November 2016
Printing Services Specification
Introduction and Overview
External printing and photocopying services are an important area within the Institute and Faculty of
Actuaries (IFoA).
The requirements at the IFoA are multifaceted and currently managed by range of key personnel from
various departments within the organisation. Our Facilities department gate keeps the photocopying
and some printing through our current photocopying and print suppliers. There is also a need for
many bespoke designed outward and inward facing communications to be printed at high quality, and
sometimes short notice, using either digital or Lithograph printing methods. This is managed by our
Marketing and Communications team, who liaise with other teams within the organisation to meet
their high quality printing requirements. Many of these are currently printed through the design
agencies preferred printing companies.
What we print:
 Brochures, flyers, forms
 Booklets and manuals
 Business stationary i.e. letterheads, notepads etc
What we copy:
 High volume copying inc binding, large document copies
 Colour photocopying
Locations:
 We have three UK sites that will use the printing services, London, Oxford and Edinburgh. A
large majority of the printing will come from the London office.
Finally, we purchase various branded corporate merchandise and gifts that are used for events, such
as mugs, novelty pens etc. Though this will not be part of this contract, as we buy these items from
another supplier at present, there is a review on this spend planned for the future. Therefore, it would
be useful to be able to have the possibility to transfer this business across to an incumbent provider
should this be desired the outcome of the review.
Scope of Service
The IFoA has the following requirements. We would be happy to consider these areas as ‘lots’ to
allow for bidders to bid for specific areas of expertise:
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Short notice ‘Digital’ printing
Lithograph and high quality printing
All other general printing requirements
Bulk photocopying
Ability to provide IFoA branded Corporate merchandise and gifts
Value of the contract
Expenditure for printing and copying (excluding corporate merchandise) in 2015/16 was over £300k.
Please use figure as a guideline and we are able to guarantee this will be the value of the contract
moving forward.
Aims and Objectives
Out of this procurement process we would like to have one or a small pool of suppliers that cover the
above printing, copy and gifts requirements. Over and above this bidders have an opportunity to
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demonstrate ingenuity and flexibility around pricing and value adding services.
Service Delivery
We would anticipate that any successful tenderer would have a dedicated IFoA account manager. As
part of a completed tender, we would expect to see an illustration of how this account manager
intends to support the IFoA and ensure quality of service.
Timely service response and fast turnaround for rush projects (less that 24hr). The selected
vendor(s) should be available to handle orders by email and telephone as a minimum and provide
free pick-up and delivery to all sites.
We would expect the account manager to maintain several key relationships within the IFoA and hold
regular meetings to update on metrics and costs.
We also expect a detailed breakdown of costs each month as part of the monthly invoicing.
We anticipate regular review meetings to measure delivery against defined performance indicators
and discuss how the relationship is working to the mutual benefit of both parties .
Quality
The quality of print, particularly for the Marketing and Communications team who provide much of the
outward facing material (including and promotional branded items), is of upmost importance. We
would ask that any supplier providing this service must be able to demonstrate the ability to deliver
high quality printing through digital and lithograph mediums, occasionally under tight timelines.
Additional to this we expect a high quality of service from our bulk photocopying and general print
providers. At the end of this process we will draw up a set of mutually agreed KPIs that will be under
regular review.
Contract Period
The contract shall be for a period of 3 years with a possible 2 year extension term on certain
prescribed grounds identified by the contract, i.e. quality concerns, service delivery etc.
The IFoA shall be entitled to end the contract prior to the end of the 5 year term on certain prescribed
grounds identified by the contract, i.e. quality concerns, responsiveness and lack of effective cost
reporting/monitoring, these will be covered in KPIs agreed by both parties.
At the end of the contract, we would expect any incumbent supplier to co-operate with any future
appointed supplier in the transfer of files and/or other IFoA information and documentation as the
IFoA reasonably requires.
Contract Monitoring
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We require quarterly reviews of service with the key account holder.
There would be an annual review of the services which will take place between the account
manager and key representatives of the IFoA.
Regular review of accuracy and adherence to print instructions and cost estimates.
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Key Risks
The main risk is that the printing is not up to standard for our outward facing material and print
deadlines are not met impacting the release of material to the membership.