Reading University resurrects scrapped design tender

Reading University has reissued its tender for a design framework, after coming under fire from design consultancies for scrapping it at the last minute (DW 29 October 2009).

The university had pulled the tender as it said there was ‘considerable confusion’ among companies taken through to tender stage over which lot they had been taken through for.

The partner of one consultancy that reached the tender stage initially says, ‘As far as we can see there is no difference in what they’re asking for this time. We won’t be going for it.’

The university had advertised last year for the creation of a roster for ‘provision of graphic information design, Web design and Web developmentservices’.

After getting through the pre-qualification questionnaire stage, several consultancies were issued with a tender document on 25 September 2009, and asked to provide information, including samples of work and costings on case studies. They were given adeadline of 29 October 2009.

Two days before this deadline, the consultancies received a letter from the university dated 27 October 2009, saying that the tender had been abandoned, adding that ‘the procedure followed to date requires review and revision’.

The tender has now been re-advertised on the Official Journal of the European Union, and documents can be requested up until a deadline of 14 February.