Glasgow City Council requests creative submissions across 16 lots for framework tender
It is understood that 13 marketing services companies have been shortlisted to tender for Glasgow City Council’s Marketing and Promotions Commodity Framework, with creative work being requested for applications across each of the 16 lots.
Almost a year after an initial Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) was released, Glasgow City Council is understood to have issued its invitations to tender to 13 companies across 16 lots for the framework, and has asked for mock creative submissions for each entry, a request that has been described as an ‘outrage’ by one senior industry member.
Said the industry insider, who was involved with the PQQ, “They clearly have no idea of the financial cost of the work that is required to do this kind of things and what it costs businesses in the city…It would be physically impossible to go for every lot. Each brief is arguably three-to-four days of creative time, and they don’t understand that. To go for all of the lots you’d be realistically talking 40 days of work that isn’t even real work.”
In response, Colin Edgar, head of communication and organisational development for Glasgow City Council, explained: “Our procurement rules dictate that when the council as a whole spends more than £20k on a commodity or service, any commodity or service, we must procure it in this way.
“We understand that supplying creatives can be time consuming however we have only requested work from people who have successfully passed the PQQ stage. We need to ensure that we compare like with like and can be certain that we appoint companies who are the best fit for what we need,” added Edgar.
Creative responses to the mock briefs are expected in September, it is understood.