The Association of North East Councils, trading as the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO), is seeking to establish a multi-supplier, Framework for the provision of Volume Cut Sized Copier Paper and Production Specialist Paper, for a contract period of 48 months. The Framework will provide for the supply and distribution of Volume Cut Sized Copier Paper and Production Specialist Paper products to a variety of Contracting Authority establishments on behalf of NEPO Member Authorities and NEPO Associate Members. NEPO is a Centralised Procurement Authority as defined in the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23), providing central purchasing activity on behalf of Contracting Authorities. The agreement will be available to NEPO Member Authorities and all current and future Associate Members. Current Associate Members are listed in the Associate Member section of the NEPO website at:  https://www.nepo.org/associate-membership NEPO intends to make the agreement available for use by all Contracting Authorities throughout all administrative regions of the UK (as defined by the Procurement Act 2023). A list of permissible users available at: http://www.nepo.org/associate-membership/permissible-users Organisations wishing to access the NEPO agreement will be required to register as a NEPO Associate Member in the first instance. Further information can be found at: www.nepo.org Further and full information regarding Contracting Authorities that may use the agreement can be found in the Procurement Documents.

Procurement Act 2023

NEPO intend to publish a preliminary market engagement questionnaire via Open eTendering system (www.open-uk.org). The questionnaire responses will help NEPO design the framework by providing the level of market interest and provide insight from suppliers on the shaping of the future provision. The questionnaire will be made accessible via the Open eTendering system on 20 October 2026 with a submission deadline of 12 noon Friday 30 October 2026. Suppliers wishing to access and complete the questionnaire must first register on the Open eTendering system using the following link https://www.open-uk.org. For guidance on how to create an account or submit your questionnaire response through Open, please visit https://www.open-hub.org/training to access the available Training Guides. If you need technical assistance from the Open Support team, this can be requested via [email protected]. PLEASE NOTE: Open is accessible 24/7 however, technical support is available Monday to Thursday 08:30 - 17:00 and Friday 08:30 - 16:30. NEPO also intends to hold virtual market consultation sessions for interested suppliers between 2 November 2026 and 13 November 2026. These sessions will include a presentation and provide an opportunity for suppliers to ask questions. Suppliers wishing to register attendance should access Microsoft Bookings via the link provided within the market engagement questionnaire on Open, by 12:00 noon on Friday 30 October. Attendance at the Microsoft Teams meetings is optional and does not provide suppliers with an advantage in any future related procurement. Presentations and Q&A from the session will be published as part of the procurement process. Attendance also does not constitute as an intention to tender for any future related procurement. Please note the above information may be subject to change.