Public Procurement consultant - closes 5th September 2025

 Last chance to have your input on future changes to UK Public Procurement - consultation closes 5pm on Friday 5th Sept 2025.

Now, I'm sure you have already made your input - but just in case...

The link is here.

Summer's gone (wake up Boo!) - The Procurement Act in Practice for Suppliers 9th September 2025

 Gosh, it's 2nd September already. Summer's not quite gone, but it is getting ready for back to school...

And so I assume lots of people are now keen to stop reading that summer blockbuster on the beach and start thinking again about the Procurement Act 2023.

No?

Well if you are then, you might want to come along for our first Procurement Act in Practice for Suppliers next Tuesday 9th September at PASS Procurement.

Link here - https://www.passprocurement.co.uk/event/procurement-act-in-practice-for-suppliers/

And if you are old enough to get the reference, the Boo Radleys are here

Covid and PPE Procurement

I think this is a very interesting submission from the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition to the Covid-19 enquiry.

My comments were;

Chris, great stuff. As my delegates will know, the late publication of PPE contract notices is a major gripe of mine (even allowing, as you do, for the difficult circumstances). That this was a deliberate attempt by government to escape scrutiny is (I think) an inescapable conclusion, leading to a huge loss of trust in public procurement and government. Even if no wrong doing were to be discovered, this is a terrible damage for the country. It was a deliberate choice by Ministers, who should be ashamed of themselves.
The facts that PPE was expensive, and fraudsters took advantage with sub-par products, are probably unavoidable. The damage to public trust was easily avoidable. It immediately leads people to think "there is no smoke without fire" and to suspect deliberate fraud and corruption at the highest level. In short, the exact opposite of what might have been intended.

GovPD - win-more-contracts-understanding-and-implementing-the-procurement-act-2023 5th August 2025

 There is good news and bad news about the course I run for GovPD - Winning more contracts, understanding and implementing the Procurement Act 2023.

The good news is that we are running it online again on 5th August 2025.

The bad news is that that session is already sold out.

The better news is that we have more dates scheduled - 1st October 2025 and 3rd December 2025.

But if you are interested, might be an idea to get booking.  The course is mostly focused on suppliers, but is relevant to buyers too (and I make sure to tweak the content according to the delegates).

BBC Sounds

 Some very interesting podcasts on BBC Sounds for those who like them.

I really enjoyed At your own Peril by Prof Lucy Easthorpe, which is about risk - a subject I whitter on about on my courses a lot, as I think it is greatly misunderstood in procurement.  Or commonly, not even thought about at all.

Another is Derailed: The story of HS2.  As I was saying just the other day, "fail to plan, plan to fail".  A real shame and embarrassment for our country.

And of course the Covid Enquiry podcast - which has got about 50 episodes but  the ones of interest to most of us are the PPE procurement and VIP lane episodes.

As someone who lived through Peter Sutcliffe's terrible crimes (the last of which Jacqui Hill from my student flats) I was also interested in Wearside Jack, which is about the hoaxer who distracted police efforts and was eventually brought to justice years later.

Another Leeds connection is Prof Steve Haake (now Sheffield Hallam University) who is a guest on The Infinite Monkey Cage.  Which also leads me back to my Physics past with 13 Seconds to the Moon and the Space Shuttle.

And of course all covered by the BBC license fee.

Now if I only had the time to listen to more.  (walking the dog is such a good excuse).

Built Intelligence - an Overview of Procurement

 I had the pleasure of recording an hour long webinar making the case for Procurement (especially in the construction and engineering industries) with Built Intelligence.

This should be made available free of charge later in the year.  I'll let you know when.

Basically this was me just raising (again) the need for a strategic Procurement plan.  With the current global economic turbulence it becomes even more important to try and get ahead of the game rather than just reacting with transactional purchasing.

The acronym VUCA - Volatile Uncertain Complex Ambiguous - certainly seems appropriate for our times.  A strong Procurement strategy may not avoid all problems, but it should certainly help businesses to be better prepared for whatever happens.

Procurement Training

Well its summer (still), and naturally everyone's minds turn to planning procurement training for the rest of the year.

No?

Just me then.

But a reminder that as well as working through a list of partner organisations, we also offer bespoke and off the shelf training programmes directly.  These can be either face to face or online.  

We offer courses covering a wide range of commercial skills, especially those related to procurement and supply chain management.  The courses are suitable for both public and private sectors, and often for both buyers and sellers.

Course topics can include;

- The Procurement Act 2023 (which is topical)

- Procurement & Supply Chain Management

- Supplier Management

- Contract Management (my lawyer friends point out I am not a lawyer, and I point out that is why I run this course - the focus is on getting what we want, not detailed legal issues)

- Commercial Negotiation

- Tender evaluation processes

- Commercial awareness

AND a range of other things in related areas.

If you are interested, drop me a note or give me a call.