Arts Council England Invitation to Tender
Title: Creative Industry Finance – Pilot Programme Evaluation
Reference number: ACE-2012-12
Deadline for receipt of tender proposals: 17:00hrs, 30/11/2012
Background
Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing,
developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives.
As the national development agency for the arts, we support a range of artistic
activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art,
carnival to crafts.
Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the
world around us. In short, it makes life better.
Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from
government and an estimated £1 billion from the National Lottery to help create
these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
Section A: Specification
1
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to invite tenders for the design and
implementation of an independent evaluation of the Creative Industry Finance pilot
programme.
The contracting authority for this tender, and manager of the project, is ArtCo
Trading Limited. Arts Council England will be administering this tender exercise on
behalf of ArtCo Trading Ltd (“ArtCo”).
1
Subsequent sections describe the background to the project, the work to be done
under the tender and the terms and conditions under which tendering will take
place.
2
Background
In October 2011, Arts Council England approved a budget for the development
and delivery of a one year pilot programme to provide business support and microloans of £5,000 - £25,000 for small and medium scale enterprises operating within
the creative industries.
It was agreed that this programme of work should be developed and delivered by
ArtCo Trading Ltd (“ArtCo”), a wholly owned subsidiary company of Arts Council
England.
It is planned that responsibility for the programme delivery will transfer from ArtCo
to an independent Community Interest Company that to take forward and develop
further the programmes of work currently being delivered by ArtCo Trading Ltd.
Funding has however been approved by Arts Council England for the duration of
this contract to end March 2014.
3
Aims of the Creative Industry Finance programme
The principle aims of the Creative Industry Finance programme are to:
• provide access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
operating within the cultural/creative industries, enabling business
growth and supporting talent development
• improve the business skills and commercial experience of SMEs
operating within the cultural/creative industries
The primary objectives of the programme are to:
• improve the financial profile/lending history of creative industry SMEs
with growth potential, enabling them to attract further investment from
the private sector, thereby becoming more sustainable as independent
enterprises
• provide an evidence base for the demand and effectiveness of loan
finance as an alternative to grant funding for commercially viable cultural
and creative industry enterprises
This investment supports the Arts Council’s current priority for strengthening and
exploring new business models in the arts as part of its 10 year strategic plan for
ensuring that the arts are sustainable, resilient and innovative.
2
The programme will be piloted across two Arts Council regions during 2012/13 and
2013/14:
o London (launched 29 May 2012)
o Yorkshire & Humber (launched 5 September 2012)
4
Programme delivery
The programme comprises two key components:
 Training and support (up to 12 hours one-to-one business development
support with a specialist business adviser)
 Access to finance (opportunity to apply for a loan of £5,000 to £25,000 to
help develop and grow a business)
These services are provided by specialist service delivery agencies working in
partnership with ArtCo.
 East London Small Business Centre (www.smallbusinesscentre.org.uk) is
the delivery partner for the London region
 The Key Fund (www.thekeyfund.org.uk) is the delivery partner for the
Yorkshire & Humber region.
ArtCo is responsible for the marketing and communication of the programme to
prospective applicants, including the management of the website
(www.creativeindustryfinance.org.uk) and social media profiles.
Responsibility for the receipt and assessment of applications to the programme
also sits with the ArtCo team. Successful applicants are referred on to the relevant
area delivery partner who provides the client services thereafter.
Further information about the application process and lending criteria are
contained in Appendix A.
Details of the Key Performance Indicators and data sources that have been
established for the programme are detailed in Appendix B.
3
5
Services required
ArtCo wishes to contract a specialist evaluation provider to:

Design and implement a robust programme of qualitative and quantitative
evaluation of the CIF pilot programme activity that has taken place during
year one (2012/13) based on the Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
framework that has been drafted for the programme (see Appendix B)

Produce an interim report by end June 2013 for presentation to Arts Council
England on the impact and effectiveness of the programme activity during
2012/13

Produce a final report in March 2014 reflecting on the evaluation findings in
years 1 and 2, including suggestions for the improvement/modification of
the programme structure going forward

Propose an evaluation framework and methodology through which to track
the longer term impact of the programme on business that received funding
and support through the Creative Industry Finance pilot programme
6
Management and Support of Project
6.1
Account Management
In performing the services required under this contract the supplier will
report to Mary-Alice Stack, Director, ArtCo Projects. Please specify in your
proposal the named individual who will be responsible for the account
management of this contract on behalf of your organisation.
The supplier will be required to consult with and report back to the Director
of ArtCo Projects at regular intervals throughout the duration of the contract.
6.2
Escalation Procedures
In the event of a major problem, a list of contacts will be required to manage
any problem to a successful conclusion.
4
7
Tender response
Tenderers should address the following points within their response:

Proven track record in designing and delivering evaluations of complex and
varied projects and programmes

