Issue - meetings

Report attached.

Members considered a joint report of Councillor Noordad Aziz, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Education and Skills, and Councillor Kimberley Whitehead, Portfolio Holder for Culture, Heritage and Arts, updating Cabinet on the outcome of the recent tender evaluation process to appoint the operator for Accrington Market Hall and seeking approval for the grant of a lease of the Market Hall and Pavilion to the successful bidder.

Councillor Whitehead provided a brief introduction to the report, highlighting that this was a key moment for the Market Hall at the heart of Accrington Town Centre.  She confirmed that she had now met the proposed operator, as per the recommendation in the report, and had been accompanied by a representative from the night-time economy.  The business had indicated their support for the new operator.  The Council wanted the Market Hall to be a vibrant hub and it was anticipated that the preferred operator would bring the necessary expertise to realise the potential of this valuable asset.

Approval of the report was deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The Levelling Up Fund (LUF) had been announced at the 2020 Spending Review and had focused on capital investment in local infrastructure projects that required up to £20m of funding and built on prior programmes such as the ‘Local Growth Fund’ and ‘Towns Fund’.

In January 2022, Cabinet had given its formal approval in support of the Town Centre Stakeholder Board’s recommendations that the Council’s LUF submission should focus around the following three principal interventions, noting that at the time of submission, those listed at 2 and 3 below were not in the Council’s ownership.

1. Redevelopment within the Indoor Market Hall and outdoor pavilions along Peel Street – the intervention known as Market Hall.
2. Improvements and redevelopment to the block of properties at 43-59 Blackburn Road / 2-4 Church Street – the intervention known as Market Chambers.
3. Improvements and redevelopment to the block 61-69 Blackburn Road – the intervention known as Burtons Chambers.

There was a risk that the new Market Hall offering might not be a financial success as the Council did not have specific knowledge or experienced staff ‘in-house’.  This risk had been reduced by choosing to appoint an experienced operator to manage the proposed new and enhanced offerings within the Market Hall.

The Council had appointed CBRE through the Crown Commercial Service Framework as lead consultant for the procurement of operators for the Market Hall and Burtons Chambers.  CBRE had a specialist and very experienced team and were supported by property consultants Barker Proudlove (BP) who had a very knowledgeable team on market redevelopments.

The work procured from CBRE included:

• Reviewing the proposed product and identifying any key issues or concerns that should be addressed prior to procurement.
• Providing an initial assessment on the state of the market, competition and precedent developments that provided an opportunity for lessons to be learnt.
• Summarising the optimum models that could be considered, including viability and potential revenue models.
• Setting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 404