FOL16/229: KENSINGTON GARDENS CATERING CONCESSION

PQQ BACKGROUND INFORMATION & GUIDANCE FOR SUPPLIERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction.................................................................................................3

2. Background Information..............................................................................3

3. The Requirement.........................................................................................4

4. Broad Walk Café..........................................................................................5

5. Marlborough Gate Café................................................................................5

6. Palace Gate Kiosk........................................................................................6

7. Albert Memorial Kiosk..................................................................................6

8. Mobiles........................................................................................................7

9. Timetable.....................................................................................................7

10. Instructions for Completion.......................................................................7

11. Queries about the procurement................................................................8

12. Verification of Information Provided.........................................................8

13. Consortia Arrangements...........................................................................8

14. Freedom of Information............................................................................8

15. Transparency............................................................................................9

16. Submission of Completed Pre-Qualification Questionnaires.....................9

17. Provider Selection.....................................................................................9

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1. Introduction

This Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (“PQQ”) has been issued by The Royal Parks Agency (TRP) in connection with a competitive procurement.

This PQQ is part of a two-stage process to short list suppliers to be selected to tender based on past experience and track record. The assessment is based upon economic and financial standing and professional and technical capacity/capability.

The intention is to arrive at a short list of a maximum of 5 suppliers for invitation to tender.

TRP reserves the right to terminate the process at any time. Under no circumstances shall the TRP incur any liability in respect of this PQQ or any supporting documentation.

TRP will not reimburse any costs incurred by suppliers in connection with preparation and submission of their PQQ responses.

2. Background Information

TRP manages eight of London’s Royal Parks – St James’s Park, The Green Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Regent’s Park (& Primrose Hill), Greenwich Park, Richmond Park and Bushy Park. It is also responsible for a number of other areas including Brompton Cemetery, Victoria Tower Gardens, and Grosvenor Square Gardens.

TRP is an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Chief Executive supported by the Senior Management Team, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Royal Parks and is accountable to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

TRP’s inherent purpose is to manage the Royal Parks effectively and efficiently, balancing the responsibility to conserve and enhance the unique environments with creative policies to encourage access and to increase opportunities for enjoyment, education, entertainment and healthy recreation.

Further information on TRP is available from our web site.

Kensington Gardens is the western most of the four connected inner London Royal Parks. Distinct from but complementary to its neighbour Hyde Park, it covers some 99 Hectares (245 acres) and is listed as Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens.

Evolving as the private pleasure grounds of Kensington Palace, the park has a verdant and genteel character created by the strong formal framework of shady tree-lined avenues and lawns, which largely correspond to the 18 th

Century layout attributed to the landscape architect Charles Bridgeman. Bridgeman was also responsible for creating the Serpentine and the Long Water by damming the Westbourne Stream.

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These qualities contrast with the more open and informal landscape of the contiguous Hyde Park and tend to favour mainly quiet and informal activities. Up to four major events are held in Kensington Gardens each year, and these are generally located on the lawns to the east and west of the Albert Memorial.

Kensington Gardens is home to numerous well known and much loved features, including Kensington Palace, the Italian Gardens, the Round Pond, the Serpentine Gallery, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery and the Albert Memorial. Additionally, there is a strong association with children as epitomised with the statue of Peter Pan and the prestigious Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground. The playground has become incredibly popular and now receives over a million visitors per year. A recent Ipsos Mori survey conservatively estimated that 10.4 million visits are made to Kensington Gardens each year.

TRP wishes to be the market leaders in open space catering through the development, with our catering partners, of bespoke concepts that are unique to the Royal Parks, appropriate for the park environment and relevant to the park visitor at Kensington Gardens.

TRP’s catering vision is:

“Great food for everyone, with friendly and efficient service in contemporary, inviting spaces - all delivered responsibly and ethically” TRP aims to embed six key attributes within each of our catering outlets regardless of size or scope. Delivering these consistently must be an operational priority.

(i) A high quality food and drink offer(ii) Fast and friendly service(iii) Unique concepts and creative designs(iv)Compelling and well communicated brands(v) Accessible pricing(vi)Responsible sourcing and operators

3. The Requirement

The Kensington Gardens catering contract is offered on a fully commercial concession basis wherein the appointed caterer will be required to pay TRP a percentage of gross turnover by way of a concession payment, supported by a guaranteed annual sum to be fixed by TRP. In return, the caterer will be offered sole catering rights for the appointed facilities for an initial contract period of five years with an option to extend for an additional five years. The catering facilities in Kensington Gardens forming this concession contract are:

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Broad Walk Café; Marlborough Gate Café; Albert Memorial Kiosk; Palace Gate Kiosk; and Two mobile units

4. Broad Walk Café

The Broad Walk Café is adjacent to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground, the Clock tower and the Elfin Oak. It is an established business currently trading at approximately £800,000 per annum.