Understanding of the creative industries and relationship with the arts
sector and public funding models

Identify any potential issues in relation to the requirements of the brief,
(including those already noted within the table detailed under Appendix B)
and how these might be addressed
 A proposed project plan and timetable for the development and delivery of
the evaluation over the duration of the contract
Tenders are requested to structure their quote based on costs for the following
elements:
1) Design and implementation of an evaluation of programme activity during
2012/13, including the preparation of an interim report on these findings for
presentation to the Arts Council by end June 2013
2) Implementation of an evaluation of the 2013/13 programme activity,
including the preparation of a final report in March 2014 reflecting on the
evaluation findings across years 1 and 2, including suggestions for the
improvement/modification of the programme structure going forward
Please refer to section 9 below for budget guidance for each of these elements.
Please also provide two client references which can be taken up by Arts Council
England in the event that your tender is shortlisted.
8.
Format of Responses Required
8.1
The tender proposals should include:
 an outline of the approach that will be taken to establishing and
delivering each element of the contract as detailed above
5

details of the individuals who will lead, manage and deliver the project
and details of their experience, formal training/qualification and
knowledge of the arts and cultural sectors in the UK
 detailed costs in accordance with section 7 above
 details and standard charges for any additional services offered by the
service provider that may be relevant but would fall outside of the scope
of this contract
 A completed Supplier Appraisal Form
Tenders should include background material to demonstrate previous experience
and range of work of the tenderer and of the specific personnel proposed for the
work. This element of the tender submission should not exceed 12 sides of A4.
9.
Pricing/Budget
The following guide prices have been set for each element of the tender:
1)
2)
Services Required
Design and implementation of
evaluation of 2012/13 activity,
including preparation of interim
report
Guide price
£10,000 - £15,000
Implementation of 2013/14
evaluation including preparation of
final report and recommendations
reflecting on findings across years 1
and 2 of the pilot
£10,000 - £15,000
You should provide a clear pricing structure in response to the proposed
procurement and under the format in section 8. All pricing must be quoted in
pounds sterling and indicate VAT separately, if applicable. Prices should be fixed
and firm for the duration of the contract.
Please note: ArtCo reserves the right to purchase all or any parts of the tendered
goods or services at the prices and specifications submitted in your response.
6
10.
Contract duration
The contracting authority will be ArtCo Trading Ltd, a subsidiary company of Arts
Council England. ArtCo will award the contract to the successful tenderer for a
period of 15 months (January 2013 – March 2014).
ArtCo’s standard terms for services will form part of the contract to be awarded,
and will include the provision for this contract to be novated to the new Community
Interest Company who will take responsible for the delivery of the programme from
1 April 2013.
ArtCo Trading may also require further terms to be included in the contract that are
specific to the successful tenderer’s application. The final award of the tender is
always subject to the parties agreeing to all terms of the contract.
11.
Payment Structure and billing requirements
Payment for the delivery of these services will be agreed with the service provider
once an agreed project plan is in place and against appropriate milestones.
12.
Evaluation Criteria
The tender submissions will be evaluated against the following criteria:
Criteria
Weighting
Understanding of the brief and issues relating to the
business development and access to finance needs of
creative industry enterprises.
30%
Strength of proposed evaluation approach
25%
Experience in undertaking similar evaluation projects
25%
Experience in working effectively with a wide range of
organisations and creative practitioners
15%
Value for money
5%
ArtCo will seek value for money in the tenders for this project and will award based
on the Most Economically Advantageous Tender. This means the evaluation will
be judged not solely on price but on the quality and scope of the proposals being
considered.
7
Section B: Instructions to tenderers
Please submit your tender offer in accordance with all of the instructions,
requirements and specifications set out in the enclosed documentation.
You must treat these documents and any further information provided by Arts
Council England as confidential at all times and only disclose them if necessary to
prepare a compliant response to the tender.
Nothing in the enclosed documentation or appendixes, or any other
communication made between Arts Council England and any other party, can be
considered a contract or agreement at this stage.
All correspondence in relation to this tender, including tender submissions, should
be address to:
Mary-Alice Stack
Director, ArtCo Projects
Arts Council England
14 Great Peter Street
London SW1P 3NQ
Tel: 020 7973 6503
Email: [email protected]
Tender Timetable
Please see below a detailed timetable of when specific events will take place and
specific deadline which must be met in order to participate in this tender.
Event
Date/Time
Tender Notice posted
9 November 2012
Deadline for receipt of questions
21 November 2012
Tender response deadline
30 November 2012
Interviews(if applicable)
13 December 2012
Anticipated contract award
20 December 2012
8
Compliance
Arts Council England reserves the right to disqualify or reduce the evaluation
score of any tenderers who do not fully comply with the requirements in the tender
documentation, in particular the closing time and date.
If you propose alternative goods or services for consideration, you must clearly
mark these as non-compliant. Arts Council England reserves the right to reject any
proposals with non-compliant alternatives. Tenders that are received are not
automatically accepted.
Arts Council England reserves the right to evaluate proposals on a variety of
criteria. The tender with the lowest price will not automatically be accepted.
Prices
The approximate value of the proposed work will be in the range of £20,000 –
£30,000. Please note that, while not the only criteria, value for money is a key
element of our evaluation criteria.
You should provide an informed estimate of the cost of the proposed procurement.
Submit all prices in pounds sterling and indicate VAT separately, if applicable.
Prices should be fixed and firm for the duration of the contract.
Please note: Arts Council England reserves the right to purchase all or any parts
of the tendered goods or services at the prices and specifications submitted in
your response.
Contract duration
Arts Council England will award the contract to the successful tenderer for the
period of 15 months from 1 January 2012 – 31 March 2014.
ArtCo Trading Ltd’s standard terms for services will form part of the contract to be
awarded (attached for reference).
ArtCo Trading Ltd may require further terms to be included in the contract that are
specific to the successful tenderer's application. The final award of the tender is
always subject to the parties agreeing to all terms of the contract.
9
Validity of offer
You must offer your tender for acceptance for 60 days from the deadline for tender
submission.
Tendering
If we need to amend any tender documents before the closing date, we will write
to you with any changes. If we extend the deadline for tender responses, we will
advise you.
Arts Council England reserves the right, in its absolute discretion, to cancel or
suspend this tender process at any time and for any reason. If we need to do this
