SC21072 Equity Services

<p style="text-align: left;">Kent County Council (the Council) is the largest local authority in England covering an area of 3,500 square kilometres. It has an annual expenditure of over &pound;1bn on goods and services and a population of 1.6m. The Council provides a wide range of personal and strategic services on behalf of its residents, operating in partnership with the NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, 12 district councils, and 289 parish/town councils.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The Council consists of four directorates:</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Adult Social Core and Health</li>
<li>Children, Young People and Education</li>
<li>Growth, Environment and Transport</li>
<li>Strategic and Corporate Services</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: left;">This service is being commissioned on behalf of the Growth, Environment and Transport directorate.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">This activity supports Kent County Council&rsquo;s Interim Strategic Plan by helping to deliver the Kent and Medway Economic Renewal and Resilience Plan, more specifically delivering essential support for local businesses.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">KCC has taken equity stakes in a number of companies via investments from the former Regional Growth Fund (RGF) schemes (Expansion East Kent, Tiger and Escalate), the Kent and Medway Business Fund and the SELEP funded Innovation Investment Scheme, known as Bespoke Equity Fund (BEF) portfolio and is seeking to procure a delivery partner to support, advise and assist these companies, with a &pound;70,000 excluding vat gross per annum budget funded by KCC for the financial period until March 2024. Procurement will be undertaken in compliance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The council is looking to procure a delivery partner to work on behalf of KCC to support, advise and assist businesses in receipt of equity investments within the Bespoke Equity Fund (BEF) portfolio, to help them grow, increase productivity, create/protect jobs and maximise the value of the sale and/or transfer of Kent County Council owned shares. The BEF portfolio consists of equity investments from the former Regional Growth Fund schemes (Expansion East Kent, Tiger and Escalate), the Kent and Medway Business Fund and the SELEP funded Innovation Investment Scheme. This does not include investments made via the Discovery Park Technology Investment Fund and the Kent Life Science Fund.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Project Aim</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">To ensure a high level of support to those in receipt of Kent County Council&rsquo;s equity investment within the BEF portfolio.</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>To provide monitoring information, advice, and support to Kent County Council to maximise the opportunity for the County Council to exit successfully from investments within the BEF portfolio.</li>
<li>To ensure value for money and continuous improvement in service delivery so the contract delivers positive economic impact for Kent and Medway</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Specific Objectives</strong></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>To maintain regular communication with businesses within the BEF portfolio and to act as the first point of contact in relation to any communication from those businesses.</li>
<li>To act on behalf of Kent County Council in an advisory capacity liaising with businesses within the BEF portfolio which includes but is not limited to attending on Kent County Council&rsquo;s behalf Board/Shareholder meetings.</li>
<li>To provide regular monitoring information to Kent County Council on the performance of all businesses within the BEF portfolio which includes but is not limited to: Amount invested; Share price paid; percentage of the business owned of the business owned by KCC; Current value of shares &amp; percentage of the business owned by Kent County Council; Information and monitoring rights held by Kent County Council; jobs created or safeguarded by these businesses, level of additional private/public sector investment. This also includes assisting in the delivery of an annual report to the Kent County Council Governance and Audit Committee.</li>
<li>To hold detailed financial information for all businesses within the BEF portfolio including: Up to do date management accounts including profit and loss (P&amp;L), balance sheet and cash flow; Up to date business plan; Human resource capability and gaps; Capital structure and shareholder base.</li>
<li>To advise on the sale and/or transfer of Kent County Council owned shares for businesses to maximise the value to Kent County Council within the BEF portfolio</li>
<li>To advise on any future Kent County Council investments related to businesses within the BEF portfolio.</li>
<li>To advise on appropriate exit strategies for businesses within the BEF portfolio.</li>
<li>To advise on dissolution/administration issues related to businesses within the BEF portfolio.</li>
<li>To appraise and advise on future convertible loans added to the portfolio.</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Budget is &pound;210,000 (&pound;70,000 annually). For any Supplier who wishes to apply, the tender documentation is available via the Kent Business Portal (<a tabindex="-1" title="https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk%29./" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk).</a>&nbsp;The documentation will need to be downloaded and submitted back to the Council via the Kent Business Portal. Please direct all communication via the Kent Business Portal which can be found at the following web address:&nbsp;<a tabindex="-1" title="https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk./" href="https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk./" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Link www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk.">www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk.</a>&nbsp;Any communication outside of this will be redirected to the Kent Business Portal. Please note that you will have to register to use the portal.</p>