Purpose

Proposed decision
To agree to pursue a
procurement process to contract Inward Investment and Visitor
Economy services for Kent & Medway for two years. The value of
the contract includes a  financial reduction from previous
years.
 

Reason for the decision
Current contractual
arrangements with Locate in Kent, Kent & Medway’s Inward
Investment Agency and Visit Kent, Kent & Medway’s
Destination Management Organisation and Local Visitor Economy
Partnership come to an end on 30 June 2024. In
order to ensure that Kent & Medway benefit from inward
investment and visitor economy services in future, these services
need to be re-procured.
 

Background:
Many areas across the
UK have inward investment services and destination management
organisations in place to promote local opportunities and maximise
external investment and visitor spend to boost the local
economy.
 
Kent County Council
(KCC) and Medway Council (MC) have provided financial support and
strategic direction for many years for services to secure inward
investment into the county and develop and promote the
county’s tourism offer.
 
These
services:

·        
Promote investment opportunities in the county to
investors and businesses based outside Kent & Medway

·        
Bring new businesses to Kent & Medway creating
employment opportunities for local people

·        
Secure external investment into local businesses
safeguarding jobs

·        
Promote the county’s visitor economy and
tourism offer nationally and internationally

·        
Bring additional visitors to the county and
associated spend with local visitor economy businesses
(accommodation, experiences, attractions, leisure, hospitality and retail)

·        
Provide a range of support activities to visitor
economy businesses to enable them to develop and grow
 
Although KCC and MC
face significant financial pressures, the value of these services
to the local economy is significant. They provide better employment
opportunities and quality of life for local
residents.
 

Options

1.   
Retender the contract on the
basis of previous years; a higher cost and two separate
services delivered. This was not possible due to budgetary
pressures and a need to reduce the value of the
contracts.

2.   
Retender the contract with a reduced budget and
combining previous commissions into a single service. This option,
which is being pursued, provides financial savings for KCC and enables an aligning of approach as well as
efficiency savings to be made. KPIs proportionate to the available
reduced budget would have to be set.

3.   
Bring these services in house. Cost savings would
not be achieved and the ‘value added’ of independent
private sector organisations delivering a credible service would be
lost.

4.   
Cease funding the Inward Investment and Visitor
Economy services. This option would lead to the end of the inward
investment service in Kent & Medway as KCC is the principal
funder. Locate in Kent has supported 21 new business investment
projects since May 2023 which have created 497 jobs in Kent &
Medway. This option would significantly weaken the visitor economy
service as KCC is a major principal funder. The Visitor Economy is
worth £3.8bn to Kent & Medway each year and the Visit
Kent service plays a key role in sustaining and growing
this.
 

How the proposed decision supports Framing
Kent’s Future 2022-2026:
These services
directly support the following FKF commitments:

·  
“Rebrand Kent to attract national and
international investment by promoting all that the county has to
offer for business, learning, leisure and tourism”

·  
“Support strategic opportunities for growth
through the delivery of sites and premises and support for new
investment and business expansion, where it will deliver
higher-value jobs and increased productivity and contributes to our
Net Zero target.”

·  
“Back SMEs and entrepreneurs to start-up, grow
and drive adoption of new technology to improve productivity
through increased GVA (Gross Value Added) and higher wages”
 
How
the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s
Future:

·  
Objective 2: Delivering savings from identified
opportunity areas to set a sustainable 2024/25 budget and
MTFP:

o  
Contract review

·  
The value to Kent of these services has been
considered and their objectives and outcomes reviewed in order to ensure best value for KCC and Kent
residents.
 
 
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member for Economic Development, I
agree to:
 
(i)       PROCURE an Inward
Investment and Visitor Economy services contract for the next two
financial years. Medway Council (MC) will contribute funding to
this single contract and
 
(ii)       DELEGATE to the
Director Growth & Communities to take other relevant actions
including but not limited to entering into required legal
agreements as necessary to implement the decision.