Springfield House - Harrogate · 2019. 2. 6. · Springfield House. 3.1 Void costs We assume that much of Springfield House will remain vacant for at least a short period and can

Springfield House

Delivery and operating options

Contents

1. Purpose of this report ..................................................................................................................... 1

2. Context ............................................................................................................................................ 1

3. Costs ................................................................................................................................................ 4

4. Overview of options ........................................................................................................................ 6

5. Comparison of options .................................................................................................................... 9

6. Soft market testing ....................................................................................................................... 11

7. Scope of services ........................................................................................................................... 14

8. The end users ................................................................................................................................ 17

9. Specifying the space ...................................................................................................................... 21

10. Preferred option and recommendation…………………………………………………………………………………..22

Appendices

Defining the Creative & Digital Industries

Soft market testing summary

Scope of services

Springfield House: third floor plan

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1. Purpose of this report

This initial strand of work is to review options and recommend a preferred delivery and

operating model. Based upon consultation with the council, we intend to develop, explore

and assess the options, concluding with a clear recommendation to Harrogate Borough

Council.

2. Context

This section sets out the background to the building and the immediate area and gives

perspective on the way the location is likely to evolve in the coming years. It also notes the

key features of a funding agreement for Harrogate Digital Incubator, a project that provides

a way forward for an interim use of part of Springfield House.

2.1 – Springfield House

Springfield House is positioned above and accessed through Entrance 3 to the Harrogate

Convention Centre directly off the Kings Road. The building provides approximately 15,000

sqft (1,392 sqm) of office space over four regular, rectangular floors, which have been

variously partitioned to create a combination of open plan offices, cellular offices, meeting

room, kitchenettes and breakout areas. Lift access is provided to all floors.

Springfield House was granted planning consent in 1976, conceived as an office building

within the wider development of ‘Harrogate International Centre’, comprising underground

car parking, hotel, exhibition space, auditoriums and foyers, all of which completed and

opened to the public in 1982.

The neighbouring facilities continued to evolve and expand over the following 30 years with

a series of additional exhibition halls added. In total, Harrogate Convention Centre

currently provides 17,000 sqm of conference and exhibition space across the original

buildings and a series of subsequent infill developments.

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In 2007 consent was granted for the erection of a link / foyer building adjoining the Kings

Road elevation of Springfield House to provide covered access and a shared entrance facility

between these halls and in 2010 further consents were approved for the expansion of this

reception area.

In effect, this has subsumed Springfield House within and behind Entrance 3 of the

Convention Centre. The building does not itself have any presence on Kings Road and the

route to its entrance is staffed and branded by the Convention Centre. Visitors get access

from the Convention Centre reception to Springfield House via a push-button door lock.

Springfield House has provided office space for HBC’s Convention Centre staff across two of

its floors but was otherwise vacant for some years until it was used as temporary

accommodation for Harrogate Borough Council departments during development of the new

Civic Centre, situated on the Crescent Gardens site some 400 yards north east along Kings

Road.

Following the 2018 opening of these new Council offices and rationalisation of the office

space used by the Convention Centre, Levels 1, 2 and 3 of Springfield House have once again

become vacant, leaving the Convention Centre, situated on Level 4, as the sole occupier.

The vacant space in Springfield House is currently as follows.

2.2 – Future redevelopment of the surrounding site

Gradual changes to the conference/exhibition market and increased competition from

elsewhere have led Harrogate Borough Council to take steps to review the business case for

reconfiguring Harrogate Convention Centre in order to reposition it as a nationally

competitive and attractive venue.

Reconfiguration of the site presents a significant opportunity to unlock new development

opportunities for the Convention Centre whilst better connecting it in to the town centre

and benefitting the local economy.

https://uniformonline.harrogate.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?previousCaseType=Property&keyVal=9703114RG3&previousCaseNumber=001QQM00BU000&previousCaseUprn=100052005010&activeTab=summary&previousKeyVal=OO1E2RHY06102



P a g e 3

Redevelopment of the site has been under consideration since 2016, blighting any long-term

uses for the building. Whilst it has been offered on the open market through commercial

agents and a few enquiries have been forthcoming from two or three serviced office

operators, Harrogate Borough Council has not been willing to offer a sufficiently long period

of lease to secure agreements with potential occupiers.

2.3 – Funding of Harrogate Digital Incubator

The Harrogate Digital Incubator project was approved for funding by West Yorkshire

Combined Authority1 in 2018. The project is described as having a number of features.

- Providing a mix of (i) flexible working office space e.g. touchdown, co-working on a

range of terms to suit the businesses/individuals (ii) event and meeting space and

(ii) a hub of business support provision from a single floor of Springfield House.

- Targeted at the Creative & Digital Sector2 (CDI) microbusinesses and sole traders,

many of whom work remotely or from home.

- Providing focussed business support in the form of delivery of workshops, one-to-one

advice surgeries and other events (to include potential engagement from various LCR

business support programmes such as Ad:Venture, Digital Enterprise, Growth Service,

Exporting for Growth, Skills Service) as well as peer-to-peer support.

- A focal point for high-growth CDI microbusinesses and the beginning of development

of a recognised cluster in the borough.

- The operating model is to be agreed with the operator/deliverer which will ensure

that the project can perform commercially. The objective of the project will be to

prioritise economic development outputs, rather than profit making for the operator

or for Harrogate Borough Council.

In total, a sum of £540,000 of LEP funding has been committed to the project with some

additional support for costs provided by Harrogate Borough Council. It is anticipated that

up to £50,000 of LEP funding will be required during the pre-operational phase in 2018-2019

1 Via the Business Rates Pool, Annexe 3, Business Support & Inward Investment. 2 A definition of Creative & Digital is supplied at Appendix I.

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with the balance of £490,000 being used to support the project activities in the following

three years.

The outputs that the project is targeted to achieve over its lifetime are as follows

Type of output Number to be delivered

Enterprises receiving non-financial support.

New Enterprises supported

Number of businesses sustained

Collaboration leading to innovation

90

30

45

50

3. Costs

This section is intended to set out the costs associated with operating a single floor of

Springfield House.

3.1 Void costs

We assume that much of Springfield House will remain vacant for at least a short period and

can estimate what those ‘do nothing’ costs will be.

