Event Partners 2011

The Scottish Government

It is responsible for developing and advising on procurement policy for the public sector in Scotland, as well as ensuring that procurement processes within the Scottish Government are effective and efficient. SPD is made up of five divisions: Policy and Development; Construction Advice and Policy; Procurement Scotland; Central Government Centre of Procurement Expertise; and eProcurement Scotl@nd.

Please visit their website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/procurement

Scotland Excel

Scotland Excel is the Centre of Procurement Expertise for the local government sector in Scotland. We are a non-profit-making organisation funded by participating local authorities.

Launched on 1 April 2008, our remit is to work collaboratively with members and suppliers to raise procurement standards, secure best value for customers, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public sector procurement in Scotland.

Scotland Excel currently manages a portfolio of c.50 contracts on behalf of 32 local authorities. Our Head Office is located in Paisley, with regional offices based in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Inverness to provide frontline customer support to our members throughout Scotland.

Scotland Excel was the winner of the GO / John F McClelland Collaborative Procurement Award in 2008.

Please visit our website at: www.scotland-excel.org.uk

APUC

APUC (Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges) Limited is the procurement centre of expertise for Scotland’s 62 universities and colleges. It is a private limited company, owned by its client institutions and established in response to the McClelland Report: Review of Public Procurement in Scotland, which made recommendations for public procurement reform.

In response to the challenges of procurement reform, APUC aims to meet and exceed client expectations through the delivery of four client service streams:

Operational Procurement – Collaborative Contracting: Managing and delivering a wide-ranging contracting plan in line with client institutions’ needs, informed by an account management approach, user intelligence groups and the sector’s Procurement Strategy Group.

Processes and Best Practice: Maanaging developments in processes, legislation and policy, disseminating best practice information and facilitating procurement training for client institutions.

College Services and Capital: Providing account management services for colleges including tendering support for capital and other higher-value tenders.

eSolutions: Providing ongoing support to users of eProcurement solutions. Managing information to underpin benefits tracking and reporting to Scottish Government and supporting the use of the Public Contracts Scotland portal, Scottish Procurement Information Hub and Best Practice Indicators.

APUC’s core vision is "to work jointly, as one team with client institutions, to maximise the contribution that advanced procurement makes to Scotland's investment in teaching, research and knowledge transfer so that institutions can deliver more with the funds that they have available".

NHS National Procurement

National Procurement is the Centre of Procurement Expertise (CoE) for the health sector in Scotland and was the first public sector CoE to be established, in November 2005. We are a division of National Services Scotland, a Non Departmental Public Body which provides strategic support services and advice to NHSScotland. We work collaboratively with suppliers and other CoEs to deliver best value contracts, product distribution, technology and improvement services to our 22 Health Board customers across Scotland. National Procurement manages a portfolio of 200+ contracts, 8000+ products and a suite of technology and service offerings from its National Distribution Centre Headquarters in Lanarkshire and offices in Edinburgh. As a result, National Procurement has delivered over £150m in annualised savings which directly benefits NHSScotland patients. National Procurement won the GO Excellence in Public Procurement Awards Scotland 2009-10 Team Excellence Award and was Highly Commended in the National GO Awards 2010-11 Team of the Year category.

Fire & Rescue

Fire and Rescue Scotland is the collaboration procurement body for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Services. Scottish FRS’s have a long history of successful collaboration in procurement, largely driven through the Chief Fire Officers Association Scotland – Procurement Group.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Services have benefited from collaboration that has delivered savings, increased quality and improved service levels from suppliers across a range of commodities. In addition, the services have worked to agree a common approach on a number of strategic initiatives that have served to improve standardisation and a route map for future co-ordinated direction.

The vision of Fire and Rescue Scotland is sharing efficiency and improvement through procurement.

The benefits to the communities that FRS serves are future efficiencies and cash savings through increased collaboration across common goods and services.

Strathclyde Police

The Scottish Police Service Centre of Expertise is a virtual representation of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) Procurement Management Group. ACPOS is the professional voice of police leadership in Scotland. The Centre of Expertise represents all eight Scottish Police Forces and is a formalised continuation of the collaborative activity that had been taking place among Forces over a period of years.

This collaboration for the procurement of unique and operationally critical goods and services has also fostered a common approach to a number of strategic initiatives that have served to improve standardisation of specifications, equipment etc and provide a route map for future, enhanced coordinated direction. Examples of these are the National Contract for Police Uniforms – which provided cashable savings and achieved common specifications – and Airwave Terminals – which resulted in whole-life and process cost savings.

The aims of the Scottish Police Service Centre of Expertise are to develop and encourage ongoing improvement in the procurement of police-specific commodities and services; facilitate single supply/national contract framework arrangements; maximise economies of scale; promote process efficiency; fully and timeously support operational requirements; and provide consistent improvement of service across all Forces.

Society of Procurement Officers
in Local Government (SOPO)

The Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO) engages in a range of activities to promote its strategic purchasing, contracting and supplies functions.

