Wedding and Celebration Package Opportunity Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
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STRATEGIC ESTATES DEPARTMENT Wedding and Celebration Package Opportunity Sophia Gardens, Cardiff Document Sections Page Introduction and Background 2 Form of Offer 12 Appendix 1 Red line plan of area offered under this licence 16 Appendix 2 Sophia Gardens Events Electric Box and Water Supply 18 Instruction Sheet Appendix 3 Sophia Gardens Events Area Site Information 23 Appendix 4 Operating Schedule Template 28 1 | P a g e Gweithio dros Gaerdydd, gweithio gyda’n gilydd Working for Cardiff, Working together STRATEGIC ESTATES DEPARTMENT Introduction and Background Sophia Gardens is a CADW Grade II listed park located a short walk from the Principality stadium, Cardiff Castle and the city’s main high streets and night time economy destinations. It is adjacent to the river Taff, a P&D car park and the Taff Trail. The park contains a designated event space which has hosted a range of outdoor events over the years. There are good public transport links to the site (including the Sophia Gardens coach station) and it is close to a number of hotels, B&Bs and guest houses. The site is served by a one-way spine road that runs along its west elevation. Cardiff Council would like to invite interested operators to submit a bid proposal for the opportunity to partner with the Council and undertake the following use at the site: Delivery of wedding/private/corporate celebration/hospitality packages on Sophia Gardens event area. This opportunity will allow the operator to sell a variety of high-end celebration-type packages to private clients. From wedding packages, birthday celebrations, office party packages and everything in between. The park has an attractive tree lined backdrop on its east and south elevations and use of Bute Park. Any other type of event use proposed for Sophia Gardens should be applied for in the normal way via the parks event pages on the www.bute-park.com website. 2 | P a g e Gweithio dros Gaerdydd, gweithio gyda’n gilydd Working for Cardiff, Working together STRATEGIC ESTATES DEPARTMENT Location The location for this opportunity is identified below. Some example photos are also given for reference. See Appendix 1 for a red line plan of site available. Sophia Gardens, Cardiff CF11 9SZ (Approximate size 4,000sqm / Dimensions Approx. 79m x 52m) 3 | P a g e Gweithio dros Gaerdydd, gweithio gyda’n gilydd Working for Cardiff, Working together STRATEGIC ESTATES DEPARTMENT Opportunity Objectives This opportunity will allow the successful operator to provide high-end outdoor celebration packages on Sophia Gardens event area to a market with pent up demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Cardiff Council has received an increasing number of enquiries for such opportunities in recent years but these are not easily accommodated on an ad hoc basis. Cardiff Council also wish to support the hospitality industry in its recovery from the pandemic and increase capacity for safe celebrations for its citizens. The operating periods offered as part of this opportunity are fixed and begin from May 2021. This allows other events to be accommodated on the site and the ground to rest and recover in between. The successful operator has the chance to create a perfect venue for those looking for a place to celebrate in a way that is memorable & alternative. Being outdoor-based, the events may be perceived as a safer more viable alternative to indoor venues whilst the timescales for full recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic remain unclear. For an agreed licence fee, the successful operator will access the following benefits: - Use of a unique picturesque park setting with open grass and tree back drop - Use of the site’s existing premises licence - “Fair use” of onsite utilities (power and water) - Temporary exclusive or non-exclusive use of public P&D car parking spaces (chargeable) - Bute Park Office staff time, advice from Event Liaison Panel (ELP) and ELP application support - Marketing support via the Bute Park website and social media - Introductions to Police Licencing team and relevant internal council contacts who can support the event (e.g. car park team, waste collection team, traffic management team and event safety officer) - Onsite support from a Site Supervisor during build and de-rig (value to be agreed) 4 | P a g e Gweithio dros Gaerdydd, gweithio gyda’n gilydd Working for Cardiff, Working together STRATEGIC ESTATES DEPARTMENT Operating Dates The successful operator will be allowed to trade for one or two periods from the options listed below. Options in both 2021 and 2022 are given whilst it remains unclear when hospitality of this type will be permissible under Welsh Government coronavirus regulations. It is envisaged that the successful operator will take advantage of 2 of the fixed operating periods with the start date agreed based on their