3.1.1 Business Rates

Using Valuation Office data, we have established that the current Rateable Value of the 2nd

floor is £27,464 for 3,719 sqft office space. Based on the standard Multiplier of 49.3%, this

would give a liability to the occupier / landlord of £13,540 pa (£1,128 pcm). The Rateable

Value per floor is above the threshold for Small Business Rates Relief so, as it stands, these

will be the Business Rates costs to any party occupying the floor.

This is equivalent to approximately £3.64 payable psf pa.

3.1.2 Service Charge

It will be important to understand what a fair contribution to the building’s running costs

will be per floor. A secondary issue is that HBC may need to anticipate how a future Service

Charge arrangement would work for a third party occupier.

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At this stage, we have been provided with some input from HBC that indicates the operating

costs for floors 1-3 inclusive of Springfield House are approximately £9,000 pa (excluding

Rates) or £3,000 per floor to include repairs and maintenance and communal utilities.

At £0.81 psf pa, this appears to be remarkably low and may need to be investigated in more

detail. It may be that the historic costs that have been provided don’t include the level of

servicing that will be required by a much busier building and may need to be reviewed

upwards somewhat to provide a fair contribution. This should be addressed when preparing

a revenue model for the preferred option.

3.2 Utilities costs

Whether small power can be separately metered in the space has not yet been determined.

In the event that it cannot, an assumption on costs will be required, to be based on Level 4

costs as occupied by the Convention Centre team.

For information, experience of operating similar premises suggests that direct utilities costs

(electricity, gas, water) can be estimated at £2.30 psf pa for an active fully occupied floor,

equivalent to approximately £8,500 pa per floor.

3.3 Summary costs

The costs in terms of rates and forfeited service charge contributions to HBC of each floor

being unoccupied are summarised below (subject to further information on service charge).

In round numbers, leaving the floor unoccupied or forsaking the option of renting the floor

out will cost HBC £16,500 pa. Equally, these are the estimated costs to any leaseholder

intending to take the full space before rent, utilities and any other operating costs. The

proposed service charge contributions may need further exploration.

As noted in the previous section, additional utilities costs for occupiers can be estimated at

circa £2.30 psf pa or £8,500 per floor.

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4. Overview of options

The overall context for developing the options are two-fold.

- On the one hand, Harrogate Borough Council is preparing to deliver the WYCA

funded Digital Incubation Centre project, including the various commitments made

in that funding application regarding sector development and output delivery.

- On the other hand, HBC wants to manage the delivery in such a way that it

operates the project within its budget constraints, manages the risks and potential

liabilities and sets the tramlines for a longer-term strategy in the town centre to

support economic development.

In discussions with HBC, some headline options have been identified. Broadly these are

either to operate the project in-house or to make arrangements with a third party for

operational delivery. Within these two broad options, some sub-options have been

identified.

4.1 Operational options

The headline options and sub-options can be summarised as follows.

4.2 Discussion of options

Option A: Do nothing

There are real costs associated with doing nothing. Void business rates will incur

costs of approximately £13,500 pa per floor. There will be also no contribution to

the existing running costs of the building and its communal spaces. More

importantly, unless the Harrogate Digital Incubation Centre project can be

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transferred to a different location at short notice, funding will be lost. On this basis

alone, doing nothing can be discounted as an option.

Option B: Operate in-house

Within this option, two sub-options are discussed for Harrogate’s consideration.

B1 Direct operation

In this option, HBC will operate a floor of Springfield House from its existing in-house

team. No procurement of external operators will be required. The property will be

managed by the team responsible for HBC’s existing portfolio of commercial

properties (including Conyngham Hall and Knaresborough House), offering some

potential aggregation of costs.

This approach will require HBC to independently specify the refurbishment and

fitting out of the space and, whilst many local authorities do deliver workspace hub

services for niche sectors effectively, there is an argument that specialists may offer

a more appealing package for freelancers and microbusinesses. This option leaves

all of the risks of the operation with HBC but it does give the Authority most control

over the services to be provided. The grant funding that has been secured certainly

appears to be adequate to mitigate the main risks of revenue underperformance.

However this option does require that Harrogate Borough Council has the appetite,

capacity and skills to assume the role without any external support.

B2 Direct operation with support

In this option, HBC will operate a floor of Springfield House as in Option B1 above

but with some additional support from a specialist operator. The areas in which

Harrogate Borough Council will require support need to be identified based upon a

review of the scope of work as discussed later in this report. Examples include

specification of the space and associated refurbishment programme,

operationalisation of the services, marketing, letting agreements and occupier

liaison, contribution to governance and evaluation. This option provides all of the

benefits of in-house operation with additional capacity and a strengthened

governance and management team to focus the workspace and services on the digital

sector it is aimed at.

https://www.harrogate.gov.uk/downloads/file/441/full_details_of_conyngham_hall

https://www.harrogate.gov.uk/downloads/file/3868/knaresborough_house_units_to_let

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C Third party operation

These two sub-options are based on HBC working with a third party that will operate

the workplace offer for digital sector freelancers and microbusinesses in Springfield

House.

C1 Management by contract

In this option, HBC’s control over the approach and services will be through careful

consideration of the contents of a management contract. This will set out the

requirements in terms of service delivery, outputs and reporting.

This is a tried and tested approach adopted by many local authorities to working

with specialist operators. It will require a procurement exercise. There are a

number of elaborations of this model that will be explored at a later point in this

report.

C2 Lease to a third party

On the face of it, this would appear to be a straightforward option, requiring the

least organisational resource and capacity and generating a combination of income

and offset void costs.

Simply, in this sub-option, HBC will lease a floor of the building to a party that is

prepared to deliver the Digital Incubator project. On commercial terms, there may

be a very limited market given the small quantum of space and the short length of

lease. However, grant funding could be used to subside the costs of the business in

meeting the aims of the WYCA funded project (including delivery and monitoring of

outputs) so as to create a package that could be attractive.

If this option is to be pursued, careful consideration will be required to mitigate the

risk of misalignment of objectives between HBC and the operator. Harrogate

Borough Council is committed to supporting and attracting high-growth digital

businesses and to delivering real benefits to the local economy and will need to

protect these interests in any arrangement it comes to for delivery of the project.

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5. Comparison of options

The following table picks out some of the features of the options for comparison.

