Decision details

The current contract comes with significant capital investment (300K) from RA Venues to grow the business which they have been unable to benefit from due to closure of museum sites as an impact of Covid from March 2020 to May 2021. This equates to 14 months of lost trading for the contract.
Due to the pandemic there has been a delay to the re-tender process. The Council is currently reviewing catering provision and intends to align contracts where possible. Extension of the contract will allow the planning of future catering provisions and associated tender processes to be completed.

Extend the Conferencing, Events and Catering contract for Museum Sites for 12 months as approved at Cabinet on 10 May 2022.

Option 1 - Trading at BMAG and M Shed sites has not yet reached pre pandemic levels. To go out to full tender for a new 5-year contract at a period where trade is unstable is likely to lead to BCC not reaching suitable levels of return and investment. BCC would be better placed to go to market when the market stabilises.
Option 2 -
Option 3 -