---
title: "Appointment of Lead Cultural Management Operator"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-058584"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-058584"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058584.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058584.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Tender"
buyer: "REIGATE AND BANSTEAD BOROUGH COUNCIL"
published: "2025-10-09"
---

# Appointment of Lead Cultural Management Operator

Buyer: REIGATE AND BANSTEAD BOROUGH COUNCIL  
Current stage: Tender  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-058584

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## Summary

The Reigate and Banstead Borough Council is seeking a Lead Cultural Management Operator for two cultural venues in Redhill, Surrey. This procurement process, currently at the tender stage, is active and involves the competitive flexible procedure, which allows a two-way dialogue under the Procurement Act 2023. The expected contract start date is 1st July 2026, with a potential duration of up to 15 years, including an optional five-year extension. The estimated contract value is £7.2 million inclusive of VAT. The tender involves services within the arts and cultural sector, focusing on the operation and management of the Harlequin Theatre and 'The Rise'. Key dates include the expression of interest deadline on 4th November 2025 and necessary submissions by early November, with the award period concluding by 19th March 2026.

This tender creates significant business opportunities for operators in the arts and cultural sectors, welcoming consortiums, commercial venue operators, charitable trusts, and Community Interest Companies to engage with the opportunity. With the focus on arts facility operation services, businesses with expertise in theatre management, event programming, ticketing, and facilities management will find this tender particularly relevant. The project supports community engagement and social value, which can be crucial for businesses looking to expand into community-focused cultural operations, providing a strategic growth avenue, particularly for those interested in long-term management and stakeholder engagement. The dialogue phase of the competition allows businesses to collaborate closely with the Council to tailor service delivery models, ensuring alignment with the Council's strategic plans.

## Notice

Through the procurement exercise, the Authority will seek to identify the optimal solution to manage and maintain both venues to support the delivery of a wide range of arts and cultural offer in Redhill. This will need to strike the right balance, ensuring the model delivers enhanced benefits for the residents and visitors, whilst also effectively managing operational and commercial risk. It is anticipated that the contract will be for a period of 10 years with an option to extend for up to a further 5 years at the Authority's discretion. The estimated contract value is PS7.2 million (including VAT) is very much an estimate that the successful Tenderer may be able to generate under this contract, which includes a startup allowance that has been considered to cover a period of revenue costs to include Building Maintenance - Planned, Building Maintenance - Reactive, Mechanical & Electrical - Planned, Mechanical & Electrical - Reactive, Health & Safety, Electricity, Gas, Service Charges Payable, Rates, Water, Security & Caretaking, Property Insurance, Rental - Food & Beverage Machines and/or a potential capital contribution. The proposed scope of Operator Management associated services include: * Reopen and operate the Harlequin Theatre * Open and operate Unit 5 ('The Rise') * Provide a balanced cultural programme blending commercial and community programming * Manage day-to-day operations, staffing, marketing, ticketing, audience development and routine compliance. * Engage stakeholders exclusively, ensuring access and affordability for local communities. * Support delivery of the Authority's Corporate Plan, Leisure & Culture Strategy and Net Zero 2030 commitments. * Facilitate occasional civic use of the Harlequin, and if required in a civic emergency, act as an emergency rest centre when required. * Operator to have full operational responsibility for the building including both Hard and Soft Facilities Management (FM) services. The Authority is using the Competitive Flexible Procedure in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, providing the opportunity for Tenderers to interact with a two-way dialogue with the Authority, as it considers that this tailored process can best meet the Authority's objectives for the service requirements and commercial terms. The proposed award criteria is 60% Quality (including Social Value) and 40% Price and the sub-criteria is to be more fully set out in the Invitation to Tender pack (Stage 2 and Optional Stage 3 of the procurement process). The Authority reserves its right to rely on Section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023 to refine the award criteria as part of the competitive flexible procedure. Refinements of the award criteria may include but are not limited to: * Refining award criteria weightings * Adding sub-criteria or more detail to the sub-criteria (relevant to the existing main criteria). In addition, the Authority may rely on Section 31 of the Procurement Act 2023 to modify the terms of the procurement as set out in this Tender Notice or the associated Invitation to Participate and/or the Tender documents (including the Invitation to Tender and Optional Invitation to Submit Final Tender). Where any such modification is made, the Authority will comply with the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023, including publication of a new notice where the modification is substantial. Tenderers are expected to bring forth an operational model which reflects the Authority's aspirations but cannot be specified ahead of in-depth dialogue on what the market can offer but will have a major role in defining the solution. The Authority is potentially interested in exploring options around concessions or hybrid model (concession/management) or any other appropriate form of contract to be agreed, as a non-mandatory variant option. The Invitation to Participate pack will be available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge via http://www.sesharedservices.org.uk/esourcing The selection criteria and evaluation approach are reflected in the ITP pack. Following completed dialogue, the Invitation to Tender Pack will be finalised and submitted to the successful Tenderers following outcome of submitted Procurement Specific Questionnaires.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: The contract has the option to extend up to a further five years, subject to the Authority's discretion.

### Planning Information

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council is currently seeking expressions of interest from organisations with an interest in the running of potentially two key cultural venues in Redhill, Surrey. 
Deadline for pre-market engagement responses is by 12:00 Noon on 1st September 2025. 
Please use the following link to express your interest and provide your completed response:
https://www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/arts-expressions-of-interest
Interested parties who complete an expression of interest form will also be able to complete a request for a site visit during August 2025.
All communication, queries and responses must be via Harlequin@reigate-banstead.gov.uk. The Council will not respond to direct emails/phone calls/any other form of communication concerning this Harlequin Theatre and Unit 5 Market Engagement.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/063919-2025 |
| Notice type | UK4 - Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Competitive flexible procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning, Tender |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 9 Oct 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 23 Oct 2025 |
| Future notice date | 1 Sep 2025 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 30 Jun 2026 - 30 Jun 2036 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £7,200,000 |
| Lots value | £7,200,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Active |
| Lots status | Active |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | REIGATE AND BANSTEAD BOROUGH COUNCIL |
| Locality | REIGATE |
| Post town | Redhill |
| Postcode | RH2 0SH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ2 Surrey, East and West Sussex |
| ITL 3 | TLJ26 East Surrey |
| Local authority | Reigate and Banstead |
| Electoral ward | Reigate |
| Westminster constituency | Reigate |
| Delivery location | TLJ26 East Surrey |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

### Codes

- 92130000 - Motion picture projection services
- 92312000 - Artistic services
- 92320000 - Arts-facility operation services

## Release History

- 9 Oct 2025 at 16:20 - TenderUpdate - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/063919-2025
- 30 Sep 2025 at 15:48 - TenderUpdate - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061047-2025
- 25 Sep 2025 at 13:25 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/059740-2025
- 11 Aug 2025 at 16:34 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/047786-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/063919-2025
  9th October 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061047-2025
  30th September 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/059740-2025
  25th September 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/047786-2025
  11th August 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- http://www.sesharedservices.org.uk/esourcing
  Please refer to the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and accompanying instructions and guidance for the full conditions of participation requirements via the Invitation to Participate (ITP) pack. This is shared via the Authority's E-Tender portal which is available via the above link provided. Note the Project Reference and Title is: RBBC-038663 Appointment of Operator Management Provider.

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk
- https://www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/arts-expressions-of-interest

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-058584. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058584.json.