Overview

Westminster Foundation for Democracy (“WFD”) is the UK public body dedicated to supporting democracy around the world. Operating internationally, WFD works with parliaments, political parties, and civil society groups as well as on elections to help make political systems fairer, more inclusive and more accountable.

. We are a problem-solving, practitioner-led organisation that offers: 

• High quality and impactful regional and country programmes that directly support the full spectrum of institutions in political systems to develop inclusive political processes, more accountable political systems, protection of rights and freedoms, and more pluralistic societies; 
• Specialist analysis, research, and advice to inform UK policy makers on a range of democratic governance issues through our Centre of Expertise; and 
• International elections observation on behalf of the UK. 

Aim of this Invitation to Tender 

WFD is issuing this Invitation to Tender (“ITT”) to a range of potential suppliers of goods and/or services and would welcome a bid from your organisation.

With the appointment of the new members to the parliament in Maldives in May 2024, WFD aims to conduct a 3-day induction in partnership with the People’s Majlis. WFD is seeking a supplier to provide a secure event space near Male’ to conduct the induction training and travel from Male to the venue space. Further details are provided under the detailed specification heading of this tender. 

Bid submission

All bids should be submitted by 13th June 2024, 14:00 in writing, must comply with the requirements of this ITT, and must include the information requested in the Bid Requirements below. 

The bid should be sent electronically and addressed to: procurement@wfd.org The same email address should be used for any questions related to this ITT. 

By submitting a bid, you agree to comply with WFD’s standard terms and conditions for tendering and key policies, which are found here, and WFD’s Code of Conduct. 

Detailed Specification

Objective

WFD seeks the services of a supplier that can provide an event venue near Male’ to host a 3-day high level training for the parliamentarians of the Maldives along with travel from and to Male’. 

Deliverables 

The supplier shall provide an event space and fulfil travel needs according to the below requirement.

• Provide lunch and free flow of coffee/tea and snacks throughout the event for 116 guests for 3 days
• On day 1 of the event, for a duration of an hour 130 guests will be in attendance for an opening ceremony and from thereon only 116 guests will be attending the full event. 
• On Day 1 of the event, additional 14 guests will be attending and a free flow of coffee/tea and snacks in the morning should be provided to include this number
• The event will be held from 08:30 to 16:30 for a total of 8 hours. 
• Event venue must be based outside of Male’. 
• A prayer area must be provided within the venue. 
• Provide return travel from Male’ to the venue to the following number of guests. No. of pax is grouped into guests who will be travelling together. 

• Provide the following amenities
  • Flip Chart Stand
  • Projector 
  • Screen
  • Wireless Handheld Mics
  • Wi-Fi
  • Laptop  (possibility of using webcams for online guests)
  • Sound System  
  • Podium
  • Supplier shall provide an IT technician throughout the event to provide any technical assistance needed during the event. 

Timeline

The event will be held for 3 consecutive days between July 7th – 11th 2024.  

Reporting

The Supplier will work closely with the WFD Maldives team and report to the team on a need's basis. 

The Supplier should arrange for a project manager or event coordinator to liaise with WFD throughout the term of this arrangement and shall provide regular updates on logistics and planning.

Working arrangements 

The Supplier will work closely with the WFD – Maldives Country Representative Aryj Hussain.  

Payments

Payment will be made after the satisfactory delivery of venue hire and services. 

The quotation for this tender should be in the currency that the accounts payable of the supplier is based in. 

Minimum experience and expertise

Previous experience in handling high volume events.

Bid process

Timescale

Below is the proposed timescale for the tendering process. Please note the dates are indicative and subject to change.

Bid requirements

In general, the bid should include the following:

1. Organisational profile
2. Proposed solution and how it meets the specification 
3. Financial proposal 
4. References 
5. Confirmation of compliance with General Terms and Conditions of Tendering

Organisational profile: 

• Company profile, including brief history and financial overview
• Case studies/credentials demonstrating relevant experience and skills profile 
• Names and brief biographies of key staff 

WFD is particularly keen to receive bids from organisations which are – or are working towards becoming – living wage employers and that have a broadly representative and balanced Board from gender and ethnicity perspectives.  

Proposed solution: 

• Clear explanation as to the proposed approach to meeting the specification set out in this ITT. 
• Detailed project plan, including timelines, assumptions and dependencies, resourcing and risks. 

Financial proposal: 

• Full breakdown costings for the proposed solution in the currency accepted by the suppliers preferred accounts payable account. 
• Separate accounting of VAT and/or any other applicable tax, duty, or charge. 
• Detailing of any discount applied in view of WFD’s not-for-profit status. 

References:

• The bid should include details of two references relating to similar goods/services provided in the last three years. Please note – referees will only be contacted once Preferred Bidder status is assigned.

Confirmation of acceptance of General Terms and Conditions of Tendering: 

• All bidders will be deemed to have accepted the WFD Terms and Conditions of Tendering and confirmed their compliance. 

All bidders should also note the following: 

• all bids should be submitted in English; 
• all bids should be submitted in electronic form only;
• this ITT and the response may be incorporated in whole or in part into the final contract;
• only information provided in response to questions set out in this documentation will be taken into consideration for the purposes of evaluating the ITT;
• bids which are poorly organised or poorly written, such that evaluation and comparison with other submissions is notably difficult, may exclude the bidder from further consideration; and
• any bids which do not fully comply with the requirements of this ITT may be disregarded at the absolute discretion of WFD. 

Evaluation criteria

WFD does not provide a mathematical formula by which bids will be weighted evaluated, but the procurement committee will usually consider the following criteria, among others in the evaluation of all responses: 

• Quality of bid document 
• Service offer and solution fit to specification 
• Quality, capacity, and track-record of bidders based on references
• Value for money and pricing factors
• Professional profile, track record, and references
• Relevant experience,

WFD will score each criterion using the following table:

Tender queries

Any questions related to this tender should be addressed to procurement@wfd.org

Equal information

Should any supplier raise a question that is of general interest, WFD reserves the right to circulate both question and answer to other respondents, either via WFD’s website or by email. In this event, anonymity will be maintained.

Annual reports

Please provide a link or copy of your company’s latest audited annual accounts with the bid.

Other information

If the potential supplier believes that there is additional information that has not been requested in the ITT but is relevant to your bid, please include that information as a separate attachment and explain its relevance to this ITT.