Market Engagement: Distribution of Redbridge Life newspaper

Redbridge Council is seeking a qualified and experienced supplier to deliver Redbridge Life.

Redbridge Life is a 28-page newspaper published four times a year (March, June, September, and December) and delivered door to door to all residents in the borough. It provides residents with information about services and events in Redbridge.

Design and print of Redbridge Life is handled by separate contractors. Content is prepared in-house by the council’s Communications service, and graphic design is delivered by an external agency.

The contract would be for two years. There will be an option to extend by one further year.

The contract will begin in September 2023.

The technical specification of the newspaper is as follows:

• Pages – 28
• Size of distribution – 106,000
• Page size – 360mm x 289mm
• Paper weight – Improved 55 gsm
• Details of distribution – 106,000 residential addresses, 13 libraries, Redbridge Town Hall and Lynton House, in Ilford.
• Timescale – Distribution to residential addresses to be completed within 5 working days of receipt of print. Distribution to other locations to be completed within 3 working days of receipt of print.

The council will be publishing a Specification for distribution of Redbridge Life, which will set out its requirement in detail.

To inform that Specification, the council would like to engage suppliers of these services to help it understand how its needs could be met.

The service is scheduled to commence on 1st September 2023. It is anticipated that the contract will be for a period of two years with the option to extend for one year.

Please note that this exercise is intended to assess the level of interest from potential providers, to provide the services outlined above and help inform the service.

Your responses are not “evaluated’’ or scored as this exercise is not part of a procurement process, this is for engagement and development purposes only and will be kept confidential.