Financial and insurance services

Tender description

Provision of consumer credit services for the purchase of musical instruments and associated goods and services. A tender opportunity is offered by Creative Sector Services CIC (trading as Creative United), for the provision of consumer credit services for the Take it away scheme commencing 1.8.2017 for a period of 24 months, with provision for Creative United to extend the contract for 2 further 12 month periods (subject to performance review in accordance with the terms and conditions of contract). Take it away is a publicly funded initiative designed to make it more affordable for people to get involved in learning and playing music by providing interest free loans of between 100 GBP and 5 000 GBP for the purchase of a musical instrument plus any associated goods or services they may need (such as a block of tuition) in order to get started. The Scheme is primarily focused on assisting parents over the age of 18 with the purchase an instrument for a child under the age of 18 (‘Under 18s scheme’), and young musicians aged 18-25 who can apply to use the scheme in their own right (‘18-25s scheme’). Take it away is operated by Creative United using public funds received under a grant agreement with Arts Council England. The scheme is open to all qualifying UK residents over the age of 18 and made available via a network of approved musical instrument retailers in England. Creative United also operates a variation of the scheme in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland which is available exclusively to Northern Ireland Residents over the age of 18. The awarded contract would cover the provision of the Scheme through the network of retailers in England and in Northern Ireland. The opportunity may also exist for the Scheme to be extended to include a network of retailers in Wales and/or Scotland subject to the agreement and financial support of their respective Arts Councils.