Scope
Reference
DN783799
Description
Southwark Council is seeking innovative suppliers to deliver cutting-edge website development, marketing solutions, and advanced CRM services for MOVE Southwark, currently operating as Southwark Leisure. This is a unique chance to lead a transformative digital initiative, reshaping leisure services in one of London's most dynamic boroughs.
Total value (estimated)
- £559,000 excluding VAT
- £670,800 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2028
- 3 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 79340000 - Advertising and marketing services
Contract locations
- UKI44 - Lewisham and Southwark
Lot 1. Marketing, Brand Strategy & Community Engagement
Description
MOVE Southwark aims to position itself as the leading insourced leisure provider in the UK, supporting increased participation, revenue growth, and enhanced community engagement. The marketing strategy must be data-driven, inclusive, and innovative, ensuring that MOVE Southwark's offer is accessible, appealing, and relevant to the borough's diverse communities.
A key focus is aligning with Southwark's regeneration projects, including the Canada Water Masterplan, the Southwark 2030 Vision, and ensuring that MOVE Southwark is at the heart of the borough's transformation, offering high-quality, community-driven leisure services that improve health and wellbeing, social connectivity, and economic inclusion.
Marketing Objectives: Driving Growth, Engagement & Inclusion
1. Maintain and Develop our Move Brand Strategy
• Continue to develop a strong, recognisable, and inclusive brand identity, ensuring consistency across all digital and offline channels.
• Maintain and update brand guidelines as and when required to reflect any developments in messaging pillars, visual identity, and audience segmentation strategies.
• Position MOVE Southwark as a trusted, community-centric service provider that reflects Southwark's diversity and commitment to public health.
2. Data-Driven, Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy
• Implement a strategy that leverages CRM, audience insights, and predictive analytics to optimise customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.
• Develop and execute targeted lifecycle marketing campaigns that support customer journeys - from awareness and conversion to retention and advocacy.
• Ensure a mobile-first approach, recognising that many residents engage primarily via smartphones.
3. Social Media & Digital Content Strategy
• Develop a comprehensive social media strategy to drive engagement, community-building, and brand awareness across platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
• Implement a Social Media Manager platform to track mentions, reviews, and engagement across channels, ensuring a proactive, responsive, and community-focused approach. (This could also be picked up in the CRM platform integration.)
• Leverage user-generated content, influencer collaborations, and community-driven storytelling to strengthen brand authenticity.
• Utilise paid social media advertising, including hyper-targeted local campaigns, to drive membership growth, event participation, and programme awareness.
4. Campaigns & Journey Builder: Hyper-Personalised Engagement
• Use MOVE Southwark's CRM system to design and execute multi-touchpoint campaigns, including:
• Membership acquisition campaigns (targeting new joiners, corporate partners, and community groups).
• Re-engagement campaigns (targeting lapsed members with personalised offers and content).
• Referral and advocacy campaigns (incentivising word-of-mouth recommendations and group memberships).
• Implement automated email, SMS, and push notification campaigns to improve engagement and retention.
• Introduce dynamic content personalisation, ensuring that members receive marketing tailored to their interests, behaviour, and demographics.
• Engage, inform and educate residents providing interesting content that influences behaviour through learning.
5. Localised Campaigns for Southwark's Key Developments
• Develop a tailored marketing strategy for all centres, ensuring that the local leisure facility fosters community engagement and raises awareness across the borough.
• Create tailored campaigns for key demographics, including families, older adults, young people, and underrepresented groups.
• Work with community stakeholders, local businesses, and public health initiatives, to ensure maximum visibility and participation.
6. Offers, Promotions & Loyalty Strategy
• Develop a structured loyalty programme to incentivise repeat visits, increase customer lifetime value, and improve retention.
• Implement a voucher and promotions strategy, allowing targeted discounts, referral rewards, and corporate partnerships to encourage sustained engagement, being activated via the CRM.
• API link to allow us to use the CRM to track and analyse the impact of offers and incentives, ensuring campaigns deliver strong ROI.
7. Insights & Performance Tracking
• Implement a comprehensive marketing analytics framework to track:
• Campaign performance (engagement rates, conversion rates, ROI).
• Customer demographics & behaviour trends (understanding who is using MOVE Southwark services and who is not).
• Localised membership mapping, ensuring marketing outreach aligns with borough-wide participation goals.
• Integrate marketing data with Power BI and other analytics tools to provide actionable insights that refine strategy and execution.
