The Bernicia Group procures a wide variety of goods, service and works to enable our organisation to build, rent, sell and manage homes, provide estate and facilities management and specialist care and 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 giving 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 the most advantageous balance of quality and cost while eliminating any risk.

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

Supplying to Bernicia Homes

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

Bernicia’s current procurement thresholds are –

• Expenditure between £3,000 – £15,000 (excluding vat) requires a minimum of 2 written quotations.
• Expenditure between £15,000 – £50,000 (excluding VAT) requires a minimum of 3 written quotations.
• Expenditure above £50,000 (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 provide you with access to all opportunities within Bernicia Homes. All of our quotations and tenders are issued through this portal.

As a registered supplier on the portal, you will be able to –

• Maintain your own company profile, indicating the opportunities you are interested in.
• View current and future tendering opportunities.
• Receive 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 would like the opportunity to quote or tender for Bernicia Homes, you should register free within the supplier area of www.housingprocurement.com. If you are already registered please log into the housing portal and update your company profile to include notifications from the Bernicia Group.
Opportunities that are advertised via the housing procurement portal will also be advertised in conjunction with Contracts Finder. Notices for opportunities above the appropriate EU thresholds will be also advertised in OJEU.

Tender and Selection Process

Our tender process ensures that all suppliers are treated consistently and fairly and we complete with the highest degrees of transparency, honesty and integrity.
Tenders are evaluated against a pre-determined set of criteria.

Within our selection process, we ensure suppliers, contractors and consultants have the financial, commercial and technical capability to meet out requirements.
We ensure corporate responsibility and recognise social value. We ensure there is a commitment to equal opportunities environmental and health and safety. All companies are required to comply with standards including Bribery Act 2010, Data Protection 1998 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 allows contractors to submit all your prequalification data at once for all procurements across common commodities. This saves time and reduces costs.
If you’re a small business, we make sure that the procurement process is competitive and transparent so that 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 re-apply for contracts that meet the standard. Bernicia Homes use 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

The Bernicia group 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 Homes. 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 0191 2383812 or marie.cairns@bernicia.com.