Gloucester City Council – Leisure procurement support

Background

SLC was commissioned by Gloucester City Council in August 2023 to support the procurement of a new leisure operating contract for its portfolio of two leisure facilities. SLC had previously supported the Council in undertaking a management options appraisal for its leisure and cultural services. It was recommended that the Council procure a new management contract for its leisure services and bring the management of cultural services in house. SLC provided the Council with end-to-end support and guidance throughout the procurement process by delivering the following staged workstreams.

Finding an interim provider  

During the early stages of pre-procurement planning in September 2023, the Council’s leisure provider, Aspire Sports and Cultural Trust, announced it could no longer operate. As a result, they would not be entering into the contract extension they had been negotiating with the Council. The announcement also affected the University of Gloucestershire whose Oxstalls campus facilities were also managed by Aspire.

The Council and University were given just a few days’ notice of the closure of their facilities by Aspire and all staff were immediately made redundant. The closures came in the early stages of the Council’s preparations for the procurement of a new leisure contract which was not due to start until October 2024. Working closely with the Council, SLC devised a process for securing an interim leisure provider under emergency procurement rules, resulting in the selection of an operator in just over 4 weeks from the initial closure.

Initially, there were 14 parties that had expressed an interest in an interim contract. A shortlist was developed using agreed criteria on organisation scale, experience and capacity. From this, a two-stage selection process assessed the relevant experience, capability, resources and proposals of potential operators.

Freedom Leisure was selected by the Council as its preferred bidder and they quickly mobilised to recruit staff to operate the services, re-employing c. 80 former Aspire staff. They commenced a phased reopening of facilities to the public within 2 weeks of appointment.

Pre-Procurement support

Once an interim provider was in place and the facilities reopened, SLC worked with the Council’s Project Board to develop a robust procurement strategy. This set out the approach to the procurement and established a suitable balance between meeting the Council’s requirements whilst ensuring the opportunity was attractive to the market and would put the leisure service on a more sustainable footing.

Key to this was the inclusion of a Council-funded investment fund, with operator investment proposals to be tested through the procurement process. This would enable the Council to assess the projected return on investment and overall business case for these options.

Another key decision in the procurement strategy was to include the facilities owned by the University of Gloucestershire (UoG) and Blackbridge Charitable Community Benefit Society (BCCBS). UoG’s Oxstalls Arena and 3G pitch facilities had previously been operated by Aspire, providing City residents with a single operator across the sport and leisure provision at Oxstalls. BCCBS were in the process of developing a new Community and Sports Hub in Podsmead, an area of deprivation within the City. All parties saw the potential benefits of having a single operator managing the 3 separate contracts and agreed to a joint procurement exercise to achieve this.

SLC developed the tender documents for all three organisations including the service specifications (encompassing the Council’s requirement for a new Active Communities Programme of outreach interventions) and the Invitation to Tender. SLC also supported legal colleagues to develop the Council’s new Contract in accordance with the Sport England template and UoG’s own bespoke contract.

Procurement process

SLC supported the Council, UoG and BCCBS throughout each stage of the procurement process, helping with responses to clarification questions, evaluating bids, facilitating bidder meetings and reviewing and advising on financial submissions.

Project outcome

Following the comprehensive tender process, the Council awarded a 15-year Leisure and Management Contract to Freedom Leisure. This commences on 2 January 2025. UoG and BCCBS have similarly confirmed their intention to enter into contract with Freedom Leisure for the management and operation of their own facilities. As well as delivering robust new contracts which will provide a harmonised leisure offer across the city, the Council’s contract now has a broader remit to help tackle local health inequalities and deliver neighbourhood-based services. Significant financial investment has been secured with c.£5.9M being provided by the Council and £1.3M by the operator. Despite broadening the scope of services to include a new Active Communities Programme of place-based interventions, the new arrangements will improve the management fee by c. £18M over the term of the 15-year contract.

TESTIMONIAL