Public relations services

Tender description

Eastbourne Borough Council invites tenders for its Corporate Public Relations Services. The appointed agency will become the de facto press office for Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC) and Eastbourne Homes Limited (EHL). This will be duplicated for Lewes District Council (LDC) at times of specific need and as directed by LDC. The brief will focus on corporate PR and mirror all the traditional roles and responsibilities of an in-house PR team. The contract is for a period of 5 years commencing on 1.4.2016 and is capable of extension at the Council's option for 2 years. Alternative contract structures will only be considered where these are submitted as an additional alternative to a proposal for the above term. The Council is also looking for an agency that will grow the Council's reputation and profile beyond its local boundary, particularly in regard to projects and initiatives that are attracting a regional and national interest. With this in mind we are looking for an agency that will offer us a strategic public relations role and one that will: — Work in partnership with us to protect and enhance our reputations, build goodwill and promote all 3 authorities in a positive light — Proactively seek opportunities to enhance our reputational standing as community leading organisations — Effectively promote major corporate priorities through innovative and outcome driven communication campaigns — Widen the scope of community awareness — Take a proactive approach in identifying opportunities to raise awareness of the day to day key activities of EHL and EBC, to include effective management of media messages and public relations during major incidents and at times of crisis/issue management — Be willing to broaden the scope of this agreement as future opportunities and requirements become more apparent Currently the responsibility for Eastbourne Borough Council's (EBC) Corporate Public Relations sits within the Corporate Development and Governance Services, specifically within the remit of the Council's Senior Head of Corporate Development and Governance. The responsibility for Eastbourne Homes Limited (EHL) and its subsidiary company, Corporate Public Relations sits within the Managing Directors office and specifically within the remit of EHL's Governance and Compliance Manager. Operational delivery of this service is wholly outsourced separately by both authorities; current provider for both is Cobb PR, based in Eastbourne. Distinct from corporate public relations is EBC's tourism marketing and promotion which remains in-house and delivered from within the Tourism and Enterprise Services provision. Lewes District Council (LDC) provides its corporate public relations in-house. However, at times of specific need and in order to build in flexibility and add resilience to their in-house team, LDC buys in additional communications and PR support from Cobb PR. This is a separate arrangement to those of EBC and EHL. Responsibility sits within the remit of LDC's Director of Business Strategy and Development. The award of this tender will follow an Open procedure and will be awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender to the Council, taking into account price and quality. The weighting of price and quality will be as follows; Price 40 %, Quality 60 %. The SAQ will be evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis. Tenders will be evaluated using the following process: — Compliance checks to ensure that the requirements of the tendering process have been complied with. — Bona Fides check — collusive tendering, canvassing and non-soliciting of staff. — A quality evaluation using the weighting set out in the Tender Response Form. — Financial evaluation based upon the pricing information provided by candidates. Following initial assessment the final selection will take place by reference to the following: — the information supplied in response to this ITT, including the Pricing Schedule and the Tender Response Form; — References provided by the applicants' current and recent customers. Below is the current procurement timetable: 20.1.2016 Contract Notice/Issue Tender Documents 12.2.2016 Last date for Tenderers questions 15.2.2016 Final EBC response to questions 19.2.2016 Closing date for tender submission. 29.2.2016 Selection of preferred supplier (commence standstill period) 9.3.2016 Contract Award 1.4.2016 Contract start date Estimated value of the procurement is 652 400 GBP. Please note this value has been calculated to cover all eventualities. Further information is available in the tender documents.