Construction work

Tender description

Ards and North Down Borough Council (Council) wishes to appoint a specialist aquarium operator to develop, manage and operate the existing tourist and visitor attraction known as ‘Exploris’ and associated site located in Portaferry, Northern Ireland, and in doing so, to enhance the attractiveness of ‘Exploris’ and contribute to the wider economic regeneration of the Portaferry area. The existing Exploris site comprises a sea life aquarium and seal sanctuary, together with an enclosed park area which the Council would potentially like to see developed to extend the range of provision. Further information regarding the attraction is available at www.exploris.org.uk and within the Project Information Memorandum (PIM) which may be obtained in the manner described in Section VI.3) of this notice. This opportunity was previously advertised as award of a contract for the operation and management of the Exploris aquarium through a lease structure over a period of 25 years with the possibility of extension. The Council has now determined that this opportunity may be more appropriately managed by the successful operator under a managed services agreement with an appropriate licence grant. It is intended that the form of and contracted approach to the arrangement will be discussed during the course of the competition. This is a competition for a services concession agreement and although the Council has chosen to follow a procedure similar to the competitive dialogue procedure (as set out in Regulation 30 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015), the Council reserves the right to depart from that procedure at any time at its sole discretion. Prior to publication of this notice, the Council carried out a market testing exercise further to a Prior Information Notice advertised in OJEU, reference 2015/S 140-258472.