we will notify you in writing as soon as reasonably practicably.
Arts Council England is not responsible, and will not pay for any expenses or
losses you incur during, but not limited to, the tender preparation, site visits, posttender negotiations or interviews.
Information and questions
If you need us to clarify the documentation or if you have further questions
regarding the tender process, write to the lead officer quoting the tender reference
number. We will try to respond to reasonable requests for further information
within the timescale of the tender.
For large tenders, we may appoint a tender team (e.g. technical evaluators) that
tenderers may have controlled access to. If so, we will provide names, contact
details and control criteria.
Arts Council England reserves the right to advise all other tenderers of material
questions and the answers supplied without disclosing the source of the enquiry.
Site visits
If you require a site visit to Arts Council England before submitting your tender,
write to the lead officer. Arts Council England reserves the right to refuse any site
visit requests, but we will explain why we refused.
Return of Tender
Send 3 copies of your tender including all documentation in a plain sealed
envelope or package by no later than 17.00 Friday 30 November 2012 to the
10
address provided above. Any tender delivered after that time for any reason may
be discounted.
In your tender response, clearly indicate the names and addresses of any subcontractors you intend to use to provide the services and the scope of work you
will employ them for.
The Arts Council is not responsible if all or part of your tender is not received. You
should use a traceable dispatch system. In the event of a dispute, you are
responsible to prove the tender was delivered.
Post-tender interviews
Arts Council England reserves the right to ask you to attend post-tender interviews
or present your proposals. You are responsible for all your expenses when
attending such interviews. If required, interviews will take place the week
commencing 10 December 2012 at the offices of Arts Council England at 14 Great
Peter Street, London SW1P 3NQ.
Arts Council England reserves the right to conduct post-tender negotiations with
one or more tenderers.
11
Appendix A
Creative Industry Finance Programme - Application criteria and terms of
lending
To receive support under this programme, applicants must be able to demonstrate
that their business meets the following key criteria:
 registered/located within the pilot programme catchment areas (London or
Yorkshire)
 trading for a minimum of 6 months
 business activity qualifies under one or more of the following creative
industry classifiers:
 architecture; crafts; computer games; design; designer fashion; film and
video; music; performing arts; publishing/literature; software; TV & radio;
visual arts
 creative content is at the heart of the business
Successful applicants will be offered an initial one-hour business consultation,
which may be followed by up to 12 hours of one-to-one support, as required,
offered free of charge to the applicant.
A limited number of applicants will have the opportunity to present their business
to a loan fund panel. Loans will only be offered to businesses that have been
unsuccessful in applying for finance from their own bank (“lender of last resort”
principle) – but not a pre-requisite at application stage
Loans will be available from a minimum of £5,000 up to a maximum of £25,000
repayable over a period of between 12 and 36 months.
12
Appendix B
Creative Industry Finance - Key Performance Indicators framework
The table below sets out the key performance indicators that have been drafted for
the programme, including how data will be collected.
Data sources referred to in the table include:
 ArtCo Projects – data on all enquiries and applications received and
processed; number and type of businesses referred on to ELSBC/Key Fund
for business support;
 East London Small Business Centre – data on businesses that receive
support under the programme (number of hours support given); all financial
data on loans approved and issued from the fund; repayments received;
arrears and defaults;
 The Key Fund – data on businesses that receive support under the
programme (number of hours support given); all financial data on loans
approved and issued from the fund; repayments received; arrears and
defaults;
 Programme applicants – all businesses that submit an application to the
programme (successful and unsuccessful)
 Programme beneficiaries – all businesses that receive business
training/support under the programme
 Loan recipients – all business that receive access to finance from the Arts
Council loan fund
 Google analytics – to provide data on performance of the website and
social media channels in communicating to/with our target audiences
 Arts Council England – access to media monitoring service to track press
coverage and media interest in the programme
ArtCo and the Arts Council will work with the appointed service provider to finalise
the evaluation methodology, but we expect tenderers to put forward their own
ideas as to how the impact and effectiveness of the programme against its stated
objectives might best be measured.
We welcome suggestions from suppliers that will provide added value services
within the budget specified, and particular those that may enable us to consider
the impact and effectiveness of this programme within the context of existing
research and evaluation reports that have been commissioned in recent years
around the needs of small businesses working within the creative industries.
13
The service provider will be expected to liaise with our delivery partners (East
London Small Business Centre and The Key Fund) on the quantitative evaluation
of the programme and ensure that the qualitative evaluation is compatible with and
adds value to this.
KPIs
Programme
Objective
To provide access to
finance for SMEs
(including micro
businesses) operating
within the
cultural/creative
industries, enabling
business growth and
supporting talent
development
Key Performance
Indicators (2012/13)
Access to finance
 Number of Creative
Industry businesses that
receive loans from Arts
Council CIF fund
 Number of CIF
applicants that receive
loans from other sources
as a result of support
received under the CIF
programme
Business growth
 Number of CIF
applicants reporting
business growth as a
result of support
received during 2012/13
Notes/issues
Issue
In terms of business
growth, it is unlikely that
we will be able to measure
the impact of support
offered to businesses
during the pilot year itself,
other than through client
feedback. Longer term
analysis will be required in
order to assess the impact
of support provided during
2012/13, taking into
account other contributing
factors that may have had
an impact on the growth of
the business subsequent
to receipt of finance and
business support.
Note
This could be measured
14
Talent development
 Number of CIF
applicants reporting
improved company
profile/visibility as a
result of support
received during 2012/13
To provide an
evidence base for the
demand and
effectiveness of loan
finance as an
alternative to grant
funding for
commercially viable
cultural and creative
industry enterprises
primarily through
qualitative feedback from
clients rather than through
quantitative means. Clients
will be asked to assess the
value of the support
received from the CIF
programme in helping
them to achieve increased
visibility/profile within their
respective sectors, and to
report on other factors that
may have contributed to
their success.
Demand:
 Number of enquiries
received
 Number of applications
received/referred
 Amount of income
requested/offered/
received
 Classification of
applications based on
industry segments
Effectiveness:
 Repayment record of
clients
 % of write-offs over
repayment period (target
<30%)
 % of loan recipients that
have previously applied
successfully/unsuccessf
ully for grant funding
from ACE/other sources
 Number of CIF
15

