Decision details

To enter an additional year (third year) contract with Zellar Ltd for the purposes of supplying services to the Cheltenham Zero membership.

Cheltenham Borough Council (the council) is looking to continue the contract with Zellar for supplying services to the Cheltenham Zero membership. A waiver was obtained in 2023 for the short term (1-year) contract with Zellar for the provision of external services via an online platform.
The platform enables Cheltenham Zero members to:

• Calculate carbon emissions and claim a sustainability score and profile.
• Generate a personalised step-by-step sustainability journey and action plan
• Find cheap, green energy deals, the best green tech vendors and high impact offset projects in Zellar’s commission-free marketplace.
• Share sustainability credentials with other people and organisations.

The initial contract has been successful, and the council is looking to extend this beyond the term of the initial contract to further enable Cheltenham Zero members to benefit from the services provided by Zellar. The service and support offered by Zellar to the Cheltenham Zero members offers direct involvement and the contract is fundamental to the successful delivery of Cheltenham Zero, in supporting and assisting the Cheltenham Zero members to achieve net zero.

A renewal clause will be added to the contract for the potential to extend beyond the term of one year, subject to cost re-evaluation.

Exploring alternative options at this stage has not been considered because in this case:
• Continuation of platform access for Cheltenham Zero members is essential to reporting on carbon reduction projects relating to UKSPF grants.
• There are a remaining 174 licences of which are still to be used, ineffective if we were to move provider.
• Current data logs would be lost if moving to another provider.
• Moving provider would remove the access and some companies might not want to move, we would therefore lose their data access.
• The initial set up costs have already been paid for in the 2023 invoice.
• There are time saving consideration with not having to export data, transfer members and onboarding/training process for a new service.

Revisions of the contract for 2025/26 is to include updated KPI’s to ensure accountability and effective delivery.

No consultation process taken, but feedback from the Cheltenham Zero members who have utilised the Zellar platform has been positive.