Harrogate Borough Council has awarded a contract without competitive tender to a company from Ipswich to rebuild its tourism website.
The council approved the move on Thursday, saying covid had created an “economic crisis” that necessitated bypassing its usual procurement rules.
The meeting was not open to the public but a report prepared in advance for councillors recommended hiring the Jacob Bailey Group for four years to redevelop the Visit Harrogate site.
The report said it would take six months to undertake a “full procurement process” and the site needed to be ready in time for the 2021 tourist season. It adds:
“The exceptional circumstances that justify this are due to covid creating an economic crisis within the visitor economy.”
The document says there were just two main companies providing services in this field and “market research” had identified the Jacob Bailey Group.
Recently the authority was criticised by a local businessman for awarding a contract to project manage its investment in leisure services to a firm in Somerset – again without going through a tendering process.
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HBC said the current Visit Harrogate site, which the council acquired in 2020, had suffered from “historic underinvestment” and “visually no longer meets the user requirements or expectations”.
According to the report, the site receives over 800,000 hits a year. It adds:
“The 2021 tourism season is going to be vital for the visitor economy and its success will decide the fate of local businesses, to ensure the best possible outcome an optimal online presence for the visitor experience must be operational.”
The Stray Ferret asked the council the value of the contract, why it had not dealt with the matter sooner, what market research had led it to select the Jacob Bailey Group and whether it felt any local firms were capable of providing the service.
A council spokesman replied with the following statement:
“In March 2021 the contract with the current supplier of the Visit Harrogate website will expire.
“On November 26, the cabinet member approved the appointment of Jacob Bailey Group to provide a new destination marketing website incorporating a destination management system.
“This is vitally important in order to support the recovery of the Harrogate district’s visitor economy.
“This is an exciting development, building on the success of the existing Visit Harrogate site and will ensure our district continues to attract visitors at a time when the sector needs support the most.”