preference, i.e. A+B or B+C. Option A Thursday 6th May 2021 to Monday 31st May 2021 Option B Thursday 2nd September 2021 to Sunday 26th September 2021 Option C Thursday 5th May 2022 to Monday 30th May 2022 The periods in are approximately 3 weeks long and include 4 weekends. Use of the site over the alternative May Bank Holiday weekend and/or during the August Bank Holiday weekend will be discussed and negotiated with the successful operator. The opportunity will be reviewed upon completion of the first period. Utilities Sophia Gardens has an onsite electricity and water supply. Full details are available in Appendix 2. Meter readings will be taken before and after the operating period by the Site Supervisor. The first 30 cubic meters (30,000 litres) of water is inclusive within the site licence fee. Water use above that volume will be chargeable at £1.38 per cubic meter (m3). The first 500 kWh is inclusive in your licence fee, usage above this will be charged at £00.15 per kWh. Utility charges will be invoiced plus a standard admin fee of £25 after the operating period at the appropriate rate if necessary. Trading The licence holder is free to choose how many and what days to trade during the operating period. The licence holder is free to run more than one event per day e.g. brunch or afternoon event and evening event on the same day. 5 | P a g e Gweithio dros Gaerdydd, gweithio gyda’n gilydd Working for Cardiff, Working together STRATEGIC ESTATES DEPARTMENT Licencing Sophia Gardens is a licenced premises. The operator will be required to work within the constraints of the agreed arrangements with Cardiff Council and South Wales Police Licencing. The premises licence is provided for guidance only in Appendix 3 and the successful operator is required to gain permission for their specific proposed licensable activities. Permission for operation on site is granted only subject to receiving sign off from licencing. An operating schedule for the proposed use should be submitted to South Wales Police no later than 56 days prior to the first day. The operating schedule template is provided for information in Appendix 4. An informal meeting to discuss proposals early in advance is recommended. Site Constraints Further details about the site including makeup of the ground are available in Appendix 3. Any activity within a tree root protection area requires prior approval from the Landlord. The event should not adversely impact other operations in the vicinity of the event site, e.g. P&D car park, coach station, contractor works, residential and business properties. The successful operator will need to agree a detailed operational plan in advance with the Landlord. Planning Assumptions Cardiff Council is aware that the Covid-19 pandemic and uncertainty around the recovery has implications for event organisers and planning. The successful operator will of course be required to comply with all coronavirus regulations current at their time of trading but for the purposes or this bid proposal, prospective operators are asked to make predictions in line with the following planning scenarios so that applications can be directly compared. Assumption 1: Event capacity is set at a maximum of 150 people per gathering (this is to include any guests, staff, security and production crew etc. on site at one time). Additional overheads are required to manage ongoing regulations around social distancing and enhanced cleaning of surfaces. Assumption 2: No Covid restrictions apply. The site can be used in accordance with pre- Covid licencing and regulatory requirements. 6 | P a g e Gweithio dros Gaerdydd, gweithio gyda’n gilydd Working for Cardiff, Working together STRATEGIC ESTATES DEPARTMENT Assessment Criteria Cardiff Council has set the following criteria in order to evaluate bids. Each part of your application will be weighted according to the scoring defined below. *Please structure your submission clearly under the section headings provided **An editable version of this document is available by email from [email protected] Evaluation Criteria Heading Weighting Licence fee offer 50% Fixed minimum fee offer(s) based on the planning scenarios outlined above. Bids will be ranked and given relative scores according to how financially advantageous they are to Cardiff Council overall. The best financial offer will receive the full 50 points. An operator committing to two of the available time periods will likely score higher than an operator only committing to one. The minimum proposed hire fee will be considered when scoring bids plus any proposed performance based uplift and the prospective operator’s trading/financial forecasts. The prospective operator may propose to structure their fee based on performance and thus the Landlord will share some risk and opportunity. For example: - Fixed fee + additional payment per event. i.e. a proposed uplift based on number of events - Fixed fee + additional per head payment over X% total capacity sold per event.