Provision of Business Gateway Services in Orkney

Description

Orkney Islands Council wishes to engage a single contractor with the competence, capability and capacity to deliver two separate programmes of Business Gateway Services. Firstly, the provision of business support services for the Business Gateway Service in Orkney, and secondly the provision of the Council funded Business Improvement and Growth Service (‘BIG Service’). Lot 1: In liaison with the local Business Gateway Manager, delivery of the Business Gateway and additional BIG Service funded support will largely be through: -one-to-one consultancy, principally undertaken at the Business Gateway office in Kirkwall, but occasionally at a client’s premises; and -workshops and specialist events – at suitable venues arranged by the contractor, run in Kirkwall, Stromness and in remoter areas around the islands (subject to local demand). Additional information on the service requirement is contained within the attached documentation. At the time of tender issue, it is anticipated that the maximum overall contract value which includes the potential periods of extension to 31 May 2028 is GBP405,500 although no guarantee is given as to actual expenditure. The budget across each service is as follows: Programme 1 Core Service – up to GBP277,500 exclusive of VAT over the initial term of the contract (36 months) and including the potential contract extensions (two periods of 12 months). Programme 2 BIG Service – up to GBP128,000 exclusive of VAT over the initial term of the contract (36 months) and including the potential contract extensions (two periods of 12 months). This budget is discretionary and not guaranteed. No guarantee is given as to actual expenditure. Bids that exceed the budget will not be considered. Additional information: The contract will consist as follows: Programme 1 for the Core service of Business Gateway Services and Programme 2 for the Enhanced Business Growth Support Services For the avoidance of doubt, as notified in the Invitation to Tender - Appendix 6, the price evaluation is carried out on the rate per hour figures submitted within bids.