UK National GO Awards 2019/20

Celebrating the best in public procurement from across the UK, this year’s National GO Awards took place on 30th April at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham.  The event brought together winners from the GO Awards Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the last 12 months with new entrants for a night of festivities and sharing of best practice, leadership and innovation.

The glittering black-tie event was hosted by TV presenter Sarah Heaney, and gave finalists to share their success stories and have their achievements recognised.

The event also saw an official opening address from Simon Tse, the Chief Executive of the Crown Commercial Service, who stressed the need to celebrate the sometimes under-appreciated wider importance of procurement in the UK.

This year there were 16 categories, plus the GO Excellence Award, with many categories from previous years split to recognise different types of organisation. This testifies to both the quantity and quality of entries. The judging panel, made up of experts in the field of procurement, stressed that this year’s batch of entries was among the strongest ever, with chair of the judging panel David Smith commenting that:

I believe the standard of the awards has improved greatly over the years. The winners in the categories this year are as good if not better than any other year.

See some of the highlights of the evening here:

GO Awards presentation

Although many of the evening’s winners and highly commended entrants represented previously recognised entries from the GO Awards Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there were also many winners from among the new entrants. A full list of winners and highly commended entrants is below – congratulations to them all!

GO Social and Community Benefit in Procurement Award – Local Authority, Consortia and Housing

Winner: Liverpool City Council
Highly Commended: Tai Tarian

Liverpool Council – clearly pleased to have won!

GO Social and Community Benefit in Procurement Award – Other Organisations

Winner: Department for Infrastructure, Graham Farrans Joint Venture & AECOM
Highly Commended: Scottish Government – SG Procurement, Contract Management and Capability Team

GO Best Service Award – Micro and Small Businesses and Third Sector Organisations

Winner: Ingenica Solutions & Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
Highly Commended: AdviseInc Ltd.

GO Best Service Award – Medium & Large Organisations

Winner: Warmworks Scotland
Highly Commended: Hays & Birmingham City Council

GO Procurement Innovation of the Year Award – Taking the procurement function forward – Health and Social Care

Winner: Scan4Safety & the Department of Health and Social Care
Highly Commended: Angus Council / Angus Health and Social Care Partnership
Highly Commended: Leicestershire County Council

GO Procurement Innovation of the Year Award – Taking the procurement function forward – Health and Social Care (NHS Organisations)

Winner: University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust & Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Highly Commended: NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit & NHS West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group
Highly Commended: NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support & NHS England

GO Procurement Innovation of the Year Award – Taking the procurement function forward – Local Government, Central Government and Other Organisations

Winner: Kent Police & Essex Police
Highly Commended: Kirklees Council

GO Infrastructure Project of the Year

Winner: Transport Scotland – Forth Replacement Crossing

GO Procurement Leadership of the Year Award – Local Government & Other Organisations

Winner: North Yorkshire County Council
Highly Commended: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

GO Procurement Leadership of the Year Award – Central Government & Healthcare Organisations

Winner: Bank of England
Highly Commended: Office of National Statistics

GO Procurement Project of the Year Award (sub-£20m value)

Winner: Renfrewshire Council
Highly Commended: Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, North West Shared Infrastructure Service and others

GO Procurement Project of the year award (above £20m value) – Local Government and Consortia

Winner: North Lincolnshire Council
Highly Commended: NEPO

GO Procurement Project of the year award (above £20m value) – Other Organisations

Winner: Translink
Highly Commended: Department for International Development
Highly Commended: North of England Commissioning Support Unit & NHS England (Specialised Commissioning, North Region)

GO Emerging Procurement Talent Award

Joint Winner: Leidos Supply Limited
Joint Winner: Cardiff Council

GO Procurement Team of the Year Award – Health and Social Care Organisations

Winner: NHS Scotland National Procurement Equipping Sourcing Team, working with NSS Health Facilities Scotland Equipping Team
Highly Commended: Procurement and Logistics Service (a subsidiary of the Business Services Organisation) partnering with all Health and Social Care Trusts & the Department of Health

GO Procurement Team of the Year Award – Local Government, Central Government and Other Organisations

Winner: Kirklees Council
Highly Commended: Network Homes
Highly Commended: North Yorkshire County Council

GO Excellence Award

Unlike other awards, the GO Excellence award cannot be entered. Instead, the nominations for this award were revealed on the evening of the ceremony, comprising a list of five of the overall strongest entries from across this year’s winning entrants, as decided by the expert judging panel.

The GO Excellence Award this year went to the team from Scan4Safety & the Department for Health and Social Care. The judging panel described this entry as

a major league project for a major league organisation – delivering significant benefits in a host of areas: efficiency, safety and cost management to name just three. A project that has required huge effort to coordinate, with an impressive list of benefits achieved and evidence of sharing of best practice.

