Decision details

To award a contract to Place Support Partnership Ltd to deliver a two-month pilot programme of tailored Business Savings Support for businesses in and around Tottenham, for a total value of £9,000 plus VAT.

The initiative is a highlighted project within the Council’s Good Economy Recovery Plan (Business Support theme) to be delivered in Tottenham this financial year. This is as a response to businesses across the borough asking for support with making savings against their utility and other ongoing overhead costs, particularly when some have experienced high bills despite being closed during lockdown and are concerned with the impact of Brexit that may push bills upward. This response will enable businesses (initially as a pilot in Tottenham) to realise these savings. At this stage, this Council is essentially buying in expertise to understand if such a service is viable for the longer term and if it will be successful as a borough-wide initiative.

The pilot project will ascertain demand, take up across sectors within a specific area (i.e., the high street and industrial estates), to finetune the output and understand user requirements, with less expenditure. From this and lessons learned, a proposal for a borough-wide savings programme will be developed. The Managing Director of PSP Ltd has a proven track record of delivering successful schemes across the UK for BIDs and Local Authorities.

1) Do Nothing – would not help tackle known priority issues of business support in Tottenham and the wider borough and not deliver real cash savings for businesses in this critical time during the pandemic and following Brexit. It would also not progress a key theme within the Good Economy Recovery Plan and HSRAP.

2) Tender to the open market and assess responses. This option was discounted because a pilot is a more effective method to manage initial risk, provide clarity as to which services prove most popular and which sectors to focus on. The pilot can also be delivered relatively quickly to meet a defined need. Depending on the pilot’s evaluation, an open tender exercise for a borough-wide programme could then be undertaken in late spring/summer 2021. This could also explore options such as collective buying initiatives working with the borough’s business networks. As the contract value is under £10k, a procurement exercise is also not required.