Printing and related services

Tender description

Wirral Council is seeking to appoint a partner (or partners) to help deliver a new approach to its communications approach with residents and businesses. Recent market research by the Council indicated a majority of Wirral residents do not feel well informed about the services available to them. In response to this the organisation has developed a new communications strategy which includes within it the production of a printed publication which would be distributed door-to-door to every household and business in Wirral. The Council produces ‘Wirral View’, a monthly publication which is distributed to all households in the borough. Wirral View is tabloid size, full colour, loose-bound and ranges from a minimum of 28pp to a maximum of 36pp (quotes should be supplied based on 28pp). The current paper stock is uncoated 52g, but there is scope to change the paper weight as part of this contract. A minimum of 175 000 copies will every month although the Council reserves the right to alter this number. A digital printers proof should be provided to the Council. Artwork would be supplied direct to the supplier with a required turnaround of not more than 72 hours for delivery of final product to addresses as determined by the related distribution contract for the publication. The tenderer is to specify their preferred file format and method of artwork submission. The publication is required to be distributed to every home and every business in Wirral, with further copies distributed at high-footfall locations across the borough. Bidding organisations should indicate within the method statement how they would ensure and report on how they guarantee full coverage of the distribution. The total number of addresses required to deliver will vary slightly month-by-month. Therefore bidding organisations should provide a price per-thousand for delivery. The approximate size of the delivery scope is as follows: — 150 000 households (all Wirral — 1 copy per address) — 8 500 businesses (all Wirral — 1 copy per address) — 150 high-footfall locations (100-300 copies per address). Wirral View allows for limited commercial advertising within its pages. This advertising would be required to meet the council's advertising policy, which is available online: http://wirralview.com/wirral-view-advertising The advertising would also be required to not directly compete with existing local media suppliers in the region. This would preclude advertising consisting of family notices, automotive sales, property sales, and classifieds among others. The council will provide target sectors and contacts for advertising sales to the successful supplier. This lot should be approached on a payment by results, commission-only basis, where the successful tenderer would be paid a commission of all successful sales. Tenderers should indicate their approach and outline how they would generate advertising leads and sales within the council's existing policies.