Football Hub Operator - King George V Playing Fields Redevelopment - Portsmouth

Portsmouth City Council - 'the Council' - is inviting applications from suitably qualified and experienced operators for the operation of a football hub at King George V Playing Fields, Portsmouth.

The Council is seeking to secure a strategic partner who will work with the Council to develop the game in the city and address a number of key local outcomes, including:

The Council is in the process of bidding for grant funding from the Premier League, The FA and the Government's Football Foundation. Once secured this funding will be used to fund the redevelopment of the site which will encompass replacement of the existing pavilion building, updating the current landscaping & parking provisions and installation of two new Artificial Grass Pitches (AGP's).

To achieve funding from the Football Foundation, the Council must have a deliverable scheme, with planning consent, ready for the April 2022 funding window.

The site will also retain a number of grass pitches which operators may also include for within optional Lot 2 additional proposals.

There may also be further opportunities over the term of the contract for the successful operator to expand delivery of operations to other existing or newly developed Council owned football facilities, without limitation in respect of relevant Council sites or potential revenue estimates.

The initial term of the contract will be for approx. 10 years, dependent upon the final service commencement date. The contract may be extended at the option of the Council to a maximum total term of 15 years, in increments to be agreed.

The Council is targeting operational commencement from September 2023, however the exact operational commencement date may be brought forwards or put back in relation to some or all of the services, dependent upon funding status, securing of approvals and completion of the required redevelopment works.

The first year of operations under the contract will run for approx. 7 months to completion of the Council's financial year in April 2024. All subsequent years will be in line with the Council's financial year definition and will run from April to April.

The Council's revenue turnover projection for the site, at maturity of the business model and with inclusion of grass pitches, is approx. £320K a year. This figure is a non-binding estimate which may be subject to significant above and below fluctuations dependent upon the commercial performance of the facility / operator and / or addition of any further facilities to the scope of the arrangements over the term of the contract.

The Council is aiming to have secured the successful operator partner by March 2022 to allow for operator input into the funding application, redevelopment works specifications and overall project delivery strategy.

It is the Council's view that the contractual arrangements which will be established via this procurement process are classified as a service concession contract under the Public Concessions Regulations (2016) and furthermore fall under the scope of the Light Touch Regime services listed under Schedule 3 of the regulations.

In the interests of transparency, fairness, equality of opportunity, best value and future development flexibility, the Council has opted to undertake an FTS advertised procurement process in broad non-binding accordance with the Competitive Dialogue Procedure, as set out within the Public Contracts Regulations (2015).

A summary of the procurement process and timescales is included within Section 'VI.3. Additional information' of this notice.