Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2022/S 000-031251/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Award of a contract without prior publication
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Services

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Postal address: 65 Brown Street
Town: Glasgow
Postal code: G2 8EX
Country: United Kingdom
Contact Person: Jonathan McNiven
Email: jonathan.mcniven101@mod.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence

I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.5) Main activity
Defence

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: LinkedIn Licence Award
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 79611000
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
Award of LinkedIn Licence for MOD External Vacancies
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:360316.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Advertisement of MOD external vacancies on LinkedIN’s platform

II.2.5) Award criteria
II.2.11) Information about options
Options: no
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below
(please complete point 2 of the Annex D)
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: yes
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
Contract No: 705772452
Title: LinkedIn Licence Renewal

V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2022-11-03
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: LinkedIn
Postal address: Gardner House, Wilton Place
Town: Dublin
Country: Ireland
Nuts code:
The contractor is an SME: no

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession(excluding VAT)
for framework agreements – total maximum value for this lot
for contracts based on framework agreements, if required – value of contract(s) for this lot not included in
previous contract award notices
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Value or proportion likely to be subcontracted to third parties

Section VI: Complementary informationVI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: MOD
Postal address: 65 Brown Street
Town: Glasgow
Postal code: G2 8EX
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2022-11-04

Other justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition
in the Official Journal of the European Union
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

3.Explanation
Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union
is lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive:
The justification is as per PCR 2015, Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) as follows:

The Defence People – Civ HR, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a two-year contract with a value of £360,316 to LinkedIn for LinkedIn License for MOD external vacancies.
In accordance with the provisions of The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 SI No. 2020/1319, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) as amended (in particular by SI 2020/1319). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the PCR 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons.
This is because LinkedIn is the only provider (there is no alternative supplier offering their services) enabling business areas to showcase prospective candidates what it is like to work for them using a variety of content including adverts/featured content/testimonies before prospective candidates place an application for the advertised role.
LinkedIn is the only company that provides hiring solutions services to customers within Europe, middle east & Africa. Its hiring and social networking solution is unique and as such, a direct competition process isn’t viable. Other companies like, ‘Facebook’, ‘Bark’, ‘Opportunity’, and ‘Xing’, offer similar social networking platforms but with limited professional reach, unlike LinkedIn. There are clear differences in the services on offer and the scale of reach in terms of target audience. Of these four companies, none have a comparable level of professional and global presence and therefore this would not enable MOD to source quality talent and in turn build and sustain a more diverse workforce. This would detrimentally impact on MOD ability to fill our roles and deliver MOD key objectives.
Given the above there are no other value-for-money alternatives to consider which will enable the Authority to promote MOD as an employer, advertise vacancies and additional products (recruiter directly reach out to prospective candidates).