Official Sports Brand Procurement Cork City Marathon

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

This procurement seeks a supplier to provide official sports brand merchandise for the Cork City Marathon. The contract will encompass event t-shirts and other associated merchandise. This includes items for race organisers, and merchandise for sale to runners at the race expo or online. The supplier will be responsible for the design, production, and delivery of these goods.

Key activities and deliverables include:

• Event T-shirts: Supply of high-quality running apparel, specifically event t-shirts. These must be sublimated.
• Associated Merchandise: Provision of other merchandise items, potentially including race organiser clothing and items for sale to participants.
• Branding: The supplier must represent a reputable, established, and suitable sportswear brand. This involves design concepts and branding approaches.
• Design Development: The supplier will manage a design development process, including client collaboration, artwork preparation, and approval procedures. Examples of previous event apparel designs are required.
• Quality Assurance: Implementation of quality assurance processes covering material selection, printing standards, and production controls.
• Production and Capacity: Management of typical production lead times for event apparel, capacity for sizing distribution, stock allocation, and large-volume orders.
• Logistics and Delivery: Arrangements for logistics and delivery, including capability to deliver to Cork.
• Sizing Strategies and Stock Management: Development and implementation of strategies for managing sizing and stock.
• Green Initiatives: Consideration and integration of green initiatives into the supply chain and product offering.

The contract is for a three-year period. Cork City Council reserves the right to procure items outside of this contract, such as for goodie bags, from other suppliers. The maximum contract value is stated as €216,000.

3. Background & buyer context

Cork City Council is procuring an official sports brand partner for the Cork City Marathon. This procurement is being conducted via a Competitive Dialogue procedure, indicating that the Council's requirements may be met through multiple potential approaches and that dialogue is necessary to identify the optimal solution. The procedure is selected to enable structured discussions with shortlisted candidates to develop and refine solutions prior to final tender submission. The contract is intended to cover event t-shirts and associated merchandise, aiming for high-quality running apparel and a reputable sportswear brand. The process is designed to identify a supplier capable of delivering premium-quality event t-shirts and associated merchandise.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following mandatory qualification and selection criteria to be considered:

• Turnover requirement: Bidders must confirm they have the requisite turnover to be considered for the contract. Specific figures are not stated in the provided extract, but evidence will be required upon request.
• Insurance: Bidders must confirm they have the following insurances in place:
• Employers Liability: €13,000,000
• Public Liability: €6,500,000
• Product Liability: €6,500,000 Bidders must also confirm they can obtain higher levels if required by the contract. Policies must have jurisdiction in Ireland.
• Certifications: Not specified for this tender.
• Past experience: Applicants must demonstrate that they have supplied event t-shirts to a minimum of three races within the past two years. Each of these reference contracts must have involved an event with over 2,000 runners, and the tops supplied must be confirmed as sublimated.
• Personnel: Not specified for this tender.
• Geographic / facility constraints: Delivery capability to Cork is required.

Additionally, bidders must declare compliance with statutory obligations including Employment Equality Acts, Equal Status Acts, National Minimum Wage Act, Organisation of Working Time Act, Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, Disability Act, and GDPR/Data Protection Act. Bidders must also declare no conflict of interest and confirm accuracy of information provided. Exclusion grounds related to criminal convictions, tax/social security breaches, bankruptcy, grave professional misconduct, distortion of competition, conflicts of interest, prior deficiencies, serious misrepresentation, and withholding information are assessed on a pass/fail basis. Compliance with Regulation (EU) 2022/1031 (International Procurement Instrument) and Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 (sanctions related to Russian actions in Ukraine) is also mandatory.

5. Award criteria & scoring

The contract will be awarded based on an evaluation of the following criteria:

Criterion Weight (%) Sub-criteria