Decision details

36 public library authorities from the North West and Yorkshire regions have joined together for the purpose of procuring the supply and servicing of library materials
in the most cost efficient and effective way.

The Deputy Chief Executive has agreed to enter into the following contractual arrangements, at an overall cost to Stockport of £1,056,000 over 4 year period:-

The contract is split into category Lots which were:
Lot 1 - Adult Fiction books
Lot 2 - Adult Non-Fiction books
Lot 3 - Childrens books
Lot 4 - Music CDs
Lot 5 - Reference Standing Orders.

Four bids were received and the successful bidders were:
Lot 1 – Bertram Library Services
Lot 2 – Bertram Library Services
Lot 3 – Peters Bookselling Services
Lot 4 – Askews Library Services
Lot 5 – Bertram Library Services

The library book market is challenging, with very little competition, and low risk. There are limited suppliers who can deliver in all Lots, however there are a number of smaller suppliers who could supply in one or more Lots.

A procurement options appraisal was completed, whereby various procurement options were reviewed and considered. The resulting recommendation was to undertake a further-competition via an existing ESPO Framework (376f_18 Library Stock). This recommendation went out to all Participating Authorities across both consortia with no objections being received. The further competition invitation went out via The Chest portal on in November 2018 to all relevant suppliers listed on the ESPO framework. All invited suppliers expressed their interest in bidding and subsequently bids from all 4 invited parties were received by the closing date.

(Note: the procurement report contains information that is ‘not for publication’ because of its commercial sensitivity)

None