All Learning Content
Missing out on EU schemes to secure PPE owing to defunct supplier email addresses
Jul 9, 2020
Some communications about tenders for UK supplies of PPE, including gloves, overalls, goggles and masks, which went out in February and March this year, were sent to outdated and defunct email addresses. The UK Foreign Secretary said in a letter to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that the UK...
CIPS and ITN Productions launch ‘Supply, Support and Sustain’
Jul 9, 2020
The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) and ITN Productions are co-creating a unique news-style content series ‘Supply, Support and Sustain,’ exploring the challenges, opportunities and innovations taking place in the changing landscape of the global procurement and supply...
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy advises free services to small firms
Jul 9, 2020
Thousands of expert professional and business services advisers have signed up to offer free online advice to help small businesses bounce back from coronavirus (COVID-19). The Recovery Advice for Business scheme, supported by the government and hosted on the Enterprise Nation website, will give...
7MI Essentials – #1 Understand the Need Before You Buy
Jul 8, 2020
7MI Series – This article is the second of a 9-part series as we introduce the 7 Economics and Market Intelligence Essentials for Public Procurement. Each part will also include videos, resources, and other materials. We will also be launching the 7MI Challenge as part of this series. Please see...
Lessons for COVID-19 Response Efforts: Best Practices from DoD When Contracting During Emergencies
Jul 3, 2020
It may become tempting for protocol and attentiveness to detail to take a backseat in the face of crises; however, this puts government agencies at more of a risk from procedural error and fraudulent infiltration. To combat this, the Department of Defense released a report on best practices and...
MSDUK calls on public sector to make supplier diversity key in wake of BLM movement
Jul 2, 2020
An organisation which champions supplier diversity and inclusion of ethnic minority businesses in both public and private sector supply chains has called on the public sector to do more to make supplier diversity a key part of their core strategy.
MSDUK is a non-profit organisation which has worked...
Digital transformation: Working with Government procurement frameworks
Jul 2, 2020
Working with, not against, UK Government frameworks to better support digital transformation is the topic of this discussion. The UK Government framework for procuring cloud computing services, G-Cloud, has evolved significantly since its first release in 2012, but it is still an onerous task for...
Review reveals local government procurement fraud risk
Jul 2, 2020
A government report has stressed the importance of best practice in reducing fraud, particularly at a time of heightened council activity and less stringent controls in operation. The UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has just published a report on the risks of...
An SME guide to securing government contracts
Jul 2, 2020
Working with the government can be lucrative for SMEs, but ecuring government contracts still isn’t easy, despite the UK government’s policy to award contracts as often as possible to smaller businesses. It has stated an aim to reach 33% of all procurement going to SMEs by 2022. Businesses...
Supplier Superhero: Clear-Vu Medical Pivots to Provide Face Shields to Meet Critical Needs
Jun 29, 2020
When a local hospital asked for help, Clear-Vu came to the rescue and created a face shield prototype to help protect healthcare workers
Clear-Vu Medical’s parent company, Autronic Plastics, Inc., focuses on the manufacturing and production of medical products and components. Autronic Plastics,...
The answer to a better nation is supplier inclusion
Jun 26, 2020
Two procurement experts, Spend Matters founder Jason Busch and COO/GM ConnXus Daryl Hammett, have pooled their knowledge and experience, of how organisations from all sectors spend their money, to create a new paper that explains how we can approach supplier diversity in procurement to create...
Government concedes public authorities will have to cancel construction contracts
Jun 26, 2020
In its previous public procurement guidance, the UK Cabinet Office told public authorities to keep paying “at risk” contractors if projects had been stopped by the coronavirus lockdown, to keep cash flowing in the supply chain. It now concedes that public authorities may be forced to start...
