Crown Commercial Service
The Crown Commercial Service, the arm of the government which delivers savings for the taxpayer by buying common goods and services for government and the wider public sector, is celebrating after winning a national award last night.
The Facilities Management (FM) team won Procurement Team of the Year at the National Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards. The team were triumphant against a strong field of contenders from the public, private and third sectors.
The team provides a managed procurement service for facilities management for a number of central government departments and also provides bespoke procurement services across the wider public sector, including education, health and police.
Over the last year the team have worked innovatively and creatively to bring government departments together to standardise and collaborate on their FM requirements. The team have focused on improving pre-market engagement, in order to find solutions at an earlier stage that meets the needs of customers and suppliers.
They have developed and implemented a new approach to contracting models and standard terms and conditions. This approach removes much of the bureaucracy involved with bidding for government business, which is of a particular benefit to small businesses.
To date, the teams innovative approach has achieved savings of up to 23% for departments through better buying, aggregation of requirements and standardisation of specifications. This is expected to lead to savings in excess of 500 million over the life of the agreement a substantial increase on the initially anticipated 200 million saving.
Sally Collier, Chief Executive of the Crown Commercial Service, said:
This award recognises the efforts of the Crown Commercial Service, and specifically our Facilities Management team, to understand the needs of our customers at an early stage and demonstrate the value of maximising government purchasing power.
FM is an area that matters to every individual at a local level and achieving such successful outcomes is no mean feat.
Whether for government departments or the wider public sector, we are helping secure common goods and services at a price that is delivering significant savings.
Find out more about the GO Awards and see the full list of winners.