Appointment of a Food and Drink Development Partner

The Council will undertake a Selection Questionnaire (SQ) pre-qualification stage to identify a maximum of three bidders that will be invited to tender. The Council will then utilise the competitive procedure with negotiation to select a single preferred bidder with whom the Council intends to enter into a contractual arrangement. The Council reserves the right to award the contract on the basis of the initial tenders without conducting negotiations. Price is not the only award criterion, and all criteria will be stated in the procurement documents. Please note that the value of this opportunity is in the range of GBP 8 000 000 to GBP 12 000 000. The value range can only be stated in broad terms as final value will depend upon the chosen delivery model and split between redevelopment costs and partner delivery option.

Competitive procedures with negotiation may take place in successive stages in order to reduce the number of tenders to be negotiated by applying the award criteria specified in the procurement documents. Additional information: The Council envisages that the redevelopment will be funded by the Government's Levelling Up Fund. The Council will be submitting a round 2 funding bid and wishes to progress the selection of a suitable development partner prior to the outcome of its bid being known so as to be in a position to start work with the partner quickly once the successful bids are announced. Tenderers should note, however, that the award of any contract will be subject to, and conditional upon, the success of the Council's round 2 Levelling Up Fund bid. The Council is considering a variety of delivery models for this project and welcomes the views of interested parties at this stage as it continues to scope the development opportunity. In particular, views are sought in respect of the following delivery options:

• The grant of a lease, with the successful tenderer assuming full responsibility for the redevelopment and future running of the food and drink offering ; or
• The creation of a joint venture vehicle between the Council and the successful tenderer, with this vehicle being responsible for the redevelopment and future running of the food and drink offering; or
• A contractual model, with the Council appointing the successful tenderer as its contractor to undertake the redevelopment works and then appointing the successful tenderer as its agent to manage the food and drink offering.