Another complaint about the competitive bidding for campus restaurants

Complaint means that the operators selected by competitive tendering cannot start operating on campuses on 1 January 2025, but that the existing operators will provide restaurant services with interim agreements until the issues related to the complaint have been dealt with.

Currently, restaurant services at the Linnanmaa campus are provided by Uniresta Oy and Juvenes Oy and at the Kontinkangas campus by Sodexo Oy.

In competitive tendering, the principles of the Procurement Act have been based on openness, non-discrimination and equity. We cannot favour or discriminate against any bidder," says University Procurement Lawyer Sanna Pikkujämsä.

Price and quality

In the most recent competitive bidding, the selection criteria were the lowest price, but in order to be included in the price comparison, the bidders had to meet the high minimum quality requirements. The new complaint concerned, among other things, the fact that the selection was made on the basis of price alone and that large operators would have been favoured in competitive tendering at the expense of small ones.

The university had to set the price as a selection criterion. The previous bidding was overturned as, according to the Market Court, we did not make sufficient use of the conditions of competition when we left the price uncompetitive. As a university, we have acted in accordance with the law and requirements,” Pikkujämsä emphasises.

“Quality has been graded based on factors such as the degree of domesticity and the degree of self-manufacturing, but they have not brought any differences between the bidders.”

Next, the University of Oulu will go through the latest complaint and make a decision on further action. There have been complaints about the restaurant competition before.

The right of appeal is a fundamental right of every participant in a competitive bidding process. However, it now seems that the operator who is not elected always makes a complaint. This is frustrating and affects everyone. Restaurants operate under temporary arrangements during the appeal period and long-term development cannot be done. The complaint process takes time and resources and is expensive. Hopefully this will be dealt with soon. It is certainly in the interest of all parties," says Pikkujämsä.