Decision details

The cabinet member:

1.     Authorised thecouncil to award a contract to JC Decaux Limited from 6 May 2024 for a period of 10 years, with the option to extend for a further two years, for the management of 40 city centre digital advertising boards. 

2.     Delegated approval to the Executive Director of Corporate Services to authorise the decision whether to invoke the extension period following the initial contract term and in accordance with the contract provisions. 

The recommendation has been made to ensure that the council has the best arrangement in place for advertising on its land in the city centre through the use of advertising boards. This arrangement is one which will generate an income for the council and allows the sharing of important information with the public, through the advertising time awarded to the council for free as part of the process.

The new contract will see the replacement of many of the current static advertising boards with new smaller and sleeker, double-sided digital advertising boards. These boards also offer added benefits which will be useful for the council, including Wi-Fi broadcast, air pollution monitoring sensors and pedestrian footfall monitoring technology.

Do nothing – the current contract with JC Decaux would expire on 31 March 2024. We could have continued extending that contract for short periods, but this would not make good sense as we would be left with the current static advertising boards and the potential income generation would not be realised. 

We could also have decided not to have advertising boards in the city centre. This option was not favoured as it would be remiss of the council to turn down an income generation stream which can support the council’s objective of achieving financial sustainability. 

None.

None.