Our Register of Support Services (RoSS) is a framework of external consultants we use to help successfully deliver the projects we fund.
Our expert RoSS consultants play an important role in monitoring projects we fund and mentoring grantees and potential applicants. They also provide expert advice to the Heritage Fund on the diverse range of projects and applications we fund.
Our register of consultants is split into four areas of expertise:
heritage and culture construction project management
business development and management
public engagement with heritage
natural environment
What do they do?
RoSS consultants provide a range of services:
Monitoring support: analysing risks, commenting on project plans, reviewing budgets and progress against timescales and evaluating project impacts.
Bilingual panel (Welsh and English) at St Fagans.Mentoring support: helping grantees develop their project, support learning and development activities and overcome barriers during the delivery of their project.
Supporting Heritage Fund staff: providing training and advice on specialist subjects.
Grantee discussion sessions: facilitating ‘mini-surgeries’ with grantees on various topics, such as volunteering.
Post completion and operational readiness reviews: helping grantees understand the ‘readiness’ of projects to open to the public. Identifying post-completion risks and agreeing remedial actions.
Supporting our engagement work: providing support to the Heritage Fund’s Engagement teams, for example when mentoring and engaging under-served applicants.
Providing expert advice: supporting the Heritage Fund’s decision-making process by providing specialist advice on aspects of a project application.
Providing support to groups of grantees: mentoring small groups of grantees, helping them to address challenges and encouraging them to network.
Inside the Grand Opera House, Belfast.
Our current frameworks
The current framework started on 1 April 2018 and will end on 31 March 2024.
We also have a framework specialising in digital heritage. This two-year framework started on 1 April 2022 and will end on 31 March 2024. It will not be re-tendered.
Procurement of the next framework
Consultants are appointed to the framework via a tendering process compliant with public sector procurement requirements.
Stage one of the tendering opportunity closed on 19 June 2023 and we are not accepting any new submissions. We are now moving on to Stage two – the invitation and evaluation of tenders, which will be complete in late autumn 2023.
The new framework will begin in April 2024.
At Summerlee Museum in Coatbridge, Scotland.
Becoming a RoSS consultant
During stage one of the tendering process, we invited tenders under the four areas of expertise outlined above.
To help us best support projects and the sector, we aim to attract the most appropriately skilled and experienced organisations and consultants to the framework.