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

A Do nothing

• Least effort /

management resource

required

• Void costs

• Loss of funding

• Potential to let floor to a

standard commercial

occupier

• No positive economic

development impact

• Reputational damage

B1

Operate in-

house: direct

operation

• Procurement not required

• HBC has existing portfolio

of property under

management - potential

economies of scale

• Grant funding provides

sufficient resource to

provide reassurance against

poor performance

• Council operation may

not be as attractive to

digital sector workers

• Will draw on HBC's

management capacity

• Start-up investment

required in terms of fit-

out, marketing and initial

trading losses

• Use of latent resources in

HBC (property and human

resources)

• Can generate trading

surpluses towards funding

of future digital workspace

• Lack of support in

developing specification for

suitable workspace

• All risks lie with HBC

B2

Operate in-

house: direct

operation with

support

• As B1 above

• Additional capacity,

experience and market

intelligence

• Increased risk mitigation

• As B1 above

• Increased costs in terms

of management overhead

• As B1 above

• Engage better with digital

sector

• As B1 above

C1

Management

through

contract with

third party

operator

• Specification of the

contract provides HBC with

control of service offer

• Tried and tested model in

marketplace

• Grant subsidy can support

early stage growth of the

hub

• Experienced specialist

operator

• Increased appeal to end

users

• Will require procurement

• Specification of refurb /

fit-out may need to wait

for an Operator to be

appointed, delaying

programme

• Start-up investment

required in terms of fit-

out, marketing and initial

trading losses (as with B1 /

B2)

• Potential for trading

surpluses over and above

rates, service charge and

rental contributions

• Development of working

relationships with specialist

operator

• Insufficient demand from

operators

• Potential for

misalignment of objectives

C2Lease to third

party

• Limits role of HBC -

lighter touch version of

contract management

• Potential to generate

fixed income

• Unattractive to market in

terms of quantum of space

and length of lease

• Limited control

• Widen lease opportunities

to other floors

• Grant funding is tied to

output delivery -

mechanisms will be needed

to ensure delivery and

reporting

• Potential for

misalignment of objectives

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The options present different levels of risk, revenue potential, fit with HBC’s core work and

complexity. Our high-level view of these elements is illustrated below.

A: DO NOTHING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Low risk

Revenue potential

Fit with organisational mission

Deliverability

B1: DIRECT OPERATION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Low risk

Revenue potential

Fit with project objectives

Deliverability

B2: DIRECT WITH SUPPORT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Low risk

Revenue potential


Deliverability

C1: OPERATOR CONTRACT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Low risk

Revenue potential


Deliverability

OPERATOR LEASE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Low risk

Revenue potential


Deliverability

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6. Appraisal of the options

6.1 Selection of options for soft market testing

Following the high-level review of the five options, three options were discarded in

discussion with the Council, as follows.

- Option A: Do nothing

This option was discarded quickly, based upon the costs of doing nothing in terms of

voids liabilities and lost income as well as the opportunity cost of being unable to

deploy grant funding to support the real accommodation needs of early stage

entrepreneurs working in the creative and digital industries.

- Option B1: Operator in-house (with no external support)

This option was dismissed by Harrogate Borough Council based on the view that at

least some external support would be needed to optimise the value of the project

both in terms of its effectiveness in meeting the particular needs of a specialist

sector and, related to that, its ability to attract end users and meet its revenue and

outcome targets.

- Option C2: Lease

This option was dismissed on the basis that both the quantum of space and the length

of lease that can be offered are thought to be too limited to attract serious interest

from operators. This view is confirmed by the commercial agents, having been

tested on live enquiries in the market.

It was agreed that the remaining two options were to be explored further through a soft

market testing exercise, as follows.

OPTIONS RECOMMENDATION

B Operate in-house

B2 - Direct operation with support Market test

C Third party operation

C1 - Management through contract Market test

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6.2 Soft market testing method

Harrogate Borough Council undertook soft market testing with two groups of firms: existing

operators of sector-themed workspaces and organisations that provide support in

establishing workspace incubation targeted at Creative and Digital end users.

A shortlist of organisations for each category was assembled using contacts proposed by both

Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) and Creative Space Management. The organisations

selected were not currently operating within the borough. A template questionnaire was

administered via a telephone interview following an initial email request to agree

participation. Telephone interviews were undertaken by Alistair Forbes, SME Growth

Manager of HBC to avoid any issues of impartiality. These interviews took place between

12th November and 20th November 2018.

6.3 Market feedback

Feedback from the two sets of structured conversations with potential suppliers has been

provided by HBC officers (and is included at Appendix II).

The feedback can be summarised as follows.

Operator

In general, operators are receptive to taking on additional workspaces and to

working on behalf of local authorities so long as the proposition stacks up

financially.

The amount of space available through a floor of Springfield House is below

the minimum that would be considered commercially viable as a co-working

location and would not normally appeal to operators unless financial

incentives are made available.

The limited term of three years (certain) for the proposed management

contract would be “very off-putting” on a commercial basis as centres usually

take 3-5 years to break even. Most arrangements are for 5-10 years. It is

likely that a significant subsidy would be required to offset operating losses

and to guarantee an Operator fee.

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Support provider

In general, there is a widespread willingness to provide support services,

dependent on more detail on the scope of services required and the budget.

When given a substantial menu of illustrative types of support, some could

deliver across much of the menu and some would want to focus on particular

elements, e.g. sector-themed business support, eligibility, pricing,

marketing, support to Steering Group. Most would not usually provide advice

on specification of the workspace.

As an overview, it appears that there would not normally be much interest from operators

in delivering a workspace offer that is small and relatively short-term on commercial terms.

In this case, however, there is a limited amount of revenue funding available to support the

Digital Incubator project over a three year period. The level of revenue support was not

discussed with consultees. To really establish whether operators will come forward, a

revenue plan needs to be put in place that establishes a level of fees that HBC would be

prepared to offer either on a fixed basis or as a blend of fixed fee and performance

incentive.

For support providers, a wide range of organisations have been consulted with varying

specialisms. In general there is a willingness to provide support services but it is clear that

the menu varies from one party to the next. In order to progress this option, the Council

will need to develop a menu of the support that is required and to find a mechanism to put

the resources aside within its grant funding to buy in that support as well as meet any initial

operating losses.

6.4 Comparative costs

The soft market testing exercise was intended to assess appetite in the market for provision

of services. The detail of fees and terms could not be tested at this stage. However, HBC

requires some indication of likely costs of each of the options to assist in evaluating the

options.

Creative Space has been asked to give an indication of the level of fees needed to resource

each of the roles. This done based on our perspective and forms additional input to the

feedback received from other organisations.

