Decision details

To seek approval to authorise the award for procurement for the hire, maintenance, testing, installation, removal and storage of Sheffield Christmas Illuminations 2022/2026.

That the Interim Executive Director, Place:-

1.    Approve the procurement of a provider to deliver Sheffield Christmas Illuminations, as detailed and set out in the report.

2.    Delegates authority to the Director of Business Strategy, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Commercial Services to agree the terms of the contract and thereafter to award the contract to the successful tenderer.

3.    Where no existing authority exists, delegate authority to Director of Business Strategy, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Commercial Services, to take such steps to meet the aims and objects as detailed and set out in this report.

To obtain the best possible array of festive illuminations for Sheffield.

Illuminations add vibrancy and animation and attract visitors who in turn then provide much needed spend to the shops and businesses, adding to the economic value of the city centre particularly in the wake of several Covid lockdowns.

The Council can demonstrate compliance with UK procurement rules and regulations in the awarding of the contract.

It will obtain a value for money contract based on considerations of both quality and price.

Amey non-core approach – It was considered that Amey may undertake the install and maintenance part of this service via the ‘non-core’ provision existing within the primary Highways contract with Amey. This option was discounted based on resource implications and the potential need to sub-contract which may the add further costs.

Further extending the existing contract to cover Christmas 2022 (and beyond) – This was discounted for two reasons, one being a general procurement requirement to re-tender the scheme and secondly as it was felt that the current scheme had become tired looking.  After five years of the same features, 18 months of restrictions that have affected the public, residents and businesses in the city centre, a fresh scheme would add vibrancy and encourage visitor spend for local retailers

In-sourcing the requirement – There is no capacity or expertise in-house for the requirement which would then still require further sub-contracting, therefore discounted as more efficient to contract out the full requirement to a single provider with expertise in the field.