Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

Tender description

Essex County Council and East Sussex County Council working in partnership across Essex, South Essex and East Sussex, seeks a provider/s to deliver the ‘South East Invest’ Inward Investment Service, with the aim of increasing trade and attracting investment in to these areas. The councils are seeking to procure services on the basis of 2 lots: Lot 1 Inward Investment Service — Essex; Lot 2 Inward Investment Service — East Sussex. Lot 1 — We want Essex to be a county where innovation brings prosperity. We know our county faces a set of unprecedented challenges. If we are to meet these challenges we need new thinking and innovation to ensure we can use our resources in the best possible way for the people of Essex. We must harness the power of new ideas to secure a more prosperous Essex. This contract will deliver an Inward Investment and Enterprise Centre service on behalf of Essex County Council and our partners. The contractor will deliver the service across the Greater Essex area including within the Unitary Authorities of Southend Borough Council and Thurrock Council, running for a period of three years, commencing 1.5.2017, with the possibility of an extension until 30.4.2021 dependent on funding. Please note that the duration includes this optional 1 year extension. The Economic Plan for Essex (EPFE) places a strong emphasis on the importance of attracting inward investment, and identifies the need for locally based support to work closely with government agencies, Higher Education institutions and Local Government Partners in order to bring new investment into the County. The contractor will provide both a clear programme to attract inward investment and support incoming or growing businesses and to also provide a high-quality Integrated Inward Investment and Enterprise Centre (IEEC). The service will support both the attraction of new investment to Essex as well as assisting existing Essex-based businesses to develop and grow, providing signposting to linked providers, promoting affordable start-up rental space and developing strong linkages between SME's and larger business to deliver further investment to the County.