Sports facilities operation services

Tender description

Reading Borough Council (the Council) is seeking an innovative Strategic Leisure Partner (the Contractor) with the necessary technical knowledge, experience, and capability to enhance and maintain the Council’s leisure portfolio. The Council wish to enter into a long-term partnership with a Contractor for a contract duration that is envisaged to be between a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 25 years. Once in operation the Council may reserve the right to extend the contract term but only to an overall maximum contract length of 25 years. The Council anticipate that the length of the contract period including potential extension period(s) will be a subject discussed with Bidders during the project dialogue phase. The overarching aim of the project is to transform the current leisure offer in Reading to align with the Council’s vision, priorities and outcomes for leisure. Reading Borough Council (the Council) is seeking an innovative Strategic Leisure Partner (the Contractor) with the necessary technical knowledge, experience, and capability to enhance and maintain the Council’s leisure portfolio. The Council wish to enter into a long-term partnership with a Contractor for a contract duration that is envisaged to be between a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 25 years. Once in operation the Council may reserve the right to extend the contract term but only to an overall maximum contract length of 25 years. The Council anticipate that the length of the contract period including potential extension period(s) will be a subject discussed with Bidders during the project dialogue phase. The Council wish to secure a Contractor that can deliver an efficient and economically sustainable programme of capital and revenue investment in sport, sporting facilities and physical activity over the contract period. The Council’s priorities and outcomes are detailed in A Vision for Sport and Leisure in Reading included in the procurement documents. The principles of partnership working are imperative to the Council. The Council wishes to establish a relationship with a Contractor that has the ability and experience to offer commercially sustainable, facility redevelopment and leisure management services. The contractor be expected to develop proposals for capital investment works in sports facilities in Reading linked to the needs and priorities of the Borough. The Contractor is to continue to operate the existing facilities and wherever possible maintain the availability of services while new facilities are delivered. The Contractor will be responsible for the delivery of the capital investment programme to construct new and refurbish existing facilities, while still offering high-quality service to users at the facilities. The Council have identified the need to implement a capital investment programme that will significantly improve its facilities and the commercial impact over the duration of the contract term. Following the development of the new facilities, it is the intention for the Contractor to operate the facilities over the length of the contract term. It is the intention to primarily focus capital investment on constructing new or refurbish existing facilities and to replace activities that have been lost from centres at Central Pool and Arthur Hill which have recently closed. The Council plans to allocate capital investment using prudential borrowing and a potential funding contribution from Sport England to fund the new facility development works. The Council requires Bidders to formulate and offer an affordable solution for the development and management of new and existing leisure facilities that achieves the Council’s minimum core requirements (as set out in the Information Memorandum and Draft Specifications), with affordability parameters being paramount. The minimum core requirements could change during the procurement process. The Council expect to be offered an affordable solution that will meet the facility and service requirements defined in the draft specification documents and this Information Memorandum. It is envisaged that the solution offered will generate income through a management fee to the Council over the duration of the contract and that income will fully reimburse the Council's initial capital outlay and cost of borrowing required for any new or refurbished facilities. In addition to developing facilities to meet the Council’s minimum core facility requirements, the Council would like Bidders to explore any additional innovative capital investment solutions that will meet or complement the core contract and service needs while also demonstrating a significantly improved financial revenue position.