We offer a wide variety of goods, services and works to allow our organisation to build, rent, sell and manage homes, provide estate facilities management and specialist support services to over 60,000 customers.

This section details information about our procurement process and what you need to do if you want to work with us.

Our procurement principles

The key principles of Bernicia’s procurement within our procurement strategy are:

• Achieve value for money and be supported by the group value for money strategy.
• Be transparent, open and give equal opportunities to participate and encourage competition from local suppliers.
• Meet our legal requirements and be compliant with internal procedures.
• Be in proportion to the contract value, reducing any administrative and monitoring resources.
• Maximise purchasing power.
• Create an important balance of quality and cost while eliminating any risk.

The procurement of goods, services and works for Bernicia is regulated by the EU Procurement Directive 2014, Procurement Contract Regulations 2015 and the Groups Financial Regulations and Contract Procedure Rules.

Supplying to Bernicia

Bernicia wants to work with suppliers, contractors and consultants who will make sure we get value for money by procuring high-quality goods, services and works. In procurement, we work to make sure we have appropriate measures in place to trade with the most reputable and industry-compliant suppliers, contractors and consultants.
Bernicia’s contracts are awarded through a competitive process, either quotation or tenders, dependent on the value.

Bernicia’s current procurement thresholds are:

• Expenditure between £10,000 and £25,000 (excluding VAT) requires a minimum of two written quotations.
• Expenditure between £25,000 and £100,000 (excluding VAT) requires a minimum of three written quotations.
• Expenditure above £100,000 (excluding VAT) but less than relevant OJEU threshold for goods, services and works requires formal tenders.
• Expenditure equal to or exceeding the OJEU thresholds for goods, services and works requires formal tenders in accordance with OJEU procedures, with a call for competition advertised in the OJEU Journal.

Opportunities

For information on Bernicia’s latest tender opportunities, please visit our Procurement Portal – www.housingprocurement.com.

This Portal is shared with other registered providers, which increases your access to opportunities by one single registration to the Portal (select all organisations when you register).

The Portal will give you access to all opportunities within Bernicia. All of our quotations and tenders are issued through this Portal.

As a registered supplier on the Portal, you’ll be able to:

• Maintain your own company profile, indicating the opportunities you’re interested in.
• View current and future tendering opportunities.
• Get email notifications whenever opportunities matching your profile become available.
• Register an expression of interest in a published opportunity and request contract documentation to be sent.
• Submit quotations and tenders electronically.

If you’d like the opportunity to quote or tender for Bernicia, you should register for free within the supplier area of www.housingprocurement.com. If you’re already registered, please log into the Housing Portal and update your company profile to include notifications from Bernicia.
Opportunities that are advertised through the Housing Procurement Portal will also be advertised in conjunction with Contracts Finder. Notices for opportunities above the appropriate EU thresholds will also be advertised in OJEU.

Tender and selection process

Our tender process makes sure all suppliers are treated consistently and fairly and we compete with the highest degrees of transparency, honesty and integrity.
Tenders are evaluated against a predetermined set of criteria.

Within our selection process, we make sure suppliers, contractors and consultants have the financial, commercial and technical capability to meet our requirements.
We ensure corporate responsibility and recognise social value. We make sure there’s a commitment to equal opportunities, environmental and health and safety. All companies are required to comply with standards including Bribery Act 2010, General Data Protection Regulations 2018 and Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We encourage all contractors and consultants to be members of Constructionline and have a safety scheme in procurement in place. You can register with Constructionline at www.constructionline.co.uk.

For Contractors, Bernicia supports the use of the PAS91 questionnaire (a standardised pre-qualification questionnaire). This lets contractors submit all your pre-qualification data at once for all procurements across common commodities. This saves time and reduces costs.
If you’re a small business, we make sure the procurement process is competitive and transparent, so you’re not disadvantaged and precluded from tendering exercises.

Approved list

Bernicia maintains an approved list of contractors and consultants for works and services. The approved list is contractors and consultants who are vetted to Bernicia’s standards and technical capability, including financial, health and safety and insurance assessments.

The approved list gives reassurances to Bernicia that a minimum standard has been met and saves contractors and consultants from having to reapply for contracts that meet the standard. Bernicia uses Constructionline to support and maintain their approved list.

Being on our approved list does not guarantee any work, and companies can also be removed from the list if performance or probity become an issue or concern. The list is reviewed on an annual basis, and companies can be added or deleted as appropriate.

Terms and conditions

Bernicia has a suite of contracts which cover supplies, service and minor works. These standard terms and conditions are to be incorporated into any contract for the purchase of services and/or goods by Bernicia. We also use the JCT suite of contracts for works and maintenance contracts.

Contact

If you have any questions on the procurement activity of Bernicia, please contact Marie Cairns on 0191 238 3812 or marie.cairns@bernicia.com.