Representing over 3300 members, SOPO provides area networks and forums and produces guidance on best practice.

Its aim is to advise local authorities throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on all purchasing and supplies matters of national/general interest, and represent its members on other bodies to promote the society and its aims.

Through membership of SOPO, procurement officers join together to share best practice and influence the national agenda on how ‘Best Value’ is to be achieved.

For further information, visit www.sopo.org

Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS) is the world’s largest purchasing and supply management professional organisation. With over 65,000 members in 150 different countries, including senior business people, high-ranking civil servants and leading academics, it represents purchasing and supply management professionals across the globe. CIPS offers corporate solutions packages that improve business profitability and is the worldwide centre of excellence on purchasing and supply management issues. Based in the UK, CIPS has offices covering Australasia, Southern Africa and the Middle East and builds relationships with other purchasing organisations to offer more value to our members and the purchasing profession as a whole.

The Chartered Institute of
Public Finance and Accountancy

CIPFA, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, is the professional body for people in public finance. Our 14,000 members work throughout the public services, in national audit agencies, in major accountancy firms, and in other bodies where public money needs to be effectively and efficiently managed.

As the world’s only professional accountancy body to specialise in public services, CIPFA’s qualifications are the foundation for a career in public finance. They include the benchmark professional qualification for public sector accountants as well as a postgraduate diploma for people already working in leadership positions. They are taught by our in-house CIPFA Education and Training Centre as well as other places of learning around the world.

Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce (ECC) is the voice of business in Edinburgh and the Lothians, helping member companies grow, prosper and cut costs. With a network of over 2000 members, ECC offers business development support and assistance to businesses from all sectors and of all sizes, from start-ups to large, global corporations. With strong links to the City of Edinburgh Council as well as local and national government and media, ECC is uniquely positioned to advocate the interests of the Edinburgh business community and provide practical, hands-on support for its members as well as other companies in the region.

For more information about the Edinburgh Chamber, please visit www.edinburghchamber.co.uk or call the ECC Customer Services Team on 0844 736 2992

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce has served the business community in the city for over 225 years and offers a comprehensive range of business services, products and expert training to help businesses realise their potential.

We offer a wide range of services including the provision of:

• Training and Workforce Development
• Events and Networking
• Policy and Lobbying
• Assistance with Export Documentation and International Trade

Members benefit from exclusive discounts on essential business supplies – negotiated on their behalf by the Chamber. The Chamber also plays a crucial role in representing members’ views at local, regional and national policy level. In addition, members receive bimonthly editions of the Chamber’s business magazine – Glasgow Business – which feature relevant business-related articles.

Supplier Development Programme

Do you find tendering for contracts with the public sector confusing? Would you like support and advice to assist your business in all aspects of procurement? The Supplier Development Programme helps businesses to improve their performance in tendering for and winning contracts with public sector organisations. The programme offers information and support covering procurement issues and helps to unravel the tendering process.

Assistance is provided via:

• Workshops and Events
• Website, Social Forums
• eBulletins
• In-depth Training

To access the full range of support, simply register your business details at: www.sdpscotland.co.uk

For further information, contact sdp@drs.glasgow.gov.uk or 0141 287 7251.

Government Procurement Service
(previously known as Buying Solutions)

Government Procurement Service, an executive agency of the Cabinet Office, is the delivery arm of government procurement.

Our overall priority is to provide procurement savings for central government, health and organisations across the UK public sector.

Our main focus is to deliver centralised procurement for central government departments delivering expert sourcing, category and centralised data management.

By centralising, standardising and aggregating spend on common goods and services, we deliver significant, sustainable cost reductions to Government.

Our procurement arrangements cover energy, office solutions, professional services, travel, fleet, IT commodities (including telecommunications and networks), property and facilities management and eCommerce.

In addition to delivering centralised procurement for central government departments, we offer:

• A broad range of framework agreements
• Managed services for more complex procurements
• eProcurement tools, including eAuctions and Government Procurement Cards
• Tailored procurement solutions, including a spot-buying service

ScotRail

This autumn sees the launch of ScotRail Business Direct – an exciting new service that permits businesses and organisations to work directly with us to purchase rail tickets, identify cost-saving opportunities and improve the overall value derived from travel budgets.

ScotRail Business Direct offers benefits including fee-free transactions – so no hidden booking fees, postal charges* – or Ticket on Departure costs and third party ticket collection from any station with a self-service ticket machine. Upload travel policy, allocate purchases to cost centres, and download MI.

Save favourite journeys and have confirmation of booking references and journey details sent directly to the traveller, making it much easier to use rail for business travel.

The online self-booking tool is further complemented by our specialist Scotland-based telephone support team, ensuring continuity and reliability.

To find out more, contact: Sue Perez on 07725 938 921 or email susan.perez@firstgroup.com

* Standard postage. Next Day Delivery is £6.