Bus Shelter Advertising Extension

Overview

Nottinghamshire County Council has extended its existing concession agreement for bus shelter advertising by three years to support the transition of transport functions to EMCCA is completed. Nottinghamshire County Council (the Council) maintains in excess of 4,500 bus stops with 1,483 bus shelters and almost 1,200 real time displays. Since 2000, the Incumbent Provider has supplied and maintained 470 of the 1,483 bus shelters in Nottinghamshire at no cost to the Council in exchange for selling advertising space on approximately 45% of their shelters and retaining ownership of each bus shelter it supplies under the contract. This represents excellent value to the Council as it would cost over £6.5 million to install like for like shelters and £50k per annum to clean and maintain them. Since 2019, the Incumbent Provider started replacing its paper advertising with digital advertising and the Council negotiated a contract variation to receive an income for every digital panel added to the Incumbent Provider's estate. The Incumbent Provider currently have 30 such panels, with the income used to offset the Council's bus stop infrastructure maintenance costs. The Incumbent Provider supplies and has maintained its shelter estate to a high standard, and it remains in good condition. The current contract for delivery of the bus shelter advertising will expire on 1 May 2025, and it has been in place for 25 years. The Council's Local Transport Authority functions will transfer to the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) on or before 31st March 2026. At present it is unclear whether bus shelters owned by the Council will transfer or contracts such as that held between the Council and the Incumbent Provider will be novated by this date or at all. There is also expected to be a considerable period of adjustment within EMCCA as the Transport team beds in and the functions to support delivery mature.