PUBLIC PROCUREMENT – FINDING THE POWER IN PARTNERSHIPS

Since the Budget Report from the Chancellor and in that were the promises of certain measures in support of small business. If we needed any indication as to the growing publicly expressed value Government is putting on small businesses, we need look no further. A £1 billion support fund is being put on the table. The ideas and drive for this came significantly from the FSB whose policy team is working with the Treasury to ensure that delivery will be effective.

As a member of the South East Economic Delivery Council sitting with the Regional Minister and Senior members of the Development Agency and Government Office, I know at first hand the concern that is driving very serious moves to support small businesses.

That of course is only part of it, the rest is up to us, we have to innovate and build positions of strength to ride the storm. In my day job, as a marketing consultant for over twenty years for a major player in door and window hardware manufacture, I understand the way the industry works and the ways in which we have to formulate new approaches to business development. Part of the Government solution is to ensure that the construction industry does not suffer, it can stimulate the sector by maintaining the best levels of housing and public works possible. In public sector procurement, there are many hoops that have to be jumped through to win contracts. The FSB is lobbying hard for simplification of the Pre Qualification Questionnaires for one thing, but you will have to ensure that you have all the facts and figures required at your fingertips with your policies in place, that includes essentials such as Quality Management, Health and Safety, Equal Opportunities, Environmental Management and nice to haves such as Diversity Policy, Sustainable Procurement and an Ethical Policy.

Looking at these policies, one that is rapidly emerging is that relating to environmental issues. Being green is a growing demand from the public contracts and indeed from private purchasers as well, although here nothing can beat best value. This is where we all need to have policies in place collectively, for example in the window fabrication industry where fabricators especially need to look to strong reliable partnerships that can help them assemble the required evidence right through the supply chain. Manufacturers are achieving accreditation in the various standards, but in a bid for public work, it has to be demonstrated from top to bottom. So for a window fabricator you will have to look to your profile, hardware, glazing manufacturers, even the spacer bar, to play their part. However when it comes to meeting standards such as for Energy Efficiency, only the window fabricator can achieve this, as it is the assembly of all the components within the fabrication process that counts. All these are the drivers leading to quality partnerships and collaboration which surely must be the way forward.

Roger House, Managing Director of Big Solutions Ltd and SE Policy Chairman FSB.

[1] www.big-solutions.co.uk  [2] www.fsb.org.uk