Soft Market Testing Worcester Bike Share Scheme

Description

Following Worcester's successful award of grant funding from the Towns Fund, Worcester City Council is seeking to develop a bike share scheme to support access to bicycles across the City, including city centre, leisure, employment and education destinations and residential areas for residents and visitors within Worcester. As the project delivery team for the bike share scheme develops their ideas, it is recognised that there is a mixed picture of success with similar schemes around the UK. This 'soft market testing' exercise is being undertaken to ensure that operators, recognised to be experts on the delivery and sustainability of bike share schemes, are able to contribute their expertise to help shape the design of the scheme. The project delivery team values your input into the detailed design of the scheme, what you think will work and what we could do to ensure long term sustainability. The Council is issuing a Prior Information Notice (PIN) as a Request For Information (RFI) to gather market intelligence and information, to gain a better understanding of the capacity and appetite of the market in delivering the proposed provision and to alert the market to a possible future tender opportunity. The PIN invites Economic Operators to express an interest in this RFI exercise only. The RFI is not an invitation to tender, pre-qualification or selection process. This PIN/RFI is intended as an awareness, communication, and information gathering exercise. An expression of interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in the RFI process. No preferential or special status will be gained by Economic Operators who express an interest in this RFI, complete the RFI or express an interest in taking part in further soft market engagement. The Council are using the e-procurement portal known as the Proactis Pro-Contract portal https://procontract.due-north.com to conduct this procurement exercise. To gain access to the procurement documents, contractors will need to register their company details at the above website (there is no charge for this). Once registered, contractors will be emailed a log-in and password which will allow them to gain access to the procurement documents. Contractors will need to search for the invitation under Worcester City Council and then electronically submit an expression of interest and follow the online instructions to view the procurement documents.