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For the Operator role (i.e. a full range of services required to operate a stand-alone sector-

themed workspace) our view is that an operator would expect £50k pa as a fee. The fee

would include all financial administration of the project i.e. billing, collection,

reporting. The fee could be flat or include an element of performance fee. Any direct costs

(on site staffing if any, utilities, service charge, events costs) would be billed to the trading

account and met by income from end users. In this case any trading losses incurred by the

business would need to be met by the client from its revenue support. Trading losses would

be expected during the initial stages as the project builds towards high levels of occupancy

and the requirement for revenue support will taper off as the project progresses. Any

surplus income would be transferred to HBC based on transparent reporting of income and

expenditure.

For the support role, costs would be based on a day rate and an estimate of days of support

required against particular tasks HBC identifies a support need for. A scope of services is

required, identifying all components of service provision (see Section 7 of this report). HBC

would identify the individual elements where it requires a supplier to either take a lead role

or to provide support to HBC staff to deliver. For the purposes of initial scoping, we would

estimate a day rate of £685 and an allocation of say 34 days of practical support to be drawn

down by HBC against particular parts of the scope as required. We would estimate that in

the first year this support will be front-loaded with perhaps a third of the days allocated to

the first six weeks and the balance spread across the remaining months. The fee for this

illustrative scenario would be approximately £22,500 in Year 1. We would expect that the

requirement for support may be significantly reduced in Year 2 and thereafter but that a

sum of £12,250 pa should be reserved in the event that there is still some ongoing

requirement.

7. Scope of services

This section provides a menu of services related to all aspects of the management and

delivery of a co-located workspace business operation. It also includes some additional

discussion of the sector-specific business support elements that form part of this scope.

7.1 Overview of the scope of services

A Scope of Services document has been prepared and is included at Appendix III of this

report. This provides a comprehensive menu of the elements of the service provision that

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will be required, whether these are delivered by a third party operator or by HBC either in

whole or with some support from third parties.

This scope of services has been tailored to what we believe represents a practicable

proposition for Springfield House. Some elements that will be assumed in very highly

serviced workspaces have been omitted from this scope on the basis of its scale and

character. As an example, the range of bureau and front-of-house services has been

assumed as limited and FM services associated with whole building management have been

omitted.

The scope of services has been structured in such a way that it could be used as part of a

procurement process for an operator but also to allow relatively easy segmentation of groups

of tasks across separate HBC functions.

As an overview, the elements are grouped in to the following elements.

Lettings Management: to include all billing and associated financial administration

and management; letting agreements; liaison with occupiers; general sales and

marketing and KPI reporting.

IT / Telephony: to accommodate any managed provision that will be agreed in detail

prior to becoming operational.

Front of House Services: to capture all activities assumed to be managed by the

reception function including booking of events / meeting room as required.

Events, Business Support and Promotion: to include either / and / or coordination

and hosting and direct delivery of sector-specific events, networking opportunities

and the promotion of these and of the local sector.

Facilities Management: to include specification of any refurbishment works; repairs

and maintenance as required and other aspects of building management (however it

should be recognised that whichever option for delivery is selected, some of these

elements will remain the responsibility of HBC given the space sits within a larger

building with common services).

Internal dialogue would establish whether different parts of the organisation could take the

lead role in parts of the service e.g. Front-of-House could be delivered by Convention

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Centre; IT could be delivered by HBC’s specialist team; FM could be delivered by Estates;

and Business Support and events could be led by Economic Growth.

As discussed above (see section 6.4), our view is that an operator would expect £50k pa as

a fee for managing the facility if that route were preferred. This could take the form of a

fixed fee or could include an element of incentives with potential for the fee to increase in

financial targets were achieved. This fee would include managing all elements of the scope

of services. In the event that separate parts of the services were split out, value for money

would be decreased somewhat. We would broadly anticipate that the elemental

management fees per annum would be as follows (excluding direct costs).

Lettings Management: £14,500.

IT / Telephony: £7,000.

Front of House Services: £3,500.

Events, Business Support and Promotion: £25,000.

Facilities Management: £10,000.

7.2 Business support

Some additional work is required to review the specification on business support, especially

if a third party is to lead on this part of the work. Business support is assumed to take the

form of (i) some sector-specific events either hosted by the Incubator in a small events

space but delivered by third parties or directly programmed by the Incubator and held there

or elsewhere with appropriate branding (ii) signposting to business advice.

The basis of the programme can be sourced through establishing working arrangements with

a range of existing LEP funded initiatives and projects and with sector networks. Attracting

these organisations to run sector-specific events and services from the space makes best

use of the available ecosystem of business support and benefits partners through use of free

space and ease of access to occupiers.

In the following section of this report the results of desk research on the CDI sector are set

out, establishing the subsectoral make-up of the local CDI business community and its

characteristics in terms of employee numbers and stage of growth. There is an opportunity

to work with partners to drill in to the particular business growth challenges of early stage

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microbusinesses working predominantly in digital subsectors and to devise events and other

interventions, such as regular specialist business surgeries in the space. An element of the

LEP grant funding could be reserved to enable this and suitable partner(s) given

responsibility for leading on the activity. In this there may be opportunity to support the

development of capacity within local sector-based networks and organisations.

Details of the business support offer will be a work in progress as the space becomes

operationalised but it is clear that, at a minimum, the Incubator needs to make access to

business support easy for occupiers through strong working links with existing providers

through hosting surgeries, workshops or events as well as referrals. If resources are

available for new business support interventions – whether one-off events or more

substantial programmes – sector champions should be engaged in setting the agenda for

what new and additional support is to be prioritised.

In the first instance, it will be important to establish some sector-specific business support

activity quickly in order to help raise the profile of the new incubator. To do so,

consultation on an initial programme will be needed with sector champions and business

support organisations. Representatives of Growth Service and Harrogate Digital will have

useful input as will a view existing business support providers such as Ad:Venture. Harrogate

will also need to take a view on the available budget available for this work, based on a

revised project budget that forecasts grant income plus earned income against expenditure,

thereby establishing what funds are available to resource the work.

8. The end users

The project is targeted at the Creative & Digital Industries. This section explores what that

means and gives context on the characteristics of that market in Harrogate.

8.1 Defining the Creative & Digital Industries

We have used an established DCMS definition of Creative & Digital Industries based on

particular Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes organised into five domains as

follows. (For details of the definition refer to Appendix I.)

- Audio visual

- Performance, art and design

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- IT, digital and tech

- Advertising and marketing

- Publishing and press

8.2 Mapping the local sector

We have undertaken desk research to map the size, scope, geography and characteristics of

Harrogate’s creative & digital industries (CDI) to inform understanding of the market.

