Bucklers Park Community Hub, Crowthorne

The Council are seeking to appoint an operator to manage the Bucklers Park Community Hub, Crowthorne, Berkshire.

The operator will be expected to manage the Community Hub at a low or not-for-profit basis and ideally the prospective bidder will be able to previously demonstrate the ability to manage a Community Hub on a similar basis. The operator will also have an active role within the local community by promoting the facilities to potential users as well as hiring out the facilities for individuals or community groups.

The Hub building is a new facility available for use, the site is not associated with the employment of any personnel thus meaning there will be no TUPE responsibilities.

The bidder is expecting to demonstrate the ability to run the Community Hub / Centre effectively by highlighting their competencies throughout the tender process.

Bracknell Forest Council is seeking a management organisation or organisations to take on the operations of a Community Hub within the Borough. The Hub was built in summer 2021 on the former Transport Research Laboratory site next to Buckler's Forest. The intended opening is targeted for Autumn 2023 with the procurement process officially starting in February 2023.

The management of the Hub will play an active role within the community, empowering residents to participate in community activities. The new Community Hub will also play a key role in supporting community activities and events within the Bucklers Park and surrounding areas. The operator will be expected to manage the following facilities:

Additional information:

Organisations must register their interest on the South East Business Portal site in order to receive any changes or notifications issued by the Council during this tender process. The Council will not be held responsible for lack of communication to any organisation who does not register their interest. Clarification questions can also be sent through this site via the messaging facility.

This will be tendered as a concession contract and conducted as a restricted two stage process under SOSS (Light Touch) process.The Council will evaluate the tenders in three stages:

1. An initial desk review based on Schedule 1 and financial standing. In addition, the Council may contact the referees. We expect providers to self-exclude if they cannot meet or exceed the capabilities required.
2. Those providers who pass stage (1) will then be fully evaluated by the team based on the remainder of the documentation submitted.
3. The six highest scoring providers at entry level will be invited to submit an ITT proposal response. The responses will then be fully evaluated by the team based on the submitted ITT documents.

Economic and Financial Standing. The authority will seek more information from independent credit agencies as part of the evaluation and reserves the right to undertake credit checks at each stage of the procurement process and after contract award.

The council reserves the right not to award the contract in whole or in part, to cancel or amend the tender process and does not bind itself to accept any tender. The Council shall not be liable under any circumstances for any costs or expenses incurred by any bidder or prospective bidder in responding to this notice or in taking part in this procurement process.

Bidders are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.