CONTRACT NOTICE – NATIONAL

1 Authority Details

1.1

Authority Name and Address

1.2

Address from which documentation may be obtained

1.3

Completed documents must be returned to:

2 Contract Details

2.1

Title

Cultural Periodals 2019-2023

2.2

Description of the goods or services required

Applications are invited for four-year funding under the Cultural Periodicals Grant.

The scheme supports a number of cultural magazines (or sections of those magazines), which feature good writing, high-quality journalism, review and debate on a range of topics.

For the period from 1 April 2019 - 31 March 2023, applications will be considered from publishers based in Wales in one of the following areas:

Funding for development

• Seed funding will be provided for new, innovative ventures featuring good, engaging writing.

• Grants from this fund will be provided to publishers of magazines based in Wales for one franchise period only (after which applicants may apply for funding either as ‘general’ or ‘literary’ magazines).

• Digital and/or print applications are eligible.

• Grants may be given to multiple recipients.

• It is anticipated that funding for magazines of this kind would range from £2,500 to c. £10,000.

Please note that while funding in this area aims to develop fresh ideas and emerging ventures, new applicants are equally welcome to apply for grant-support under the other headings instead.

Funding for general magazines

• Grants will be provided for general magazines featuring good writing and high-quality journalism, review and debate of all kinds.

• Magazines should include coverage of a range of topics. Possible subject areas could include current affairs, politics, history, economics, the arts (e.g. visual arts, music, drama, dance, and literature), culture (including popular culture), media, the environment, sport and leisure.

• Minimum average circulation per issue across all platforms is set at 1,000.

• We will aim to fund at a gearing ratio (i.e. proportion of grant income to income generated from other sources) of up to 2:1 or up to 50% of total expenditure (see ‘The Grant’ section below for further information).

• Eligible magazines should be available in more than one format (e.g. web/app/e-pub/print etc.).

• Applications may also be considered for the inclusion of book-related supplements in magazines with a large circulation on any combination of multiple platforms (minimum average circulation per issue across all platforms of 2,000).

• Grants may be given to multiple recipients.

• It is anticipated that funding for general magazines would range between £2,500 and c. £55,000.

Funding for literary magazines

• Funding will be provided for engagingly written, good-quality literary magazines in Wales which cover one or more of the following areas as their primary focus: short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, literary review/criticism. Literary writing should be the chief focus of magazines funded in this area but it needn’t be the sole focus.

• Magazines can have a single focus or feature a combination of the above. It is envisaged that the allocation of funding would ensure the fewest gaps possible in provision, while avoiding significant overlap of material.

• Magazines funded under this heading must contain book reviews in order to support the publishing industry in Wales as a whole.

• We will aim to fund at a gearing ratio (i.e. proportion of grant income to income generated from other sources) of up to 2:1 or up to 50% of total expenditure.

• Grants may be given to multiple recipients.

• Eligible magazines can be digital only or delivered on multiple platforms (including print). Publishers may choose to present different issues of the same magazine on separate formats should they wish (for example, regular digital issues plus less frequently published print publications, such as monthly digital issues plus an annual printed digest, two digital-only issues plus two print and digital issues per year etc.).

• The minimum average circulation per issue of a single-focus magazine will be set at 400.

• The minimum average circulation per issue for a multi-focus magazine will be set at 500.

• It is anticipated that funding for magazines of this kind would range from £2,500 to c. £55,000.

Eligibility and Qualification

Who may apply

Only publishing companies based in Wales can apply.

Recipients of grants over £8,000 per annum must be legally incorporated bodies; these will generally be not-for-profit companies limited by guarantee.

Recipients of smaller grants must have separate bank accounts and appropriate arrangements for financial and general management.

The scheme does not fund:

small magazines which are likely to sell no more than 400 copies (see the guidelines for the Small Magazines Scheme in English);

educational magazines or academic journals;

magazines that are published by organisations and societies, unless they have an appeal beyond the organisations’ membership;

magazines of local interest.

NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=84175.

2.3

Notice Coding and Classification

2.4

Total quantity or scope of tender

• The total annual budget for this scheme is in the region of £175,000. A sum in the region of £5,000 will be used to provide training for magazine publishers. No sum is ring-fenced for any one area, except training, but it is likely that funding will be awarded in all the areas of focus described above.

• The grant level for general and literary magazines will be aimed towards reaching a gearing ratio of up to 2:1 (i.e. WBC funding would provide up to two thirds of the total income of the magazine, with at least a third of income to be generated by the magazine publishers through sales, advertising revenue, sponsorship, contribution in kind etc. For guidelines on calculating contribution in kind please see appendix 1 of this document).

• Funding for an individual title awarded under the general or literary heading is likely to range between £2,500 and c.£55,000 per annum.

• Funding for an individual title awarded under the development fund heading is likely to range between £2,500 and c.£10,000 per annum.

• Grants are offered as four-year franchises, subject to satisfactory annual review of the franchise holder, and subject to the continuation of funding from Welsh Government.

• In order to comply with European Regulations with regards to State Aid the grant awarded under this scheme will be given in compliance with the De Minimis Regulation (Commission Regulation (EC Regulation number 1407/2013). If the publisher has received public funding classed as De Minimis aid from sources other than the Welsh Books Council, the combined funding from all sources must not exceed the De Minimis threshold (€200,000 over a three fiscal year period).

3 Conditions for Participation

3.1

Minimum standards and qualification required

Only publishing companies based in Wales can apply.

Recipients of grants over £8,000 per annum must be legally incorporated bodies; these will generally be not-for-profit companies limited by guarantee. Individuals will not be funded.

Recipients of smaller grants must have separate bank accounts and appropriate arrangements for financial and general management.

The scheme does not fund:

small magazines which are likely to sell no more than 400 copies (see the guidelines for the Small Magazines Scheme in English);

educational magazines or academic journals;

magazines that are published by organisations and societies, unless they have an appeal beyond the organisations’ membership;

magazines of local interest.

4 Administrative Information

4.1

Type of Procedure

Dual stage

4.2

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

N/a

4.3

Time Limits

4.5

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

Welsh

4.6

Tender Submission Postbox

5 Other Information

5.1

Additional Information

Please note that this is a two-stage application process. During the initial stage, all applicants must submit a brief application form (see attached).

Deadline for stage 1 application form: 23 August 2018

Application deadline: 5 October 2018

Shortlisting and interviews: November 2018

Notification of decisions: December 2018

Funding to begin: 1 April 2019

The Welsh Books Council reserves the right to close the tender process and award is at their discretion.

(WA Ref:84175)

5.2

Additional Documentation

5.3

Publication date of this notice