Specifically, we have used the SIC codes within the agreed definition to search live

databases of companies with a trading address within a defined area. This takes in all

Harrogate postcodes but excludes other neighbouring postcodes that could realistically form

part of the market for workspace facilities in Harrogate. Whilst we recognise that this wider

market exists, a relatively tight focus has allowed us to produce a meaningful data-set

showing the size, geography and composition of the local CDI sector.

Based on the desk research, there are 810 active, trading CDI companies operating within

Harrogate postcodes3. This activity spans across a range of sub-sectors, by far the largest

of which is digital, technology and computing. These digital companies represent 64% of all

active CDI companies in the area and it is likely that a number of the other companies have

a very significant digital component to them despite them reporting under other SIC codes.

Age of companies

This is a very young, dynamic sector of the local economy. 42% of the companies

have been formed in the past five years. A further 25% of companies are between

five and ten years old. The average company age across the whole cohort is 8.2

years. The oldest company is 58 years old and the youngest less than a month old.

Employees per company

The great majority of companies (71%) have not reported employee numbers. In our

experience this indicates the great bulk of employment is made up of sole traders,

freelancers and microbusinesses (1-10 staff). Of those that have reported

employees, almost all have less than 50 employees (221). Only 9 companies report

more than 50 employees, with the largest reporting 490 employees.

3 As of 21 November 2018.

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Industry keywords

We have used an analysis of keywords associated with the records of each company

to produce an illustrative picture of the areas of work that are most prevalent within

the local CDI economy.

This clearly illustrates the conclusion that the overwhelming majority of companies in the

local sector are associated with IT, digital and tech related activities.

Geographical distribution

By mapping the trading addresses of each of the records, we can get a sense of the

distribution of businesses. A zoomed section of this is illustrated below, showing a

balance between town centre and out-of-town locations. Out-of-town location

include both commercial premises and domestic addresses used by freelancers and

homeworkers.

As the following maps show, the main clusters for CDI firms in the area are in the

town centre. This is to be expected, given the population density here, as well as

the urban agglomeration tendencies of CDI businesses.

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8.3 Summary of CDI mapping

Whilst mapping of the local CDI sector was not part of the brief for this report, the

exercise helps to paint a picture of local demand. Notably it confirms Harrogate Borough

Council’s assumptions that that there is a significant local sector on which to build, that

the great majority of these firms are very small and at a relatively early stage of growth

and that two thirds (and probably more) of all CDI companies in the Harrogate postcode

area are related to digital subsectors. In all of these respects, the rationale for making

sector-specific co-working and small flexible office space available to creative & digital

microbusinesses within Springfield House appears to be well founded.

8.4 Other observations on the market for co-working

A steady rise of self-employment sector over the last two decades is a notable long-term

structural change to the UK labour market. Self-employment has reportedly grown by

approximately 24% since 2009. There are now some 4.77m self-employed workers in the

British economy, representing almost 15% of the total workforce4. There is no doubt that

4 Free Radicals, Alan Lockey, Demos 2018.

P a g e 21

economic and political uncertainties have contributed to driving the growth of self-

employment, as have enablers such as technology and changing working practices.

Freelancers, largely made up of knowledge-based workers, are estimated at 1.91 million.

This is one of the fastest growing employment sub-sectors, up by more than a third since

2008. This section of self-employment is likely to be the primary source of demand for

flexible workplace.

In terms of end user needs, recent research5 clarifies that the four elements most highly

valued by co-working occupiers are connectivity, access to meeting rooms, break out

space and networking opportunities.

9. Specifying the space

At present, a relatively modest sum (initially £70,000) has been set aside for

refurbishment. This extends to redecoration and replacement of some flooring finishes

and kitchen areas on one floor of the building, assumed as the third floor (see plan at

Appendix 4). In addition to this we recommend that some resource is set aside to cover

redecoration, signage and wall art in the common parts leading to the floor.

How far HBC goes beyond this is a matter of judgement given the space will have a limited

but not insignificant life of between three and five years.

There will be an expectation from end users for a contemporary yet professional working

environment that allows for both quiet concentrated desk work and also some soft

furnishing zones and features that break up and humanise the space. This Incubator

should not look like a call centre with anonymised rows of desks. What is required is some

evidence of care, attention and at least a little imagination in creating a relatively

relaxing and enjoyable environment in which to work and, when appropriate, engage with

other occupiers.

The team will need to make a judgement on the extent to which it allows for a soft

furnishing zone and amenities such as phone booths within the co-working space. We do,

however, recommend that tangible efforts are made to position it as a distinctive space

that brings at least some personality to the mix. Whilst there is no need for ostentation,

5 Coworking, Cushman & Wakefield 2018

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some additional resource is likely to be needed if this is to look and feel like a digital

incubation space to end users.

As initial prompts to develop the specification, it is proposed that Ideally there will be

separated cubicles on one side of the space suitable for one person to sit on a stool at a

counter and make phone / skype calls without interruption. Feature walls with graphics /

illustrations or pools of colour. Full height magnetic dry-wipe board for impromptu

sharing of ideas. Wall art e.g. prints that reflect some of the key themes of the sector.

Floor-standing plants. Cube bookcases as zone dividers in the shared areas with a careful

selection of plants, publications and a few design objects and accessories that echo a

digital innovation theme.

Specification of the space will be required in the near future if works are to be

commenced. This is one of the key initial pieces of work regardless of who is to operate

the space and the reality is that if an external operator is to be used, they will be best

placed to provide this specification. However, waiting until such time as an appointment

is confirmed before beginning to prepare a specification is likely to delay the programme

significantly.

We recommend that HBC proceeds to make progress with specifying the basics of the

approach to the refurbishment at as early a stage as possible, reserving a sum for some

loose items to be procured at a later stage.

10. Preferred option and recommendations

This final section sets out the preferred option and makes recommendations that reflect

the priorities for a way forward that follows on from that option.

10.1 Preferred option

Based on review and consultation on the possible options, it is recommended that

Harrogate Borough Council take on the direct operation of the Digital Incubator with some

support from external providers (as described in this report as option B2).

This recommendation is based on a range of factors.

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As asset owner and operator, the Council will have maximum control of the project

and can focus the benefits of the project funding that has been secured on supporting

high growth businesses in the borough.