applicants reporting
business growth as a
result of support
received during 2012/13
Number of CIF
applicants reporting
business objectives met
(other than growth) as a
result of support
received during 2012/13
To improve the
Business skills and
business skills and
commercial experience
commercial experience  % increase in the
of SMEs operating
business skills of
within the
applicants that receive
cultural/creative
support under this
industries
programme
 % of applicants that
report an increase in
their company turnover
as a result of training
and support received
under this programme
 % of applicants that
report an increase in
their level of confidence
and ability to develop
their business as a
result of support
received under this
programme
To improve the

Number of Programme
Note/Issues
We still need to define
what we mean by
“business skills”. Once we
have done this, we will
need to collect baseline
data from CIF applicants at
an early stage in the
programme in order to
benchmark skills levels
and compare this with data
collected at the end of the
year.
This KPI could be
measured primarily
through client selfassessment, but will also
taken into account the
business diagnostic
undertaken by the delivery
partner on all clients at the
point of referral into the
programme.
Note
16
financial profile/lending
history of creative
industry SMEs with
growth potential,
enabling them to
attract further
investment from the
private sector, thereby
becoming more
sustainable as
independent
enterprises




Beneficiaries with an
improved risk profile* at
the end of the pilot
period
Number of Programme
Beneficiaries that are
successful in securing
loan finance from a
lender other than CIF
during the course of the
programme
Number of Programme
Beneficiaries that are
successful in securing
other private investment
(ie equity) during the
course of the programme
Success rate of
applications being put
before the ACE
investment panel
Value of additional
income leveraged by
companies as a result of
participation on the
programme
*We may want to involve a
bank in working with us to
run a risk profile of
companies when they
come into the programme,
and then re-assess the
same companies in 12
months’ time to see if the
profile has improved from
a bank lending
perspective. To be
explored further.
17