Cumbria Catalyst

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is providing revenue funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships for the provision of local Business Support Services, as part of the Industrial Strategy the Government launched in November 2017. Cumbria County Council, on behalf of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), invites proposals from organisations, including consortia, with the capability and capacity to provide a diagnostic triage service, 3 hour diagnostic sessions resulting in the production of an action plan and referral, 12 hour bespoke intensive sessions with businesses identified via the triage as potentially high growth businesses, and high-quality business support workshops. This service will be known as The Cumbria Catalyst for small-to-medium sized enterprises in Cumbria, the geographic operating area of the Cumbria LEP. The successful bidder will be expected to develop excellent relationships with other business support providers, ensuring that the triage function results in referrals to the most appropriate business support delivery organisation for the individual business. The contract will be for the period from October 2018 to March 2020, with a review gateway at March 2019. There is the option to extend the contract for a further 2 years. N.B. The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, via the Council's tendering portal, The Chest, at www.the-chest.org.uk - tenders and requests to participate MUST be submitted electronically via The Chest.