Collaborative Procurement Programme

The Procurement East collaborative procurement programme aims to bring together East of England public sector organisations to engage in smarter procurement. The programme is NOT about forcing those organisations to procure together - savings can be achieved through the use of techniques like Supplier Relationship Development, Category Management, Demand Management and Benchmarking. Some examples of our ongoing work are:

i) Supplier Relationship Development programme
The SRD (Supplier Relationship Development) programme is being led by Hertfordshire County Council's Strategic Procurement team and is focussing on 2 key areas of spend - Insurance Services and BT / Telecoms.

The project will be concentrating on delivering results primarily for the 5 County Councils in the East of England, although the Insurance Services element includes 3 other County Councils from outside of the region. There will also be engagement with any initiatives from other public sector organisations in these categories, such as the Government Procurement Service / Pro5 proposed national framework for Insurance Services.

If you would like more information about the SRD project or to discuss how your authority can get involved, then please contact either Eddie at Improvement East or Mark Housden at Hertfordshire County Council - mark.housden@hertscc.gov.uk or 01992 555125.

ii) Collaboration in Postal Services
16 public sector organisations across the East of England, including local authorities, housing associations and constabularies, have come together to form a Postal Services Collaborative Procurement Project. Although the initial aim of this project was to investigate the 
use of an e-auction to drive down costs, it is apparent that there are quick wins available through modifying existing practices in those organisation, without the need to engage in a full-scale procurement exercise. Using the support of colleagues at the Government Procurement Services and by working closely with existing providers, these savings are in the process of being identified and delivered during the first few months of 2013. 

To get involved in the Postal Services project or to request our support in developing another category on a regional basis, please contact our Senior Programme Manager, Eddie Gibson on 01284 758310 or eddie.gibson@improvementeast.gov.uk.