Decision

Salford City Council – Record of Decision

I Councillor Cusack, Lead Member for Finance and Support Services and Chairman of the Procurement Board, accept the recommendation of the Procurement Board and in exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution do hereby:

·      approve to Award the Contract forthe provision of end user devices – Mobile phones, as detailed in the table below:

Detail required

Answers

Title/Description of Contracted Service/Supply/Project

Approval to Award the Contract forthe provision End user devices -  Mobile phones

Procurement Reference numbers (DN and CR number supplied by Procurement)

Name of Successful Contractor

Bechtle Ltd

Supplier Registration Number

(to be supplied by Procurement

03283032

Proclass Classification No.

(to be completed by procurement)

Type of organisation

(to be supplied by Procurement)

Private Limited Company

Status of Organisation

(to be supplied by Procurement)

Non-SME

Contract Value (£)

£ 212,967.00

Total contract value £ (including extensions)

Contract Duration

One off purchase

Contract Start Date

Click or tap to enter a date.

Contract End Date

Click or tap to enter a date.

Optional Extension Period 1

N/A

Optional Extension Period 2

N/A

Who will approve each Extension Period?

Choose an item

Contact Officer (Name & number)

Peter Cowling 0161 793 3993

Lead Service Group

Reform & Transformation

How the contract was procured?

(to be supplied by procurement)

Direct Award/ Call off

Framework Details (where applicable)

(procurement body, framework reference & title, start/ end date

Crown Commercial Services RM6098

Technology Products and Associated Services Lot 2 Hardware

Funding Source

Combination of Above (please detail below)

Ethical Contractor (EC): Mayor’s Employment Charter

No

EC: Committed to sign The Mayor’s Employment Charter

No

EC: Committed to the principles outlined in the Mayor’s Employment charter

No

EC: Accredited Living Wage Employer

No

EC: Committed to becoming Accredited Living wage Employer

No

?

The Reasons are:

Following the Council's decision to repatriate Adult Social Care services from the Northern Care Alliance (NCA), initial workforce data has been shared with the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) service, confirming that approximately 400 employees fall within the scope of the TUPE transfer.

To ensure a seamless transition and enable transferring employees to fulfil their responsibilities from the first day of transfer, provision must be made for the supply of corporate mobile devices. All equipment will be procured in accordance with existing corporate specifications and made available for deployment ahead of the planned transfer date of 1 October 2026.

In addition to the above, DDaT has a separate business-as-usual requirement for 50 mobile handsets to support new starters and to replace broken or unusable devices. These 50 units will be funded from internal revenue budgets and recharged to the relevant service areas. Combining both requirements into a single procurement exercise increases the overall order volume, helping to secure more competitive unit pricing for the Council.

Procurement Process

A mini-competition was run via The Chest across all suppliers on Lot 2 of the Crown Commercial Services RM6098 Technology Products and Associated Services framework, which currently has 33 suppliers, using the following requirements:

·      To provide pricing for 450 Apple iPhone 17E mobile phones, in black.

·      Full delivery to be achieved by 30th July 2026.

·      Evaluation based 100% on price (lowest total cost).

Six compliant bids were received via The Chest ahead of the submission deadline; the remaining suppliers on the framework did not respond.

Tender Evaluation

The evaluation panel comprised Peter Cowling (Digital Operations Manager, DDaT) and Matt Wall (Head of Cyber and Technology, DDaT).

As this procurement was for the supply of goods only, with no associated services, submissions were evaluated on a price-only basis, with 100% of the score awarded to the supplier offering the most competitive total cost price.

All six respondents met the required device specification and quantity, and none were rejected on compliance grounds.

Bechtle Ltd submitted the most competitive quotation, offering 450 units for a total value of £212,967. A summary of all supplier quotations received is set out below:

Rank

Supplier

Unit Cost

Qty

Total Cost

1

Bechtle Ltd

1. 26

450

£212,967.00

2

Supplier 2

1. 46

450

£213,960.00

3

Supplier 3

1. 73

450

£214,078.50

4

Supplier 4

1. 69

450

£214,510.50

5

Supplier 5

1. 52

450

£215,334.00

6

Supplier 6

£490.81

450

£220,864.50

The evaluation panel agreed that Bechtle Ltd offered the greatest financial benefit while meeting the required specification, and recommends its appointment as the successful bidder.

Social Value

No social value requirement was built into this procurement, as it is a one-off supply of goods with no ongoing contractual relationship through which social value commitments could be delivered. Nonetheless, the DDaT management team will work with Bechtle Ltd to explore social value opportunities, including the potential to route retired devices into digital inclusion and other community initiatives.

Options considered and rejected were: None.

Assessment of Risk:

There is a significant risk that should this procurement request be declined the authority would be unable to provide digital devices to returning NCA employees who would then be unable to fulfil their duties.

The source of funding is:

Purchase of 450 Apple iPhone 17E 258GB mobile phones, in black. The contract has been awarded to Bechtle Ltd at a total value of £212,967. Of this, 400 mobile handsets (£189,304) are required to support the transfer of Adult Social Care staff from the Northern Care Alliance and will be funded from ASC resources. The remaining 50 handsets (£23,663) will be purchased from revenue budgets to support stock requirements for new starters and replacement devices, with costs subsequently recharged to the relevant service areas.

Legal Advice obtained: Yes.

Financial Advice obtained: Yes.

Procurement Advice obtained: Yes.

HR Advice obtained: N/A.

Climate Change Implications obtained: Yes

Contact Officer: Peter Cowling

Telephone number: 0161 779 4996

Please delete from the bullets below any which are not relevant:

·      This matter is also subject to consider by the Lead Member for            Finance and support Services. The Lead Member has been consulted and is supportive of the proposed contract.

·      This matter is not subject to consideration by another Lead Member.

·      The appropriate Scrutiny Committee to call-in the decision is the  Procurement Board.

Signed:    Cllr Cusack         Dated:    27 July 2026.

               Lead Member

FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE ONLY:

·      This decision was published on 28 July 2026.

·      This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 4 August 2026 unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.