Congratulations to the Scan4Safety team!

The GO Awards – next steps

While this year’s National GO Awards presentation may be over, check the GO Awards website over the coming weeks to learn more about the fascinating and inspiring stories behind some of the winning and highly commended entries.

In addition, the GO Awards Scotland 2019/20 will take place on 29th October with the GO Awards Wales following on 7th November. The entry process will begin soon – so why not share your procurement success story?

New digital paths for health, work and business a major focus within the NHS Long Term Plan

Hospital working working on tablet computer

Earlier this month, the NHS published its Long Term Plan. The Plan details how the £20.5 billion budget settlement for the NHS, confirmed in the summer of last year, will be spent over the next five years.

For patients, the Plan focuses on delivering ‘the best start in life’ for everyone, community health, and allowing people to age well. From the perspective of the NHS itself, the Plan will focus on driving efficiency, both in terms of organisation and affording individual workers easier and more effective working practices.

A major focus of the Plan concerns digital transformation. This will include such innovations as the NHS App, allowing for a single way for patients to identify themselves across a range of local and national services.

Associated apps and digital solutions will no doubt be embraced wholeheartedly by a range of NHS institutions, as a recent iGov Survey found that 72% of respondents from the NHS would like to deliver patient health apps as part of their Wi-Fi solution, while more than two-thirds stated that patient access to online appointment bookings will be beneficial.

At BiP Solutions, we recognise both the challenges and opportunities presented by digital transformation facing healthcare buyers and suppliers today.

In fact, our most recent report considered the digital trends and innovative approaches playing a significant role in today’s NHS through boosting efficiencies and, crucially, saving lives. You can access a complimentary copy here.

It’s no secret that the NHS is a hugely complex organisation, with hundreds of separate but connected organisations, and navigating the ways they link, share information and work together can sometimes be difficult for NHS staff, let alone those seeking to work with NHS trusts. The digital transformation element of the Long Term Plan promises to ease the burden of the NHS’ complexity for patients and staff.

If you’re looking to cut through the difficulties of understanding how NHS organisations are related and talk to the right person to do business with, BiP Solutions’ Ingenium community can help. Our data community holds contact details for all senior decision-makers throughout the NHS, which we combine with a deep understanding of the NHS’ structure to deliver relevant and engaging digital marketing campaigns.

The Long Term Plan will reshape many NHS working practices, the ways patients interact with the NHS, and the way that business is done too. For businesses, it’ll therefore be important to keep up-to-date with the latest developments, as changes are set to happen throughout the NHS supply chain. An easy way for businesses to ensure they’re staying abreast of the latest changes is through Tracker’s business intelligence modules which offer an easy one-stop, complete source of information on public sector procurement.

Additionally, a major element of the Plan’s overhaul of working methods will be further innovations in terms of technology and equipment needed. For example, the Plan’s stated aims include new ways of managing and storing data, as well as novel methods of treating patients and providing care. With innovation a primary concern, it’s important that businesses are able to join conversations with NHS buyers earlier, to ensure that they can gain a real understanding of the requirement – or even shape discussion about the solution needed.

In fact, Gareth Rhys Williams, Government Chief Commercial Officer and Non-Executive Director at the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), said at our recent Procurex Scotland event that “early engagement is absolutely crucial.” He also noted that both buyers and suppliers should be encouraged to engage earlier to get the best out of a procurement exercise:

“If we don’t engage with the market, we won’t understand what the market can offer or what suppliers have developed for a different buyer elsewhere in the country. If we do not talk to suppliers then we miss out on opportunities and we will end up trying to procure something that they may not be able to deliver.”

How we can help

As mentioned before, Ingenium can put businesses in touch with key NHS stakeholders ahead of the tender process, helping conversations happen earlier.

Additionally, Tracker aids early engagement, thanks to easy viewing of upcoming contract renewals and recurring projects through ‘Market Leads’, meaning businesses can discuss these needs ahead of tender publication. Meanwhile, Tracker’s ‘Spend Analysis’ allows for an overview of what organisations are spending and with whom – helping businesses to shape future discussions by understanding how individual NHS trusts spend and work.

The transformation of the NHS via the Long Term Plan looks set to radically overhaul the way that the NHS, patients and businesses interact. We look forward to working digitally together with the NHS as the Plan unfolds.

Further reading

View the Long Term Plan here.

Access our latest Healthcare market report here.

To find out more about our solutions, please visit: www.bipsolutions.com

Ingenium Set to Deliver Digital Services for the Crown Commercial Service

digital - Ingenium IDS

In April, BiP announced the launch of our new North of England office in the Media City area of Manchester, which is now home to two of the BiP Group’s brands, Ingenium and Promark Media.

Over the past eight months, the Glasgow and Manchester offices have been working increasingly closely and we are delighted with the process so far.

