Purpose

To award a new leisure management contract for
the following facilities: Aqua Vale, Swan pool & Leisure
Centre, Beacon Sports Centre & Theatre, the Evreham Centre, the
Little Marlow Athletics Track.

Content

As a new unitary authority, Buckinghamshire Council
inherited five different operator contracts for its leisure
facilities from the legacy councils. This procurement delivered the
first stage of the Council’s plans to review and rationalise
operating arrangements as contracts come up for renewal. It would
replace the three contracts for Aqua Vale Swimming and Fitness
Centre (Aylesbury), Swan Pool and Leisure Centre (Buckingham),
Little Marlow Athletics Track, Evreham Sports Centre (Iver) and the
Beacon Centre (Beaconsfield) with a single new contract, which
would run for a term of five years and three months. This contract
period aligned to the expiration of the legacy Wycombe area
contract, enabling a further opportunity for contract harmonisation
if desirable at that time, to provide for greater economies of
scale and efficiencies; and to allow the Council time to determine
future needs for leisure facilities into the longer term, informed
by the developing Local Plan.
The procurement approach was informed by external specialist
consultancy support including soft market testing undertaken for
Buckinghamshire and across the wider leisure industry around the
Country, with consideration of the changed market circumstances
post-pandemic. The soft market testing exercise identified that
operators were carefully considering the new contracts they bid
for, as many had several contracts coming up for renewal (due to
the pandemic, re-procuring leisure contracts was put on hold during
2020-2022, with many councils extending contracts where end dates
were due). The Council carefully considered its specification and
contract clauses to ensure that the tender was attractive to the
market but offered residents value for money.

The Council had followed a competitive procedure
with negotiation tender process, using Sport England template
documents (contract and services specification) which were tailored
to reflect the Council’s outcomes and requirements for
service quality and financial outcomes. The full procurement
evaluation report, financial information and details on the
preferred bidder were set out in the Confidential Appendix 1 to the
Cabinet report.

 

RESOLVED –

 
That the contract
to operate the Council’s leisure
facilities at Aqua
Vale Swimming and Fitness Centre (Aylesbury), Swan Pool and Leisure
Centre (Buckingham), Little Marlow Athletics Track, Evreham Sports
Centre (Iver) and the Beacon Centre (Beaconsfield)be AWARDED to
the preferred bidder, as detailed within
confidential Appendix 1 of the Cabinet
report.