The full scope of services involved in managing and delivering a co-located

workspace includes significant elements that are already being undertaken by parts

of the Council. For some of the services, the Council will be able to make use of

latent capacity to deliver better value for money.

Following a detailed review of the scope of services, the Council will be able to

identify and bring in additional capacity if / where needed.

Soft market testing indicates poor market interest from commercial operators given

the short-term and limited availability of space.

Progress can be made immediately, avoiding significant delays that would result from

awaiting specification input from an operator following a period of procurement.

Any trading surpluses that may be generated can be used to seed fund a legacy

project to provide future support for creative & digital businesses in the borough.

10.2 Way forward

Given the agreed way forward, we recommend that plans are made to tackle the following

areas of work.

a) Governance. Project governance should be agreed with clear reporting at the outset

of the project. As the project moves forward the group will agree roles, work plans

and key performance indicators.

b) The overall strategy for use of Springfield House should be refreshed according to

latest available information. This will ascertain the likely life-span of temporary use

of the building and take in to account the fact that some parts of Level 2 have been

let to microbusinesses during the course of this study. The Council needs to

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determine whether these occupiers will be moved in to the Incubator once Level 3

has been refurbished and consider further expansion of workspace within Springfield

House given the likelihood that demand for space will exceed a single floor.

c) Specification. Prior to any refurbishment work, a brief needs to be agreed for the

detailed scope of works and the proposed work needs to be costed. This should be

undertaken early so as to enable works to proceed. The specification should address

the connectivity (in liaison with the Council specialists); the existing floorspace and

the route to it; the segmentation; the common and shared areas, the loose furniture

and look and feel. The specification needs to consider provision of access to meeting

rooms, break out space and networking opportunities.

d) A revenue model with detailed assumptions on price points and rates of occupancy

and revised operating expenditure forecasts should be prepared to create clear

tramlines for project development and a means of evaluating future revenue

performance.

e) Lettings. A lettings policy based on a clear CDI focus should be agreed together with

a standard form of short-term letting agreement.

f) Pre-marketing. A deliverable marketing work plan focused on developing a pipeline

of demand needs to be planned in advance and mobilised 2 months in advance of the

operational start date

g) Business support strategies will need to be agreed. A balance will need to be found

between acting as a host venue for other existing business support initiatives and

groups and stimulating new activity in partnership with others. Once a revenue

model has been prepared, an element of the LEP grant funding could be reserved to

stimulate some new business support interventions and suitable partner(s) given

responsibility for either supporting or leading on parts of the activity. Priorities for

any new business support should be defined in partnership with local sector

champions and organisations.

____________

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APPENDIX I

Defining the Creative & Digital Industries

A working subsectoral definition of the Creative & Digital Industries sector will be needed

to inform the targeting of future lettings.

The recommended approach is to adopt the DCMS definition of creative industries, which

provides Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes for each creative & digital industries

sub-sector across the whole production chain (DCMS Creative Industries Economic Estimates.

London: 2011). Individual SIC codes are generally grouped in to five domains, one of which

is specifically digital. Increasingly, businesses that are digital are spread across all domains.

Subsector SIC codes (2007)

Audio Visual 59131: Motion Picture Production

5912: Motion picture, video and television programme post-

production activities

74209: Other photographic activities

74202: Specialist Photography

74201: Portrait Photographic activities

6010: Radio broadcasting

18201: Reproduction of sound recording

5920: Sound recording and music publishing

59133: Television programme distribution activities

6020: Television programming and broadcasting activities

59132: Video distribution activities

59112: Video production activities

Performance, Visual 7111: Architectural Activities

Art and Design 9003: Artistic Creation

8552: Cultural Education

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9004: Operation of Arts Facilities

9001: Performing Arts

7410: Specialised design activities

9002: Support activities to performing arts

71112: Urban planning and landscape architectural activities

IT, Digital and Tech 62012: Business and Software Development

6202: Computer Consultancy

6203: Computer facilities management activities

6311: Data Processing

6399: Other information service activities

6209: Other information technology and computer service activities

5829: Other software publishing

5821: Publishing of computer games

62011: Ready-made interactive leisure and entertainment software

development

6312: Web portals

Advertising and 7311: Advertising Agencies

Marketing 7320: market research and polling

7312: Media Representation

7021: Public relations and communication activities

Publishing and Press 5811: Book Publishing

6391: News Agency activities

5819: Other publishing activities

1813: Pre-press and pre-media activities

18129: Printing

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58142: Publishing of consumer, business and professional journals

and periodicals

5812: Publishing of directories and mailing lists

58141: Publishing of learned journals

5813: Publishing of newspapers

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APPENDIX II

Soft market testing summary

The following pages set out feedback from a soft market testing exercise carried out by Harrogate

Borough Council between 12th November and 20th November 2018.

Two different sets of conversations were conducted with organisations that had been identified as

either (i) potential operators of a workspace or (ii) potential providers of support to Harrogate

Borough Council in the scenario that it acts as the direct operator.

Soft market testing was carried out through a telephone conversation following an initial

introductory email to a pre-prepared shortlist for each category.

HARROGATE BOROUGH COUNCIL

SOFT MARKET TESTING – HARROGATE DIGITAL INCUBATOR

OPERATOR

Overview

Harrogate Council is considering options for operating a new project, Harrogate Digital Incubator.

This will be a three year project, operated from a vacant floor of an office building on the site of

Harrogate Convention Centre. The aim of the project is provide some office and co-working desk

space to microbusinesses working in the local Creative, Digital and Tech sectors and to support their

growth through access to business support.

One of our options is to work with an independent operator who will take control of operating the

space. We are asking a hand-picked selection of operators for their views on the project before we

decide a way forward.

Questions

1 As an operator, are you interested in expanding to new locations at all?

Yes, always looking for new opportunities (e.g. one currently runs 24 sites across the country – nearest in Stockport. Another runs six sites across Yorkshire/North East).

2 Is Harrogate a location that would be of interest to you?

Yes, although not always familiar with the area. Yes, interested in towns/location where there is not an incumbent university, e.g. Wakefield and Halifax so far.

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3 Is the prospect of managing an incubation project on behalf of a local authority something that you are comfortable with?

Yes. One operator includes 80% of the 24 sites are run for LA’s. All on a contract basis, not a lease. Various funding arrangements including ERDF, with arrangements between 2-10 years. Generally, tenants agree to 12month license with 1month notice and flexibility is a key attraction.

