Cardiff Summit Table (Hansard, 8 June 1998)

§ Mr. Wilshire
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which suppliers of standard conference furniture were asked to submit quotations for the supply of a standard conference table for the European Summit in Cardiff; and what prices they quoted. [44620]

§ Mr. Doug Henderson
The conference table forms part of the overall event production contract for the European Council. Our event production company established from the major UK conference furniture suppliers that no table which fully met the specification was available for hire, (their researches showed that a conference table which was the right size, not the right configuration, for Cardiff City Hall could be hired, but would still cost more than half as much as having a table made which could be used in Cardiff and subsequently). They put all carpentry involved in the European Council and G8 contracts (for which they were also responsible) out to tender to three companies as a package in order to keep costs to a minimum. The company judged by our event production company to have the capacity to manage this scale of project at lowest cost was awarded the carpentry subcontract. They are making the frame of the table, but have further subcontracted the veneer top and cable management system to a specialist cabinet maker regularly used by them for this type of contract.

§ Mr. Wilshire
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons the conference table ordered by his Department for the European Summit in Cardiff is not made of British materials. [44622]

§ Mr. Doug Henderson
The table for the European Council meeting in Cardiff is being made by a UK company, with a UK sub-contractor, who are responsible for sourcing materials for the table against cost and quality criteria. Of the major materials used, the steel is from the UK. The MDF is from the Republic of Ireland, on grounds of cost and availability. The oak for the veneer462W top comes from the USA. There are two reasons for using American rather than British oak: it is cheaper (British oak would cost 40 per cent. more); and the knotting grain pattern usually found in British oak would make a consistent veneer finish significantly more difficult to make.

§ Mr. Wilshire
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many designers were invited to submit proposals for the conference table ordered by his Department for the European Summit in Cardiff; how many different designs were costed; and if the cheapest design was selected. [44621]

§ Mr. Doug Henderson
The overall event production contract for the European Council (of which the conference table forms part) was awarded on the basis of an evaluation of the whole package put forward in the tender, not any single element. Six event production companies were invited to tender. Two declined to bid, and two others merged and submitted a joint bid. The three bids were evaluated against a comprehensive set of criteria, including cost and quality. Of those judged to meet an acceptable standard, the cheapest bidder was appointed.

§ Mr. Wilshire
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was(a) the originally quoted price and (b) the price paid for the conference table ordered by his Department for the European Summit in Cardiff. [44619]

§ Mr. Doug Henderson
In the original tender for the overall event production contract for the European Council (which includes the conference table) in August 1997, the company which won the contract quoted £38,640 for the table. We have not yet received a bill for the table, but expect it to cost about £50,000. We understand from the event production company that the cost has risen (i) because specialist advice on the acoustics of the Assembly room in Cardiff City hall has led to a sound system being built into the table (which was not part of the original specification), and (ii) because we asked the company to have the table made in adaptable modular format so as to be usable in different rooms (the original specification applied only to City Hall in Cardiff)—this involved making two extra endpieces.