Background

Rutland County Council and Rocks By Rail have secured Arts Council Renaissance Funding to undertake a project to support and promote the museums and heritage of Rutland.

In order to deliver this project in the time frame allowed (by the end of March 2014), Rutland County Council requires a Consultant to undertake the coordination, development and delivery of the project objectives.

Purpose of Accessing Rutland’s Museums Project

1.  The Project aims to develop ways to encourage and enable visitors to the East Midlands region and specifically Rutland Water (which attracts c.1 million visitors per annum) to visit and enjoy Rutland County Museum and Rocks By Rail

2.  Specifically, this will be done by increasing the marketing and volunteer power of the sites

Outputs of the Contract

1.  Dedicated web space for locating and finding out about heritage and arts in Rutland, with prominence given to Rutland County Museum and Rocks By Rail, and integration with Discover Rutland tourism app

2.  Creation of a Heritage & Art tour which will be promoted by the Discover Rutland team (the Destination Management Organisation for Rutland), and via the Shorelink Bus, to include a Tour Book and leaflet

3.  Research into ways of enabling volunteers to provide support for sites that are "off the beaten track" and for visitors to access the sites

4.  Commissioned art works and physical information boards installed at key sites in the County promoting the Accredited Museums, heritage sites and arts venues, to guide visitors to the attractions

5.  Interim and final evaluation reports for the Project Board and Arts Council England, and sharing of the results of the project at a Showcase Learning Event for the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Forum and through Social Media

The successful Consultant will be required to coordinate these elements of work under the direction of a Project Board, which includes key project partners.

Methodology

The Consultant will need to outline in their submission the methodology to be used to undertake the project coordination, and an outline timetable for the activities to be conducted.

Copyright

Rutland County Council and Rocks By Rail will own all assets and intellectual property and copyrights for materials, documents and resources generated by the Project.

Contract Budget and Payments

A maximum sum of £14,000 (excluding VAT) has been allocated for Project Coordination. Quality, price and methodology will be taken into account when assessing the submissions and the Project Board will assess tenders and agree the contract award.

The criteria for selection will be:

·  Price / resources / value for money 40%

·  Relevant experience / tender quality 40%

·  Understanding of Commission / Methodology 20%

This work is being contracted by Rutland County Council. The tender prices should cover the Project Coordination work which includes research, planning, meetings, travel, mailings, stationery, and reporting as required. There are separate budgets available for the delivery of the project outputs (see appendix 1).

Preferred payment terms for fees and activities should be set out in your submission, actual payment terms will be agreed with the successful bidder.

Experience / Team Composition

It is expected that the consultant/s should have experience of:

•  Promoting historic sites, collections and buildings

•  Artistic commissioning and working with artists

•  Audience development

•  Community consultation

•  Visitor service provision

•  Partnership building

•  Budget management

•  Commissioning and contracting

•  Use of social media, web publishing and other PR and marketing tools and techniques

Timescales

The timescales for the contract are as follows:

Invitations to quote sent out by: 20th September 2013

Return of quotations by: 4th October 2013

Quotations assessed by: 11th October 2013

Contract start: 14th October 2013

The duration of the contract is expected to be 25 weeks. The aim is for the works to be completed by 14th March 2014, and a final report completed by 31st March 2014.

Quotes

Respondents are asked to outline:

• Names and qualifications of all staff employed on the contract

• Experience of all staff including similar past project work undertaken

• Name of the project leader who will act as the principal point of contact

• An outline of the general approach and methodology to be taken to meet the objectives of the contract

• The details of two references

Price submissions should be in the form of a fixed price for delivery of the project outputs, plus hourly rates for activities agreed beyond the contracted scope.

Please set out a breakdown of the costs as follows:

• Total staff costs broken down by daily / hourly rate, number of days and type of activity, related to the activities to be delivered

• Travel and subsistence

• Any related costs

Please send completed quotations, and address any queries regarding this opportunity, to:

Robert Clayton

Culture & Leisure Services Manager

Rutland County Council

Rutland County Museum

Catmos Street

Oakham

Rutland

LE15 6HW

01572 758435

Rutland County Council

September 2013

APPENDIX 1: Draft Project Budget

Expenditure Heading / Description / Budget
Artistic spending / Commissioned art works as part of pavement trails / information panels / tour publication / online presence / £22,500
Making your activity accessible / Production of audio & online guides for visually impaired visitors / £3,600
Developing your organisation and people / Learning and dissemination event / £600
Developing your organisation and people / Volunteer and staff training / £2,700
Marketing and developing audiences / Market Research and public consultation / £2,200
Marketing and developing audiences / Tour content development / £6,300
Marketing and developing audiences / Publication authoring / £4,000
Marketing and developing audiences / Print and distribution / £3,000
Marketing and developing audiences / Webspace and App development / £6,700
Assets / Information Boards / £9,000
Assets / Multimedia Guides / £2,500
Other / Planning, permission and installation fees / £1,800
Other / Evaluation costs / £900
Other / Consultation Expenses / £900
Other / Volunteer out of pocket expenses / £1,800
Expenditure total / £68,500