Ingenium has recently announced some exciting news.  The team in Manchester has been contracted to deliver digital services for the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and will be creating a database for them. This innovative new project will support the delivery of a series of targeted e-marketing campaigns, designed to raise the profile of CCS.

What does Ingenium do?

Ingenium IDS specialises in lead generation, content creation, data, surveys and online events. The team has a list of high-profile clients including BT, Capita, KPMG, Deloitte, Hays, Apple and IBM.

Ingenium IDS is an established brand and has been helping businesses to communicate successfully with the UK public sector via digital marketing for over ten years. Unlike other digital specialists, Ingenium IDS works across all industries, combining data excellence with purpose-built technology.

What’s Next?

This new project will promote CCS across sectors including local government, the NHS, education, housing associations, and charities.

CCS-Logo

Sam Gilding, Head of Sales at Ingenium IDS, is incredibly pleased with the contract win.

“In September 2017, Ingenium IDS was invited to respond to a Crown Commercial Service (CCS) mini-competition. CCS was interested in contracting with a supplier that could provide licensed access to a third-party database of organisation and individual contacts across the whole of the public sector.

I’m delighted to share that Ingenium delivered a response that demonstrated, coverage, quality and compliance and has now contracted to deliver this service.”

To find out more about BiP’s products and services, please visit our website.

P4H 2016 review

P4H 2016The air was electric with possibility at the NEC, Birmingham on 13 July for this year’s P4H conference and exhibition. Representatives from both the public and private sectors descended on the venue from across the UK to learn about the latest developments in healthcare procurement, network with their peers and build new and lasting business relationships. Here, BiP Solutions journalist Domhnall Macinnes recounts some of the events of the day.

Opportunity began in the keynote arena at P4H 2016 – The Procurement Event for Health, held on 13 July at the NEC, Birmingham.

Kicking off the keynote speeches was meeting chair Professor Duncan Eaton, Executive Advisor at the All-Party Parliamentary Health Group, who launched the audience into an enthralling series of addresses which set the tone for the day and encapsulated the value of P4H, attracting delegates from all corners of the venue.

Professor Eaton said: “The event today intends to bring together those from the procurement world and suppliers to listen and talk and be informed and contribute to the future of health procurement. This keynote arena is a major part of the programme. We’ve put together a range of speakers to tell us about current initiatives and their views of the future.”

Renowned names in procurement such as Managing Director of Marc1 Ltd Colin Cram proceeded to inform the packed arena about emerging developments in the healthcare procurement landscape. Mr Cram’s talk, entitled ‘Brexit – The challenges and opportunities for NHS procurement’, was one not to be missed.

Following his speech, Mr Cram commented: “What I’d really like for people to take from my speech today is that they need to raise their game in procurement. Instead of looking at ways of just saving procurement costs and reducing prices, see what opportunities and what products there are available that will help reduce NHS costs overall.”

He continued: “All of the smaller companies find it almost impossible to engage with NHS hospitals as they’d have to try and sell to them one by one. Small companies do not have the resources to do so.

“I reckon that if procurement people took advantage of the opportunities out there – doing things differently – the potential savings for the NHS and the benefits to patients would be immeasurable.”

Professor Eaton also introduced Pat Mills, Commercial Director, Department of Health, who delivered a stimulating address enititled ‘NHS Procurement – The National Programme’. Mr Mills discussed the value of making savings within the NHS and the immeasurably valuable things that could be done with these savings.

Later in an interview, he reflected on his speech: “The key message I would like people to take away with them today is about money. Money is critical. We want to go about making savings, and procurement is a great way of doing that. The procurement community as a whole in general can deliver maybe £1 billion worth of savings. That’s two hospitals a year. But we’ve got to work together.”

Within the event’s dedicated buyer and supplier zones, stakeholders from across the public and private sector took advantage of the various hubs offering networking and advice. At the Best Practice Case Study Zone, delegates were offered a unique opportunity to learn from the past successes of others through explanatory presentations. Nick Hodgson, Supplier Development Advisor for the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, was at the zone co-presenting on the Savings Swap Shop, a programme which has enabled ten NHS trusts in the south west of England and beyond to save in excess of £850,000 through sharing ideas for efficiencies in procurement.

Mr Hodgson said: “It’s important for people to attend events such as P4H for the same principle as our message today. It’s about collaboration – getting together and realising that everyone in different hospitals and different organisations is actually working on the same projects. So they may have a better way of working on things which can help us save time, find efficiencies and ultimately save money as well.”

On the arena floor, partners, exhibitors and sponsors networked throughout the day with stakeholders, meeting delegates at their stands to plant the seeds of blossoming new relationships.