8. Community & Stakeholder Engagement
• Develop community-driven campaigns, ensuring that marketing is not just commercial but also contributes to social impact and inclusion goals.
• Work with local schools, housing associations, and community groups to drive participation in MOVE Southwark programmes.
• Align marketing efforts with Southwark's public health and wellbeing priorities, ensuring messaging supports healthier lifestyles and increased physical activity.
• Develop targeted campaigns for Southwark Council staff across many departments ( from directors, refuse collectors) aligning to the "healthy workforce scheme".
9. Digital Asset Management (DAM) System
• Streamline campaign execution by centralising access to marketing materials. Requirements:
• Cloud-based storage with version control and user permissions.
• Editable templates for promotional assets to ensure consistency.
Marketing Account Management & Supplier Requirements
Suppliers must provide strategic marketing support and ongoing account management, ensuring that campaigns and strategies are continually optimised for impact. Required expertise includes:
• Campaign Strategy & Activity Planning: Developing, executing, and refining high-impact marketing initiatives.
• A/B Testing & Performance Optimisation: Implementing data-driven testing to improve campaign effectiveness.
• Automation & Personalisation: Using advanced tools to enhance customer journeys and engagement.
• Database Health Check & Audience Segmentation: Ensuring that marketing is highly targeted and effective.
• Reporting & Data-Driven Decision Making: Providing monthly insights and performance reports with recommendations for improvement.
Lot value (estimated)
- £175,000 excluding VAT
- £210,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 2. Website Development, Digital Transformation & Bespoke User Journeys
Description
MOVE Southwark's digital presence must be modern, accessible, and fully integrated with CRM and membership management systems (MMS) to create a seamless, user-friendly experience. This transformation will ensure that all customer interactions, from discovery and registration to booking and engagement, are optimised across web and mobile platforms.
A key requirement is the development of personalised, data-driven user journeys that cater to the diverse needs of Southwark's residents, ensuring that MOVE Southwark's digital ecosystem is inclusive, engaging, and future-proof.
1. Website Transformation & Digital Experience Overhaul
The MOVE Southwark website must be more than just a booking portal; it should serve as a fully integrated digital hub that:
• Provides personalised experiences for different customer types.
• Supports community engagement through tailored content and dynamic recommendations.
• Seamlessly integrates with CRM, MMS, and other council services to provide a connected user journey.
• Delivers powerful data insights to refine and enhance the customer experience over time.
The new website must include:
• Intuitive, accessible UX/UI design that ensures effortless navigation for all users.
• A fully responsive, mobile-first approach to cater to users engaging via smartphones and tablets.
• Advanced search and filtering functionality for classes, activities, events, and facilities.
• Integration with social media and marketing automation tools, enabling data-driven customer engagement.
2. Bespoke User Journeys & Digital Personalisation
To maximise engagement and retention, MOVE Southwark requires customised user journeys that adapt to customer type, behaviour, and preferences. The website must support:
A. New Customer Registration & Onboarding
• Simple, guided registration process that captures key data (e.g., fitness goals, accessibility needs, demographic details).
• When a former member is reengaged as any existing records must be merged by recognition software and prevent duplicate account from being created.
• AI-powered onboarding experience, providing personalised recommendations for activities, memberships, and events.
• Integration with CRM and MMS, ensuring that all new users are tagged and segmented for targeted engagement campaigns.
• CRM /MMS to track usage and adjust a members home site if specific criteria are me.
B. Membership Sign-Ups & Management
• Straightforward membership selection process, allowing users to compare plans, pricing, and benefits.
• Self-service membership management, enabling users to upgrade, pause, or cancel their plans without friction.
• Prompts to be sent for abandoned baskets at checkout and staff to be notified. .
• Integration with payment gateways, allowing flexible payment options (direct debit, pay-as-you-go, etc.).
• Daily DD allowing members to choose payment dates.
• Automated renewal reminders and re-engagement campaigns, reducing membership churn.
C. Booking & Activity Scheduling
• Real-time class, court, and facility availability display for effortless booking.
• Personalised class and event recommendations based on user preferences and past participation.
• Automated waitlist and cancellation notifications, ensuring that members can book alternative slots if needed.
• Multi-user and family-friendly booking functionality, allowing group and household bookings.
D. Community & Social Features
• Member dashboards displaying personalised schedules, loyalty rewards, and fitness progress.
• Integration with social features, allowing members to connect with workout partners or join activity groups.
• Live chat and support functionality, providing instant assistance with bookings, memberships, and queries.
