Taste Food Festival · UK public procurement notice

This notice is published on a voluntary basis notwithstanding that neither the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 nor the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) are applicable.

The Royal Parks ("TRP") publishes this notice to record its intention to modify its contract for the delivery of the food festival held in The Regent's Park known as "Taste", by extending its expiry date for 12 months to 30 September 2023. This is required in order to support the rescheduling of the event which was to be held in 2020 but which was cancelled due to the impact of COVID-19. COVID-19 is considered a Force Majeure Event under the contract and the associated provisions require the parties to use their reasonable endeavours to reschedule any event cancelled due to the occurrence of Force Majeure.

Due to the unforeseeable impact of COVID-19 (both up to the present time and beyond) and the associated effects on events, TRP would also not have sufficient time to begin a procurement exercise to allow its completion by a date which would provide an adequate mobilisation period for an event to be held in 2023. TRP intends to run a procurement exercise for a five (5) year contract to deliver the events from and including 2024 onwards, with the associated invitation to tender to be issued in late 2022.

TRP believes that this modification would, in any event, be permissible under Regulation 43(1)(c) of the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 (were those Regulations to be applicable) as:

(i) the need for this modification has been brought about by circumstances which it could not have foreseen;

(ii) the modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract; and

(iii) the associated increase in value does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.