Queen’s Awards for Enterprise Assessment Contract

The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are the UK's most prestigious awards for business performance. The Awards recognise and reward outstanding achievement by UK companies.

They are managed by the Queen's Awards Office in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). Awards are presented in three separate categories: International Trade, Innovation, Sustainable Development and there is also an Award for individuals — The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion (QAEP).

The annual cycle of the Awards requires the assessment work to be done between October and April each year, following a marketing period between April and September. The Awards are announced annually on The Queen's birthday (21 April).

Online application and nomination forms for the Awards are available from 21 April and the deadline for the return of completed forms is the last working day of September. The Awards are made each year by The Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of Government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions.

The Queen's Awards Review Committee, chaired by The Prince of Wales in 1999, recommended replacing the assessment of applications by DTI (now BIS) and other Government Departments, with an external specialist body, better able to make informed judgements. The Review Committee also identified securing good value for money as an important requirement under the revised assessment procedures.

Additional information: UK Shared Business Services eSourcing As part of the strategic alliance between UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) and Crown Commercial Service (CCS), UK SBS can use the CCS eSourcing Suite for future procurements. If you have not yet registered on the eSourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link ‘Register for CCS eSourcing’.

Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so. Once you have registered on the eSourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement.

Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; the name of the registered Bidder; and the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email. Crown Commercial Service will process the email and then enable the Bidder to access the procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite.

The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done. The Sourcing documents can then be accessed on the eSourcing Suite at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in the Specification documents within Contracts Finder.

As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to Emptoris email messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event. Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information. For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service Helpdesk : Telephone: 0345 010 3503 Training documents to support Bidders utilise Emptoris CCS eSourcing are available in the Contracts Finder Tender documents section.