Decision details
Women in Tech – Nwes contract variation
Decision Maker: Assistant Director for Area Regeneration
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
For the Assistant Director for Regeneration to
approve the variation under Contract Standing Order 10.02.1(a), of
the Service Concession Contract awarded to NWES Property Services
Ltd (Nwes) for the delivery of an additional project, ‘Women
in Tech’, from Wood Green Works (WGW) at 40 Cumberland Road.
The variation, an additional £47,500, to carry out building
work and purchase capital assets and furniture, will enable Nwes to
secure £250,000 of funding from Deutsche Bank UK to invest in
the ‘Women in Tech’ scheme.
Reasons for the decision:
The delivery of this project in Wood Green
will make a significant contribution to the Council’s
aspiration to revitalise the area and deliver on its strategic
objective to rebalance its economy and support sectors and
industries that are identified as growth sectors. The Council is
keen to support skills development in the digital and new
technology sectors.
By exclusively targeting women, the ‘Women in Tech’
scheme will help address the current income and employment
opportunities imbalance between women and men in the borough.
As Nwes is currently undertaking building work at 40 Cumberland and
has builders on site, it will make commercial and logistic sense to
use the current team of operatives to carry out the necessary
building and adaptation works.
There is also a time constraint in that the funder, Deutsche Bank,
is expecting the project to start imminently. We risk losing this
project as alternative options e.g. going to the market and
procuring the building work will result in further delays.
The cost of the building work, the capital asset and furniture
required to deliver the project is £47,500. It will be
jointly funded by the Wood Green Regeneration Team, (£17,500
from capital budget) and the Economic Development and Growth
service (£30,000 from ‘Employment Resilience
Reserve’ pot).
Alternative options considered:
This is a unique opportunity to bring
£250K of investment into the borough and deliver an
interesting project in line with the Council’s priorities.
This initiative will further raise the profile of Wood Green as a
hub for creative and Tech sector entrepreneurship.
Apart from the financial contribution, the Deutsche Bank offers a
whole host of ‘soft’ benefits including marketing,
mentoring for entrepreneurs, industry speakers, placements for
trainees and apprenticeship opportunities.
Publication date: 10/01/2019
Date of decision: 10/01/2019
Accompanying Documents: