Decision details

To extend the East Midlands Chamber contract for providing Shirebrook Business Forum Co-ordinator.
This enables the Council to extend an existing contract if it would not be in the interests of the service or the Council to tender the contract.

East Midlands Chamber has been contracted by the Council to provide the Shirebrook Business Forum Co-ordinator since 1st August 2019. The contract currently finishes at the end on April 2020
The Building Resilience Programme has sufficient funding to allow the Council to extend the Shirebrook Business Forum Co-ordinator contract for a further day a month for 5 months. This has been requested by the chair of the Shirebrook Business Forum who asked for an extension
on 09/03/2020 stating that “Although these gains are great, the forum is not fully established and is still at risk of collapse without the correct investment. We would very much appreciate an extension of six months, one day per month of Nick’s time to ensure the groups longevity and success. Please may we have a conversation to see how we may extend Nicks time with us”
The Business Forum Co-ordinator has overcome barriers and built trust amongst business owners; in a small community, personal trust based on shared experiences is key for cooperation.
An extension to contract will increase the potential for the Forum to be sustainable. Relevant fact is that the extension covers only 12% of time arranged in original contract (1 day a month now required against 2 days a week). That shows that the emerging Forum is already able to work, manage tasks and need only a small element of co-ordination.
As a result it is considered that the Shirebrook Business Forum Co-ordinator contract should be extended, using existing external resources secured through the

To follow the procurement rules by seeking three written quotes.
It would not be in the interests of the service to seek appoint anyone other than existing post holder.
To do nothing – this is an option and has been considered, however the request to extend support from the Co-ordinator has come directly from the businesses themselves who see continued input, albeit on a much reduced scale, being crucial in continuing the good work and outcomes already achieved.