Parkwood Consultancy Services adds environmental expertise

At a time of general doom and gloom across much of the business world it is pleasing to report on the continuing success of Parkwood Consultancy Services (PCS).

PCS expanded its range of services in the latter part of 2008 and is now a multidisciplinary consultancy business providing the following core services:

• Management Consulting - including strategic planning, feasibility studies and options appraisals, PFI/PPP/DBOM bid management, pre and post contract technical due diligence, risk and value management.

• Project Management - a full range of services required to manage construction projects from inception to completion.

• Operational Management - contract management, lifecycle fund management and quality and environmental management and monitoring.

• Environmental Services - sustainability, landscape architecture, ecological studies and arboriculture advice and surveys.

In recent times PCS has been particularly successful in the leisure sector winning a number of PFI/PPP/DBOM projects. With two major DBOM (Design, Build, Operate and Maintain) projects at Portsmouth and Cherwell now well into the construction phase, the recent appointment of Bristol Active Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of PCS, as preferred bidder for the Bristol Hengrove leisure PFI contract, reinforces PCS's position as the market leader for these types of contracts.{mosimage}

Robust project management, attention to detail, specialist leisure expertise and innovative design solutions, have
contributed strongly to our success in the leisure sector which has resulted in the award of PFI Contracts in Sefton, Tower Hamlets (Mulberry School), Penzance and Breckland with PPP Contracts in Bexley and Solihull. All of these contracts are now well established and have moved seamlessly from the construction phase to the operational phase.

The Bristol Hengrove project appears to mark the last of the sole leisure PFI projects and many Local Authorities are now looking to procure leisure schemes by combining community leisure facilities with other services either through their Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, by linking with healthcare facilities through LIFT or by the development of Joint Service Centres.
Whatever the route it is clear that continued investment will be required across the country as their remains an estimated £3 billion (plus) investment requirement to ensure that the UK's public leisure facilities meet the current and future needs of the communities they serve. The build-up to the 2012 Olympics is providing a welcome additional spotlight on the importance of providing high quality accessible public facilities to all which must become one of the key legacy objectives.

Reassuringly change is happening within current procurement programmes. The BSF business case process now requires Local Authorities to undertake a sport and leisure estate review and to establish a P.E. and Sport Stakeholder
Group as a fundamental part of the initial planning of requirements. These requirements are designed to provide direction and consultation to ensure that appropriate consideration is given to the inclusion of sport and leisure facilities within the BSF programme, and furthermore to ensure that any sport and leisure facilities conceived through this exercise meet the needs of the community, in addition to their contribution to educational transformation. Some facilities could clearly be developed within educational sites through this procurement route.{mosimage}

Historically, community leisure facilities on school sites have often been viewed as ancillary to the main leisure centres in the area and are often managed by a different department within the Authority, or by different operators. It should be recognised that leisure facilities developed as part of the BSF programme can achieve both the educational and community needs for the area. However, to achieve this an overarching "joined-up" strategy must be produced and appropriate time given to the
specification, location and design of the facilities to ensure the successful delivery of the wider strategic objectives. Provided that consideration is given at the planning stage to the commercial potential of the community facilities, then the opportunity to secure a financially viable leisure operation can be achieved. In some examples of dual use centres, the facility mix and lack of stakeholder involvement in the design results in a facility that cannot fully replace the
existing community facilities, which it must therefore compete against for customers and income. In this scenario, the leisure facility can potentially become a greater financial burden as the commercial opportunities are not able to be realised, with the result that the community facilities may only be open at limited times, or only to organised clubs, thereby failing to meet the needs of many in the community.

PCS can bring the expertise that it has gained from its involvement in leisure procurement, to ensure that leisure facilities are designed and developed to operate commercially and also meet the educational requirements of the BSF programme. By providing this specialist support for a BSF project, PCS are enabling the Local Authority and ultimately the Local Education Partnership to concentrate on the provision of the educational requirements, whilst at the same time ensuring that the development of sport and leisure provision is suitably resourced.

For new leisure only projects, the DBOM model is being recognised by many Local Authorities as a more efficient and effective solution than PFI, provided they can use prudential code borrowing to finance their project. There is a belief by some within the industry that the risk is shared more effectively by encouraging the private sector partner to take
equity and sub-ordinated debt in the project. This would usually represent about 10% of the total funding requirement for the project, which does not significantly increase the overall affordability, but ensures that there is a financial stake which provides a further incentive for the continuing performance of the private sector partner, and also a source of funding to deal with residual risk. PCS has experience of the effectiveness of this structure, which was used in our leisure PPP for the London Borough of Bexley.

The recent growth of PCS has seen the inclusion of a new environmental division, thus enabling PCS to offer a wider mix of complimentary functions that are expected of a multi-disciplinary consultancy business. The environmental team includes landscape architects and ecologists, as well as arboriculture and sustainability specialists.

This new addition to the company, together with our specialist project management expertise ensures that PCS are well prepared to offer a wide range of skills and services to help Local Authorities in the procurement of public services as we move into 2009. Our reputation has been built through the application of our core values of integrity, honesty, reliability and flexibility; our approach to providing value for money solutions has been recognised and is reflected by our engagement to undertake further projects by a number of our clients.

For more information about PCS, visit our website http://www.parkwoodconsultancyservices.co.uk and if you believe we can assist in your current or future projects please do not hesitate to contact us:

Parkwood Consultancy Services Atherstone Barns, Alscot Estate, Atherstoneon- Stour, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire CV37 8NE Tel: 01789 450085 Email: pcs@parkwood-holdings.co.uk