That the Director of Regeneration and Place approves the appointment of Maccreanor Lavington Ltd (company number 04944069) to provide consultancy services for the preparation of the Birkenhead Design Guide and Public Realm Strategy.

A procurement process has been undertaken in accordance with the council’s contract procedure rules and public procurement regulations for consultancy services to prepare a Design Guide and Public Realm Strategy for Birkenhead (including part of Wallasey). This process has concluded and the tenders received have been fully evaluated. Maccreanor Lavington Ltd is the preferred tenderer.

Another option would be to use in-house resources or employ staff to prepare the Design Guide and Public Realm Strategy.  However, existing Council staff do not have the range of skills or capacity to undertake the work. The recruitment of sufficient staff with the range of skills and experience required would take time and would not be cost effective.  These documents will influence the future design of buildings and places in Birkenhead and need to be of the highest quality. It was essential that appropriately skilled and experienced design practitioners were appointed to undertake this work.