This largely wooden building is has service counters facing into the playground and onto the Broad Walk. Despite its name, The Broad Walk Café it is in essence a very large kiosk with an extensive outdoor seating area.

The current menu comprises of hot and cold beverages, flatbread pizzas, salads, soups, a children’s offer, cakes and pastries, baguettes, wraps and ice cream although TRP is looking for ideas from tenderers as to how the menu offer could be expanded.

The building is in relatively good condition and will be handed over to the new operator in a fully fitted state. However, the service yard is in need of investment to improve the storage facilities. TRP will be undertaking a review of the Broad Walk Café over the next few years as part of a master plan for the North West corner of Kensington Gardens and the new operator will be invited to form part of the review team. In the meantime, tenderers will be required to consider short-term development opportunities and improvement works that do not require planning permission.

5. Marlborough Gate Café

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The Marlborough Gate Café, currently under construction, is located near to the Italian Gardens. It replaces a small kiosk.

The café will comprise a single service counter supported by a small back-of-house preparation area. 35 indoor seats will be provided, plus 40 outdoor seats on an external terrace. A separate a walk-in freezer, cold room, dry stores and staff changing facility support the café.

It is envisaged that the café will serve a core product range of barista coffee premium teas, hot chocolate, cold drinks, scooped ice creams and cakes and pastries as a minimum. TRP is open to suggestions on products to differentiate this café from the Broad Walk. It should be noted that there is no ventilation within the building and a planning condition specifically prevents on-site prime cooking.

The café is offered fully furnished and part-fitted. The caterer will be required to provide some of the freestanding equipment.

As a new facility there is no trading history for the café. The turnover of the old kiosk is a poor indictor of the location’s potential but, for reference, it traded at approximately £150,000 per annum (10 months annual trading).

6. Palace Gate Kiosk

The Palace Gate Kiosk is situated at the southern end of the Broad Walk, next to Palace Gate. This kiosk is close to Kensington High Street and captures a good level of footfall from park visitors from the Kensington area.

The kiosk is relatively new and is in good condition. There is a small amount of external seating to the front of the kiosk. The unit will be handed over to the new operator in a fully fitted state.

The current operator offers a menu based around free-range sausages and bacon in organic bread, and organic Fair Trade tea and coffee, which has proved popular but tenderers will be invited to put forward their own ideas for the kiosk.

The kiosk is an established business currently trading at approximately £160,000 per annum.

7. Albert Memorial Kiosk Page 6 of 11

The Albert Memorial Kiosk sits between the Albert Memorial and The South Flower Walk. The memorial is one of London's most ornate monuments, and one of the grandest high-Victorian gothic extravaganzas anywhere.

The current kiosk is a small wooden unit in poor condition with badly set out external seating. It operates on a seasonal basis and offers a range of

hot and cold beverages, wrapped sandwiches and ice creams.

TRP intends to replace the existing kiosk and is currently in the process of designing it as part of the landscaping works taking place to the South Flower Walk. The new kiosk will need to host information on the nearby Albert Memorial and the history of the South Flower Walk. The incoming caterer will be expected to fit out the kiosk.

The kiosk is an established business currently trading at approximately £80,000 per annum. It is expected the improved facility will generate significantly higher annual revenue.

8. Mobiles

There are two electric mobile units, owned by the incumbent caterer, operating within Kensington Gardens on the Broad Walk and at the Italian Gardens. The mobiles are stored in service yards on site. The incoming Concession Holder will be expected to replace these with similar units at their expense. The units operate seasonally serving a range of hot and cold beverages and ice creams. Current turnover is approximately £75,000 per annum.

9. Timetable

The provisional tender timetable is as follows:

Action DateAdvertise in The Caterer and Contracts Finder 15th April, 2016PQQ submission deadline 6th May, 2016Notify bidders result of PQQ evaluation 30th May, 2016Issue of Invitation to Tender (ITT) documentation 2nd June, 2016ITT submission deadline 13th July, 2016Provisional contract Award 25th August, 2016Contract Commencement 1st December, 2016

Please note that the above timetable is subject to change. An update of the anticipated timetable will be issued at ITT stage.

10.Instructions for CompletionPage 7 of 11

Recipients are invited to complete and submit the PQQ together with any requested supporting information to TRP before the submission deadline.

If the question does not apply to you please write N/A - if you don’t know the answer please write N/K.

“Authority” means the purchasing organisation that is seeking to award a contract.