3. API-Driven Integration with CRM, MMS & Other Systems
The website must act as a centralised digital hub that seamlessly integrates with MOVE Southwark's wider digital ecosystem. This includes:
• CRM Integration: Ensuring that all user interactions feed into MOVE Southwark's customer relationship management system for enhanced engagement, personalisation, and analytics.
• MMS Integration: Connecting the website with membership management systems, allowing real-time membership validation, renewal, and activity tracking.
• API Linkages with Council Services: Enabling MOVE Southwark to connect with other council systems (e.g., public health, parks, libraries, youth centres) to create a joined-up community experience.
• Integration with third-party fitness apps and wearable technology, ensuring users can sync their activity data for a more engaging experience.
4. App Development: A Multi-Functional Member Engagement Platform
Beyond a simple booking app, MOVE Southwark requires a full-featured mobile application that delivers:
• All core website functionality (registration, bookings, payments, membership management).
• Push notifications & real-time updates, keeping users informed about bookings, class changes, and exclusive offers.
• Personalised in-app journeys, providing tailored workout plans, health insights, and loyalty rewards.
• Gamification & social challenges, encouraging members to achieve fitness goals and participate in community activities.
• Location-based services, offering hyper-local event recommendations and outdoor activity tracking.
• Digital membership cards and QR code entry, streamlining venue access.
• Effortless check in for booked activities and classes encompassing location services on smart phones.
• Behavioural change questions, guidance and tracking inc gamification
5. Website & App Management, Support & Ongoing Development
• Regular performance monitoring to ensure speed, uptime, and security compliance.
• Ongoing feature enhancements based on user feedback and analytics.
• 24/7 technical support & bug resolution, ensuring minimal disruption.
• Content management & SEO optimisation, driving increased visibility and organic traffic.
• Quarterly strategic reviews, refining user journeys and functionality based on real-time usage data.
Conclusion: A Seamless, Data-Driven Digital Ecosystem
• This digital transformation will position MOVE Southwark as an innovative, community-driven leisure provider, ensuring that every customer, from first-time visitors to long-term members, has a seamless, engaging, and personalised digital experience.
• The new website and app will not only facilitate bookings and memberships but also drive deeper community engagement, support cross-service collaboration, and enhance data-driven decision-making.
Lot value (estimated)
- £194,000 excluding VAT
- £232,800 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 3. CRM Integration, Community Outcomes & Account Management
Description
Southwark Leisure acknowledges that CRM is not merely a tool for managing customer relationships but a crucial driver of community engagement, social impact, and public value. MOVE Southwark aims to utilise CRM not only to optimise membership management and marketing but also to measure and enhance community outcomes, ensuring that leisure services deliver tangible benefits to residents, particularly underrepresented and disadvantaged groups.
Currently underutilised, the CRM system must be transformed into a strategic asset that supports customer lifetime value, enables data-driven decision-making, and integrates with broader council services to improve health and wellbeing, social inclusion, and community cohesion.
CRM Objectives: Driving Community Outcomes & Social Impact
1. Customer 360
• Establish a centralised data hub where every customer interaction is recorded and updated in real time, allowing for personalised engagement and service optimisation.
2. Campaigns & Journey Builder
• Implement a sophisticated automation system for targeted outreach, retention strategies, and behavioural nudges that encourage participation in physical activity and wellbeing programmes.
3. Insights & Predictive Analytics
• Develop advanced reporting tools that track not only membership trends and spending behaviour but also community impact metrics-including engagement from priority groups, public health indicators, and participation levels from low-income areas.
4. Surveys & Feedback Management
• Capture customer and community feedback at scale, linking insights to service improvements while ensuring a continuous feedback loop for inclusive and responsive service delivery.
Feedback Management System Objectives
• Centralise customer feedback and complaints to improve service delivery and satisfaction. Requirements:
• A unified dashboard for tracking and analysing feedback.
• Integration with CRM for actionable insights that inform service improvements.
5. Mapping & Membership Insights
• Analyse demographic and geographic data to understand who is engaging with services and, critically, who is not.
• Identify disparities in leisure participation across the borough and neighbouring areas to inform targeted interventions for increasing access and reducing inequalities.
Integration with Other Council Services
To maximise social impact and improve service accessibility, the CRM must integrate with other Southwark Council departments to create a joined-up approach to public services, including:
• Public Health: Aligning leisure programmes with council-led health and wellbeing initiatives, such as exercise on referral, obesity prevention, and mental health support.
