Contract to Supply Footfall Data for Town Centres in England and Wales for the Valuation Office Agency

Description

This Prior Information Notice (PIN) is being utilised as an opportunity for the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to alert the market to an upcoming requirement to purchase. This PIN is not a call for competition. Additional information can be obtained at tenders@voa.gov.uk referencing VOA-2023-064. The footfall and retail vacancy rates in a particular town centre are traditionally regarded as a measure of the economic health of the location and a contributory factor in the levels of rents paid for retail units in the location. Any changes in footfall or vacancy rates can have a knock on effect to rental values. It is generally acknowledged that footfall is a strong indicator of a location's trading performance, and this has been corroborated by the private sector identifying that town centres, with higher footfall volumes, generate a greater level of spend. This often translates into the levels of rents that are paid for retail outlets, and aids in comparison between streets in a town/city centre, within streets and between town centres. As the Rateable Values determined by the VOA have a direct relationship with the rental value of premises, as at a defined date, it follows that footfall can have a direct comparative relationship between Rateable Values. The VOA needs to acquire suitable footfall data to assist in the preparation of Rateable Values for the 2026 Rating Lists. The dataset that the VOA requires is as follows: - The data should separately cover and identify 100+ town / city centres in England and Wales. For city centres and larger town centres it should be broken down to separately provide data for identified main shopping streets. It would be an advantage if "landmark" shopping streets, such as Oxford Street in London were further broken down into defined geographical sectors. - Initially the data should cover the period from 1st April 2024 to 1st April 2027 and be supplied on an ongoing quarterly basis from the beginning of the contract. - For each centre/street it must provide: • Weekly average footfall by month; • Data to be provided as volumes and year-on-year percentage change; • Data to be provided in Excel spreadsheet format; • There needs to be no restriction against the VOA downloading the data provided, storing it on our own systems and quoting the data at a later date. - Each quarterly Footfall report must: • Detail approach and methodology adopted; • Detail any variances in both approach and methodology; • Summary of key findings; • Main Body of report - Weekly average footfall by month; • Conclusions; • Report signed off by Author.