BEST Growth Hub Business Support Call-Down Contract

The ‘Business Essex Southend & Thurrock (BEST) Growth Hub’ (BGH) is a new initiative that aims to create a central repository of information, advice and support for businesses across the Essex, Southend and Thurrock area. The BGH is funded by BIS and overseen by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.

Delivery of the project is being managed by a collective of Local Authorities, led by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. For the purposes of the BGH, the delivery area will be split into 4 quadrants encompassing the following local authority areas: - Haven Gateway: The District and Borough areas of Braintree, Colchester and Tendring - Heart of Essex: The Borough, City and District areas of Brentwood, Chelmsford and Maldon - West Essex: The District areas of Epping Forest, Harlow and Uttlesford - Thames Gateway South Essex: The District areas of Basildon, Castle Point and Rochford in addition to the Unitary authorities of Thurrock and Southend on Sea As mentioned above, the Thames Gateway South Essex area will be well served for 1:2:1 support services due to the existing business navigation service provided by Growth Hub core staff based in Southend.

Therefore this specification is seeking proposals to deliver 1:2:1 business support services in the following areas: Haven Gateway, Heart of Essex and West Essex. For the reason stated above, we are not seeking a provider of 1:2:1 business support services for the Thames Gateway South Essex quadrant.

In order to provide a comprehensive business support service across the area, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is seeking to appoint suppliers of BGH 1:2:1 business support services for the following areas: The Haven Gateway, West Essex and The Heart of Essex. Successful Bidders will be awarded a ‘call-down’ contract which will enable them to charge a pre-determined fee for providing a designated unit of business support (specific details are given below) up to a maximum total contract value.

A single contract will be awarded for each of the 3 quadrants identified above. We reserve the right to appoint one company multiple contracts if they are able to evidence that they could provide an excellent service and maximise the use of public money.

The maximum total value of each contract will be £10,000.00 inclusive of fees, expenses and disbursements but exclusive of VAT. Southend-on-Sea Borough Council requires this contract to be in operation no later than Monday, 12th October 2015.

The contract will conclude on the 31st March 2016 or when the maximum total contract value has been reached. This work will be commissioned through a single stage quote process. Bids received will be evaluated by the client group using the evaluation criteria detailed below.