• Parks & Open Spaces: Enabling residents to seamlessly connect indoor and outdoor activity through linked memberships, event promotions, and activity tracking.
• Libraries & Youth Centres: Collaborating on community engagement campaigns, ensuring young people, families, and older residents can easily access leisure, cultural, and educational services in a unified experience.
• Housing & Social Care Services: Supporting vulnerable residents by offering targeted programmes and subsidised access to physical activity as part of a wider wellbeing strategy.
CRM Marketing Functions
1. Social Media Management & Audience Engagement
• A centralised platform to track and manage social media interactions, including posts, mentions, tweets, and reviews across multiple channels, ensuring timely responses and brand consistency.
• Advanced tools to engage existing members, recruit new customers, and create highly targeted campaigns across social media and digital platforms.
• Developing innovative content strategies to enhance brand presence and build an engaged digital community.
2. Campaign & Journey Builder
• Automating customer journeys based on behavioural triggers, such as onboarding sequences, renewal reminders, and re-engagement campaigns for lapsed members.
• Implementing personalised incentives, discount codes, and promotional offers to boost customer acquisition and retention.
• Running data-driven campaigns across email, SMS, push notifications, and social media to maximise engagement and drive conversions.
3. Insights & Reporting
• Delivering real-time analytics on campaign performance, audience engagement, and return on investment (ROI).
• Customisable KPI Dashboards: Enabling MOVE Southwark to track key metrics, such as membership growth, engagement levels, and marketing effectiveness.
Reporting & Data Insights Objectives
• Provide real-time performance tracking through automated reporting tools.
• Leverage predictive analytics to inform future planning and strategy. Requirements:
• Customisable KPI dashboards.
• Integration with leading analytics platforms (e.g., Power BI).
Account Management & CRM Support
Suppliers must provide strategic account management to ensure the CRM evolves as an intelligent, insights-driven platform that maximises community benefit. Requirements include:
• Database Health Check & Data Accuracy: Ensuring data integrity, segmentation accuracy, and GDPR compliance.
• Automation Journey Strategy: Developing automated workflows for lead nurturing, retention, and re-engagement, particularly for community programmes.
• Dynamic Content & Personalisation: Enhancing customer engagement with tailored messaging, localised offers, and AI-driven content recommendations.
• A/B Testing & Performance Optimisation: Running controlled tests to refine community engagement tactics, improve retention rates, and assess the effectiveness of interventions.
• Social Data Maximisation & Third-Party Data Integration: Using external datasets to enrich customer insights and measure the broader social impact of leisure engagement.
Lot value (estimated)
- £190,000 excluding VAT
- £228,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Participation
Particular suitability
Lot 1. Marketing, Brand Strategy & Community Engagement
Lot 2. Website Development, Digital Transformation & Bespoke User Journeys
Lot 3. CRM Integration, Community Outcomes & Account Management
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
6 August 2025, 10:00am
Tender submission deadline
19 August 2025, 11:00am
Submission address and any special instructions
Applicants are invited to submit a tender via the Council's e-procurement system. All responses must be uploaded and made available to the Council via e-procurement portal www.londontenders.org
If you require further information, clarification, or have any queries about the procurement process please submit them via the e-procurement portal by no later than 10.00am 6th August 2025.
Your completed tender and any supporting documentation must be submitted by no later than 11.00am on 19th August 2025.
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
15 October 2025
Award criteria
| Name | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Quality and Social Value | Quality | 60% |
| Price | Price | 40% |
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Open procedure
Justification for not publishing a preliminary market engagement notice
Taking into account the scope, ambition, and complexity outlined in the MOVE Southwark specification, Southwark Council's Leisure Services carried out Marketing Engagement for this contract opportunity in February 2025. A targeted group of eight digital marketing suppliers with extensive experience of the UK Leisure Industry were asked if they would be interested in expressing an interest in any or all of the Lots spanning: advanced digital transformation, CRM integration, and inclusive, insight-led marketing. Two incumbent suppliers were also polled to gauge their propensity to bid for a new contract opportunity.
The Market Engagement exercise confirmed a high level of interest in the imminent contract opportunity and the likelihood of attracting competitive, high-quality proposals from the cohort in question - in addition to other potential suppliers alerted to the Contract Opportunity following the publication of the Invitation To Tender (ITT) and Tender Notice.
Contracting authority
Southwark Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PXTW-7647-VDLV
160 Tooley Street
London
SE1 2QH
United Kingdom
Contact name: David Whitehouse
Region: UKI44 - Lewisham and Southwark
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government