Strategy & Business Plan Consultant for Leading Lights Project (National Historic Ships UK)

National Historic Ships UK (NHS-UK) wishes to appoint an experienced consultant (which may be an individual consultant or consultancy organisation) to undertake an Organisational Review, then produce a Strategic Vision and Business Plan to ensure its long-term resilience as part of a significant capacity building project grant aided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (Heritage Fund).

About the Project

NHS-UK has secured initial support of £155,600 from the Heritage Fund (£140,040) and the Pilgrim Trust (£15,560) to progress plans for the Leading Lights project, a five-year project which aims to invest in historic vessels at a UK-wide level, making the sector more resilient, connected and informed. It has been designed to impact a wide range of people, from vessel custodians to sector professionals, training organisations and funding bodies, as well as NHS-UK itself.

The project is now in its Development Phase, as part of which NHS-UK is seeking a consultant to undertake a review of NHS UK, co-create the future strategy, and develop a business plan to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organisation. The brief is for both the Development and Delivery Phases of the project.

Responsibilities

The Strategy & Business Plan consultant will develop a full Strategic Vision and Business Plan to Heritage Fund guidelines, as well as supporting documentation, to be completed for inclusion in the Delivery Phase application to the Heritage Fund. Responsibilities and expected outcomes will include background research, sector engagement and market analysis, delivering an organisational review, creating a 20-year Strategic Vision (including public consultation and feedback), and creating a 5-year Business Plan.

Renumeration

The following fees must not be exceeded:

Development phase

January 2027 – November 2027Up to £40,000 excluding VAT

Delivery phase

March 2028 – March 2033Up to £15,000 excluding VAT

A separate expense budget of £5,000 excluding VAT is also available for use in the Development Phase. Consultants should indicate how their plans will be delivered within this budget, who will work on the project, their day rates and predicted time expenditure.

The appointed consultant will be required to deliver all required documents by mid October 2027 ahead of a Delivery Phase application to the Heritage Fund on 11 November 2027. There will then be a break clause before Delivery Phase work commences in March 2028, should the application be successful.

Requirements

Submissions should include a detailed methodology for undertaking the work, an outline of internal responsibilities, summary of consultant’s experience (and details of project staff where appropriate, including a project lead), a timescale for carrying out the project, an overall cost for the work broken down into key sections with details of day rate(s) and expected hours, references indicating relevant experience of similar projects.

How to apply

Interested parties should submit a copy of their CV and a written proposal (6 pages maximum) which includes the above requirements.

For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta portal at: www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-Greenwich… ↗

To respond to this opportunity, please click here: www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/D7M3E6J5WR ↗

If you experience any technical difficulties from accessing the above url, then please contact the Delta eSourcing Helpdesk on call 0800 923 9236 or email [email protected].

Submissions should be uploaded to the portal no later than 7 December 2026.

Interviews are expected to take place on 5th January or 7th January at the NHS-UK offices in Greenwich or online via Zoom.

Contract start date: January/February 2027

This project is made possible thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.