Naomi Clews, Senior Category Lead at the Crown Commercial Service, mused on the vital role P4H plays and why the CCS acted as an official partner to the event: “We absolutely want to make ourselves visible to as many suppliers and customers, especially within the NHS, as possible. Bringing buyers and suppliers together is really important. It’s the only way that we can learn and innovate and get better for our customers in the NHS. The information that we gain at P4H is the information that we take back to redevelop some of our strategies.”

Building upon this year’s success, next year’s event promises to deliver even more opportunities to buyers and suppliers in the healthcare sector. With yet another busy schedule of engagement, advice and professional development, P4H will return in summer 2017.

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Procurex North Live 2016 Review

Colin Cram (Procurex North Live 2016)

Possibility filled the air at this year’s Procurex North Live when representatives from all levels of the supply chain united at the Manchester Central Convention Complex on Tuesday 8 March. Here BiP Solutions journalist Donald MacInnes recounts the day.

Opportunities for discovery and networking presented themselves in all corners of the venue, from the exhibition stands to the Keynote Arena.

Chairing the Keynote Arena and setting the scene for the day with his opening address was procurement expert Colin Cram. Mr Cram discussed the increasingly challenging public sector procurement environment.

Addressing a packed arena, he spoke about the importance of well-managed procurement in the public sector.

He explained: “Procurement is taking up an increasing proportion of public sector spending. If we exclude social security benefits and pensions, it’s heading towards 40% of public sector expenditure. Public services absolutely depend on procurement – and depend on procurement being managed well.”

Following Mr Cram in the Keynote Arena was Chief Executive of Trafford Council Theresa Grant. Ms Grant reiterated the importance of better public procurement, highlighting the busy and exciting role it continued to play in devolving Manchester as a thriving hub of opportunity.

She commented: “The powers and responsibilities transferred from Government to Greater Manchester are geared towards accelerating growth, boosting skills and encouraging local decision-making and increased self-sufficiency of our businesses, our residents and all our public services.”

Moving onto the main exhibition floor, representatives from all types of organisation could be found networking with attendees, building new relationships and passing on their wisdom and experience to delegates.

One such organisation was ISS Kinloss-Lossiemouth, who could be found in the Best Practice Case Study Zone at the Procurex Learning Academy. ISS Kinloss-Lossiemouth Catering and Retail Manager and Corporate Champion, Zee Fletcher, enthused of Procurex North Live: “Bringing buyers and suppliers together at events such as Procurex is massively beneficial.

“We’re in a small part of Scotland but we’re a global company. Working today and meeting with other suppliers helps us engage together and hopefully develop and make new links for procurement.

“Today I’ve already met people who we are going to be doing business with. Without Procurex, we wouldn’t have actually met with them, especially in the rural area of Scotland we live in.”

ISS Kinloss-Lossiemouth went on that evening to win ‘Highly Commended’ in the ‘Best Service Award – Other Organisations’ category at the National GO Awards 2016/17, held at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate.

Another key organisation at Procurex North Live 2016 was its official event partner the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). In the central CCS Pavilion, Neil Martin, Customer and Digital Communications Manager, discussed the success of the day:

He said: “There has been a constant and steady flow of people coming to the pavilion and it’s been a really good opportunity for us to meet with delegates.

“It’s always important for us to get out and network and engage with our key customers and suppliers and events like Procurex North are a great occasion for us to meet lots of them in one place at one time.”

Building upon this year’s success, Procurex North Live 2017 promises to deliver even more opportunities to buyers and suppliers. With yet another busy schedule of engagement, learning and professional development, Procurex North Live 2017 will return to Manchester Central on 17 March 2017. To register your interest, visit the Procurex North Live website.

New Year, New EU Thresholds

Blue European Union Flag with Yellow Stars. Basic Flag Illustration.

On 1 January 2016, revised EU public procurement thresholds come into force in the UK. Public sector procurements with an estimated value in excess of these thresholds are legally required to follow the European procurement process, which was transposed into UK law as the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

This, for instance, means that all contract notices for procurement valued above EU thresholds must be published throughout the EU via the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

The thresholds are set in Euros, and every two years the European Commission publishes the equivalent values in pound sterling, based on the average daily value of the Euro.

Although the value in Euros has increased, the revised UK 2016 thresholds show a decrease, due to the exchange rates. These threshold values will apply from 1 January2016 to 31 December 2017.

The new thresholds will apply to all contracting authorities, as defined by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, including all central government departments, their Executive

Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Executive Agencies and the wider public sector. It also contains information relevant to utilities as defined by the Utilities Contracts Regulations.
Thresholds

Enquiries about the new thresholds should be directed to the Crown Commercial Service Helpdesk (0345 410 2222).

For more procurement updates, continue to follow the BiP Solutions blog…

BiP Solutions Limited is a company registered in Scotland with Company Number SC086146 and VAT number 383030966 and having its registered office at Medius, 60 Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1DZ.

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