4 Do you already operate projects on behalf of an asset owner on a contract basis?

Yes, as above

5 A total of approximately 3,750 sqft (350 sqm) of space will be available for the Incubator. What are your views on this?

Depends on the configuration – view is that coworking needs open plan. Then there needs to be office provision for companies needing to recruit and move up. Size means that wrap-around support might be limited, outside of day to day operation. The current space could be restrictive, ideally would look for 5k+ sqft.

6 The agreement is likely to be limited to 3 years with some potential for a very limited extension. Is that term likely to be of interest to you?

This would be very off-putting on a commercial basis as centres usually take 3-5 years to break even. Most arrangements are for 5-10 years. Can work with 3 year arrangement, but would need to be heavily subsidised. Current location at Wakefield is 3 years.

7 The operator will be required to deliver some outputs on behalf of the local authority and to meet reporting requirements for these. Is this something you are comfortable with?

Yes, would expect to report on outputs as per funding requirements. Advice is that too many outputs mean operation can be restricted (spending time reporting rather than doing). Also management of performance against the targets is key – constant monitoring of achievements and issues so that they can addressed/expanded. Bearing in mind the short term nature, defining the outputs in terms of businesses engaged (through accelerator programmes for example), rather than occupancy would be advised and would also be more attractive.

8 What information do you think you will need at procurement stage if the project is to be put out to tender?

Demand/feasibility reports, clustering and economic data, access/parking/café provision. Advice is also to leave some points open to assumptions, e.g. membership models. Suggested market engagement day - operators can come and view property, ask questions etc. (before tender). Also, some clarity would be appreciated on the long term plan or exit strategy for the project – where will the businesses moved to after 3-5 years? And during the project lifetime? Operators would expect to be compared on a fee basis – and therefore basing pricing on what is their cost for delivering the outputs required.

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HARROGATE BOROUGH COUNCIL

SOFT MARKET TESTING – HARROGATE DIGITAL INCUBATOR

SUPPORT PROVIDER

Overview

Harrogate Council is considering options for operating a new project, Harrogate Digital Incubator.

This will be a three year project, operated from a vacant floor of an office building on the site of

Harrogate Convention Centre. The aim of the project is provide some office and co-working desk

space to microbusinesses working in the local Creative, Digital and Tech sectors and to support their

growth through access to business support.

One of our options is to deliver the project in-house with support from a specialist organisation on

aspects of the delivery of the Digital Incubator.

Questions

1 Are you interested in the prospect of providing support to Harrogate in aspects of the delivery of the incubator?

Yes, positive responses throughout.

2 Have you previously provided support to other providers of workspace?

Yes, ranging from DMC at Barnsley, DHEZ at Bradford. Another just started project with Hambleton Council, at Northallerton.

3 At this stage, the support package is not defined but could include specification of the space, revenue planning, pricing, eligibility, marketing, letting agreements, coordination of a business support offer, evaluation and participation in a Steering Group. Would you be comfortable with delivering against all of these areas if required?

Yes to the majority of these points, principally those relating to the operational delivery, and the strategic network development. Specification of space would be outside of usual experience. No, couldn’t/wouldn’t deliver against all elements. Would be interested in delivering business support offer, determining and ‘enforcing’ eligibility, marketing, pricing, Steering Group facilitation and strategic development. Would provide advice on space spec at no cost. Not so interested in letting agreements and legal arrangements. Happy to advise on property spec informally.

4 Do you have particular experience of working

Yes, for the workspace providers named above, delivering specialist facilitation and enabling of early stage and scale-up business growth through structured programmes and

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with Creative, Digital and Tech SME’s?

consultancy. Yes, already developed and delivering project in Hull, and soon to be Northallerton. Also in arrangement with Barclays Eagle Labs

5 Support would be required for a period of 12 months but may be extended for a longer period of up to 3 years. Is that something you would be able to agree?

Yes, open to project dependent on budget and sustainability. Yes, timescales would be subject to agreement on objectives and deliverability.

6 On what fee basis would work be undertaken?

One provider has recently run an ‘accelerator’ programme for DHEZ, Bradford. This delivered 12 hours support for 20 healthcare related start-ups. Cost £90k. Another provider/operator didn’t want to discuss costs knowing CSM might be interested in delivering this. For info - Budget for incubator operator and marketing costs – Year One £45k, Year Two £135k, Year Three £130k (Spent £10k on consultancy already).

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APPENDIX III

Scope of services

1. Lettings Management Services

Ref Service Detail of service When By whom

1.1 Collection of income

Producing, checking and distributing invoices to clients. Monthly for rent and services

Managing Operator


Dealing with client queries regarding invoices. Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator


Collection of payments, following up with occupiers who are in arrears based on an aged debtors list acting quickly and working with the client in order to try and reduce their overheads and therefore reduce the likelihood of business failure.

As required Managing Operator

1.4 Landlord and tenant

Processing, checking & coding all supplier invoices and ensuring prompt payment of creditors.

Mon to Fri Managing Operator


Producing and reviewing of an annual budget in consultation with the asset owner.

Produced annually, reviewed bi-annually

Managing Operator


Producing monthly management accounts electronically. Weekly monitoring, Monthly accounts Produced

Managing Operator


Liaising with Asset Owner regarding applications to enter into Agreements to ensure that occupiers meet the remit for the centre. Ensure that occupiers meet the criteria outlined in the Lettings Policy for the centres.


P a g e 9


Undertake negotiations over Letting Agreements for the Centre and provide a landlord & tenant interface. Ensure that every occupier enters into an approved Letting Agreement prior to their taking up occupation at the Centre.



Ensure that all clients understand the complaints procedure and that all complaints and feedback are handled promptly and positively to ensure a high standards of account management. A copy of the customer complaints policy should be available to all clients.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator


To deal with all customer related issues promptly and ensure all staff members are aware of issues and necessary responses, implementing procedural changes as required.

Weekly Managing Operator


Undertake an annual customer survey to evaluate performance and consider any proposed changes / additions to services.

Throughout the year Managing Operator


Act as letting agent and oversee the marketing of the Centre in the context of the occupational criteria and wider area.



Managing dilapidation liability at end of contract. Throughout the year Managing Operator


Managing compliance with Letting Agreements including sector criteria.


1.15 Sales and Marketing

Provide accurate and targeted information to potential Occupiers.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator


Conduct guided sales and letting tours for potential clients. Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator


Organise occasional (pre-arranged) stakeholder tours for asset owners and other interested parties.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator


Compile information packs including those for workspace enquiries to ensure customers have up to date, easy to read

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator

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information setting out terms and conditions and costs clearly with no ‘hidden’ extras.


