Bus Shelter Advertising Extension

Concepts

• advertising services
• nottinghamshire
• bus shelter advertising
• bus shelters
• shelters
• digital advertising
• advertising space
• the bus shelter advertising
• each bus shelter
• 1,483 bus shelters

Location

Nottingham:

Description

Nottinghamshire County Council has extended its existing concession agreement for bus shelter advertising by three years to support the transition of transport functions to EMCCA is completed.

Total Quantity or Scope

Nottinghamshire County Council (the Council) maintains in excess of 4,500 bus stops with 1,483 bus shelters and almost 1,200 real time displays. Since 2000, the Incumbent Provider has supplied and maintained 470 of the 1,483 bus shelters in Nottinghamshire at no cost to the Council in exchange for selling advertising space on approximately 45% of their shelters and retaining ownership of each bus shelter it supplies under the contract. This represents excellent value to the Council as it would cost over £6.5 million to install like for like shelters and £50k per annum to clean and maintain them. Since 2019, the Incumbent Provider started replacing its paper advertising with digital advertising and the Council negotiated a contract variation to receive an income for every digital panel added to the Incumbent Provider’s estate. The Incumbent Provider currently have 30 such panels, with the income used to offset the Council’s bus stop infrastructure maintenance costs. The Incumbent Provider supplies and has maintained its shelter estate to a high standard, and it remains in good condition. The current contract for delivery of the bus shelter advertising will expire on 1 May 2025, and it has been in place for 25 years. The Council’s Local Transport Authority functions will transfer to the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) on or before 31st March 2026. At present it is unclear whether bus shelters owned by the Council will transfer or contracts such as that held between the Council and the Incumbent Provider will be novated by this date or at all. There is also expected to be a considerable period of adjustment within EMCCA as the Transport team beds in and the functions to support delivery mature.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 79341000 - Advertising services

Legal Justification

To ensure an effective transition of transport functions to EMCCA, the Council intends to extend its existing contract with the Incumbent Provider for three years to allow for clarity on where responsibility for bus shelters will sit in the future, build sufficient capacity and undertake a harmonisation of standards across the region. The existing contract does not provide for such an extension so a variation would first need to be negotiated with the Incumbent Provider. The Incumbent Provider has indicated they would be willing to commence this negotiation and extend the current contract by three years. The Council has obtained legal advice that confirms that there is a legitimate route to extend the current contract with the Incumbent Provider by relying on one or more provisions set out in Regulation 43 of the Concession Contract Regulations 2016. The contract extension to allow for clarity over the longer-term responsibility for bus shelters also has the additional benefits as it provides an opportunity to design a tender process that focuses on delivering a best-value, high-quality collaborative service in conjunction with other services for bus shelter advertising and aligning with EMCCA’s values and strategies as the Local Transport Authority.

Other Information

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