official Expression of Interest. Details of how to do this will be given in the contract notice advert.

The contract notice or advert will detail what procurement procedure is being used - open, restricted, negotiated or competitive dialogue.

Each tender process will require you to provide some or all of the following information:

• Financial information
• Equal opportunities
• Sustainability
• Health and safety
• Experience and technical ability

We need to assess whether a company has the relevant experience, resources and technical ability to carry out the categories of work or to provide the type and quality of service required.

You should provide details of similar work carried out over recent years. You must also provide contact details of referees. Further details may be required for particular contracts.

As long as the minimum criteria is met, such as financial stability, satisfactory health and safety environments, insurance and that services are provided to a high quality at a competitive cost, there is no reason why companies cannot attract business from the council.

Renfrewshire Council applies fairness and equality of treatment in awarding contracts in line with achieving best value for citizens and the taxpayer.

To stand the best chance of winning a contract, you need to clearly demonstrate that you can meet the required standards and service delivery requirements at the most economically advantageous cost.

You can read more information on Standing orders relating to contracts [888KB] .

Invoicing the Council

Our Creditors section processes all Renfrewshire Council's invoices, either through our PECOS procurement system, manual invoices or statement billing. They also process all Corporate Purchasing Card transactions.

Creditors section is also responsible for processing of Construction Industry Scheme Payments and payovers to the Inland Revenue.

If suppliers would prefer to receive their BACS payment remittance advice by email, please contact the Creditors section at invoices.finit@renfrewshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 0203.
 

Useful contacts

Laura Gillan
Corporate Procurement Manager (Interim)
laura.gillan@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Alexandra Donaldson
Strategic Category Manager 
alexandra.donaldson@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Graeme Beattie
Strategic Category Manager 
graeme.beattie@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Rachel Davison
Digital Category Manager
rachel.davison@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Rebecca Park
Strategic Category Manager
rebecca.park@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Joanna Tannock
Strategic Category Manager (Interim)
joanna.tannock@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Jenny Bowles
Purchase to Pay - Programme Operational Lead (Interim)
jenny.bowles@renfrewshire.gov.uk