“You”/ “Your” or “Potential Provider” means the business or company which is completing this PQQ.

Questions should be answered in English.

The information supplied will be checked for completeness and compliance with the instructions before responses are evaluated. Incomplete applications may be disqualified.

Potential Providers must be explicit and comprehensive in their PQQ responses as this will be the single source of information that will be evaluated. Potential Providers are advised neither to make any assumptions about their past or current supplier relationships with the Authority nor to assume that such prior business relationships will be taken into account in the evaluation procedure.

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11.Queries about the procurement

All requests for clarification or further information in respect of this PQQ should be emailed to procurement@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk. No approach of any kind in connection with this PQQ should be made to any other person within, or associated with, the Authority.

This PQQ is being provided on the same basis to all Potential Providers.

If the Authority considers any question or request for clarification to be of material significance, both the question and the response will be posted to Contracts Finder and/or the TRP web site before the PQQ submission deadline.

12.Verification of Information Provided

The higher the contract risk, the higher the level of verification is likely to be required. Not all questions require supporting documents up front at this stage (for example certificates, statements with the questionnaire). However, TRP may ask to see these documents at a later stage, so it is advisable you ensure they can be made available upon request. You may also be asked to clarify your answers or provide more details about certain issues.

13.Consortia Arrangements

If the Potential Provider bidding for a requirement is a consortium, the following information must be provided:

full details of the consortium; and the information sought in this PQQ in respect of each of the consortium’s

constituent members as part of a single composite response.

Potential Providers should provide details of the actual or proposed percentage shareholding of the constituent members within the consortium in a separate Annexe. If a consortium is not proposing to form a corporate entity, full details of alternative proposed arrangements should be provided in the Annexe. However, please note the Authority reserves the right to require a successful consortium to form a single legal entity.

The Authority recognises that arrangements in relation to consortia may (within limits) be subject to future change. Potential Providers should therefore respond in the light of the arrangements as currently envisaged. Potential Providers are reminded that any future proposed change in relation to consortia must be notified to the Authority so that it can make a further assessment by applying the selection criteria to the new information provided.

14. Freedom of Information

In accordance with the obligations and duties placed upon public authorities by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the ‘FoIA’), all information submitted to the Authority may be disclosed in response to a request made pursuant to the FoIA.

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In respect of any information submitted by a Potential Provider that it considers being commercially sensitive, the Potential Provider should submit an annexe with the completed PQQ that:

clearly identifies such information as commercially sensitive; explains the potential implications of disclosure of such information; and provides an estimate of the period of time during which the Potential

Provider believes that such information will remain commercially sensitive.

Where a Potential Provider identifies information as commercially sensitive, the Authority will endeavour to maintain confidentiality. Potential Providers should note, however, that, even where information is identified as commercially sensitive, the Authority might be required to disclose such information in accordance with the FoIA. Accordingly, the Authority cannot guarantee that any information marked ‘commercially sensitive’ will not be disclosed.

15.Transparency

Government has set out the need for greater transparency across its operations to enable the public to hold public bodies and politicians to account. This includes commitments relating to public expenditure, intended to help achieve better value for money. Suppliers and those organisations looking to bid for public sector contracts should be aware that if they are awarded a new government contract, the resulting contract between the supplier and government may be published. In some circumstances, limited redactions will be made to some contracts before they are published in order to comply with existing law and for the protection of national security.

16. Submission of Completed Pre-Qualification Questionnaires

Please return an electronic copy (on CD or memory stick) of your completed pre-qualification questionnaire to:

The Procurement OfficeThe Royal ParksThe Old Police HouseHyde ParkLondon, W2 2UH

PLEASE NOTE – we are unable to accept submissions by email.

Submissions must arrive no later than: 14:00pm on Friday, 6 th May, 2016. Couriers sometimes have difficulty locating our offices, which are situated in the middle of Hyde Park and must be approached from West Carriage Drive.

Please note that PQQs received after the closing date will be rejected.

17.Provider Selection

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The Authority may disqualify any Potential Provider who fails to:

Provide a satisfactory response to any questions in the PQQ or inadequately or incorrectly completes any question.

Submit the completed PQQ before the deadline.

Potential Providers who are not disqualified in accordance with the above grounds shall be evaluated using the selection criteria, which take into account the economic and financial standing, technical or professional ability and track record and past experience. Short listed Potential Providers will be eligible to participate in the tender stage of the procurement process.

The Authority may seek independent financial and market advice to validate information declared or to assist in the evaluation. Reference site visits or demonstrations and/or presentations are unlikely to be requested at this stage but the Authority reserves the right to request the same as a part of the PQQ process.

The PQQ selection criteria and weightings are listed in the PQQ.

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