Update website with news, events, case studies, occupier schedules.

Minimum once a week Managing Operator

1.20 KPI monitoring and reporting

Produce a Balanced Scorecard to monitor both the Centres’ (and the Manager’s) performance and to ensure that realistic targets are set for key areas such as income generation, marketing, outputs and environmental sustainability and that these targets are met accordingly.

Monthly Managing Operator


Produce a client summary report detailing:

- Occupancy levels & rental psf - Enquiries - Office moves

- Details of where outgoing occupiers are relocating to

- Events - Building defects issues - Contracts to be (re)tendered - Jobs created



Host a monthly meeting with asset owner to provide updates and information.


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2. IT / Telephony


2.1 Telephony and internet Services

Deliver appropriate services to clients (to be agreed). Adhere to any existing Service Level Agreements (SLA) or put in place if these do not exist already (with a 4 hour response time as a minimum). All services to be proactively monitored.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30 with 24/7 monitoring and emergency response

Managing Operator

2.2 Telephony and Internet services

IT support in terms of faults to internet and / or telephony services.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator

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3. Front of House Services


3.1

3.2 Front Desk - Reception services

Provide the first point of contact for tenant companies, their employees and visitors to the Centre.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator


Orientate visitors upon arrival, either directing them to the appropriate location, advising residents of their visitor’s arrival, directing couriers and deliveries, contacting third parties as appropriate.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator


Provide guidance and assistance to all users of the Centre on all aspects of the Centre’s operations including recycling points, meeting room booking procedures, enquiries about the parking, etc.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator


Sort post by company name to await collection from reception by client (or oversee alternative means of Royal Mail delivery).

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator

3.6 Front Desk - Visitor Management

Keep a visitor book and ensure that all visitors to the Centre sign in and out and are accounted for at all times to ensure that the Centre feels welcoming whilst protecting the integrity and security of the building and ensuring the safety of both occupiers and visitors.

Out of hours visitors will be the responsibility of the occupier.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator

3.7

Conference & meeting room management and booking

Ensure that a diary system is maintained to allow Centre staff to take bookings from internal and external users. A meeting room booking form should be completed for all chargeable bookings. An online booking system is to be provided.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator

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3.8

Events / meeting room management and booking

To manage and monitor meeting rooms to ensure that events don’t overrun when another meeting / event is due to follow.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator

3.9 Events / meeting room management

Collate data on use of meeting and event space. Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator

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4. Events, Business Support and Promotion Services


4.1

Hosting of Business Support Events and Services

Work with business support providers to host seminars, workshops and clinics for occupiers. Ensure that the Centre team is fully briefed on available business support services including LEP and local initiatives so that they can provide signposting to clients. Promote industry networks and any funding opportunities which should arise for client businesses.

Mon to Fri 08:30 - 17:30

Managing Operator

4.2 Events Planning & Coordination

Organise and host a range of sector-specific events with a networking dimension targeted at microbusinesses to widen their contact networks within the sector and link occupiers to industry networks.

Usually a minimum of 4 events per year

Managing Operator

4.3 Promotion Generate awareness of centre, promotion of seminars, workshop and events, chasing leads and compiling database of potential tenant enquiries


4.4 Promotion Website management and updating to include events, news, client directory, availability and case studies.

Usually two new web press releases per month

Managing Operator

4.5 Promotion Act as a representative for the local Creative, Digital and Technology Industries and promote local business growth


4.6 Press Manage media relations regarding the Centre and its occupiers including the preparation of monthly press releases.


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5. Facilities Management Services


5.1 Facilities Services – Capital works

Management of capital works As required Managing Operator

5.2 Facilities Services - Cleaning

Ensure that the Centre buildings are kept clean through daily and weekly cleaning. Implementation of a daily rota to ensure that all areas of the Centre buildings are cleaned regularly. Areas will include kitchens, corridors, shared offices, events/meeting room, and communal areas. Review cleaning contracts to ensure best value and the highest standard of cleanliness.

Daily Managing Operator

5.3

Facilities Services - Periodic specialist and/or deep cleans

Ensure that a schedule is programmed for deep clean of both Centre building areas including floor buffing, washing of internal walls in conjunction with any manufacturer’s guidelines to ensure suitable cleaning is undertaken. Ensure that cleaning contractors are fully trained and conversant with alternate cleaning methods and have a clear understanding of Health & Safety including COSHH regulations.

Quarterly programme, reviewed annually

Managing Operator with contracted third parties

5.4

Facilities Services - Meeting room set up and clear away

Have an effective and efficient meeting room strategy to ensure the smooth running of the conference business including reference to cleaning of rooms, set up of rooms for meetings, providing staff support whilst conferences are taking place, security of rooms when not in use etc.

Usually Monday to Friday but as required

Managing Operator with contracted third parties

5.5

Facilities Services - Health, Safety

Make available on an annual basis H&S information/ documentation requested by the asset owner to comply with the annual Health and Safety Audit.

Annually Managing Operator with contracted third parties

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5.6

Facilities Services - Waste Management

Store all items of refuse in the specified bin store at all times and safely remove any hazardous substances from the Centre. Occupiers should be encouraged to deposit their rubbish tidily in a designated area which will be collected by the cleaning team and deposited ready for collection.

Daily Managing Operator with contracted third parties

5.7 Facilities Services - Recycling

Segregate recyclable waste where required as per HBC policies, providing designated points for the recycling of IT equipment, mobile phones, batteries, toner cartridges, etc.

Daily as required Managing Operator with contracted third parties

5.8 Facilities Services – maintenance

With reference to a schedule of anticipated maintenance items (to be provided), to ascertain the on-site requirement for this annual maintenance and organise any relevant work. Alongside this to highlight any unforeseen maintenance items and agree how to address these items.


5.9

Facilities Services – emergency response

Provide out of hours emergency response. As required Managing Operator with contracted third parties

5.10 Relocation and decant services

Oversee client move-ins, move- outs and manage the relocation of clients within the Centre, ensuring that the Letting Agreement is signed and that an applicable deposit paid.


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APPENDIX IV

Springfield House: third floor plan

Documents

Springfield House - Harrogate · 2019. 2. 6. · Springfield House. 3.1 Void costs We assume that much of Springfield House will remain vacant for at least a short period and can