Business development consultancy services

Tender description

The sustainable growth of adventure tourism is a strategic priority for HIE and our ambition is to accelerate business growth across targeted cohorts of adventure tourism businesses. Delivery of the project will focus on the creation of up to 5 place-based cohorts across the Highland Council geography. The programme will seek to work with not only established businesses, but also micro businesses and aspiring businesses looking to start up in the sector. Through the provision of intensive support, the aim is to enable participant businesses to collaborate to create scale in a global sector where the Highlands has a natural competitive advantage. Phase 1 of the programme will focus on the design and build of an innovative and inspirational programme that will stimulate ambition, reflect international best practice and further develop business capability, growth and competitiveness, followed by Phase 2, recruitment, management and delivery of the programme. It is expected that these services will be required from January 2020 for a period of 3 years. The 3-year budget available to deliver this service is between 150 000 GBP and 189 000 GBP (excluding VAT). This figure includes venue hire, residential costs for participants, teas/coffees, lunch, dinner (where appropriate), alumni events and generic T&S. The project is a component of Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s Northern Innovation Hub (NIH) which is funded from the UK and Scottish Government’s City Region-Deal. The Northern Innovation Hub covers the Highland Council local authority region and therefore this programme will only be delivered across the Highland region and not the full Highlands and Islands Enterprise region.