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Author: Brian M

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Social Enterprise Mark Virtual Coffee Morning

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zoom event
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Join David Shields, CEO and Co-Founder of Value Match at a virtual coffee morning hosted by Social Enterprise Mark CIC.

The session explores the topic of social procurement from a number of perspectives and how you can support your own social value contract bidding.

David will be joining the session as a guest speaker, and will share his insights and experiences of social procurement through a facilitated discussion with plenty of opportunity for questions and answers.

Join David and the Social Enterprise Mark CIC team on the 20th January 2022, between 10:00 – 11:00.

Spaces are limited, don’t miss out, book here.

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News

Localis True Value Towards Ethical Public Service Commissioning

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There has been a number of procurement and public sector related papers launched over the past month.  Localis Think Tank published a report examining the strategic role procurement should have in delivering social value, positive societal impacts, supporting levelling up and reducing our impact on the climate.

‘The new Procurement Green Paper outlines a more flexible and principled system and comes with a distinct message to all contracting authorities: that they do not have to select the lowest price bid when procuring, instead insisting that authorities should take a broader view of value for money that incorporates factors such as local economic impact and ‘social value’.’

At the core of this is how we define ‘value for money’ and how this has been interpreted in the past and how it needs to be defined in the future with a much broader understanding.  Clearly the road we are on now is driving inequality is detrimental to large parts of society and is unsustainable.  The size and scale of public sector procurement around the world is a strategic lever to fundamentally shift how we buy, what we buy and who from it can accelerate positive impact and it can be undertaken quickly.

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UK Public Sector Mobile Phone Spend Analysis: Investigating costs to identify savings

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Our partners at Billmonitor, using a combination of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and Open Data, discovered significant savings can be made against mobile phone contracts across the Public Sector. Their findings highlight that the worst 10% are paying 7x as much as the most efficient 10%.  The report outlines that most Public Sector organisations can achieve substantial savings regardless of their size or level of data usage!

Download the Report

Public Sector spend on goods, works and services is at a record level, during the financial year 2020/21 the Public Sector spent £232 billion!  Mobile network providers have become a key supplier to the public sector and further digital transformation is essential and inevitable.

The report is based on responses from 555 Public Sector organisations who responded to FOI requests, coupled with Open Source Contract and Spend data from these organisations. These have then been analysed and

This report, the first of its kind, investigated and analysed the mobile phone spend of the Public Sector and suggest that over £200 million could be saved each and every year, and that one-off cost-saving opportunities are being missed.

 

Although tools are available for procurement professionals across the Public Sector to secure better contracts, complex pricing strategies and a wide range of tariffs, bundles and framework options result in procurement teams struggling to secure the best value-for-money contracts.

Our partnership with Billmonitor underpins our values; Sustainable Prosperity and by partnering with Billmonitor organisations across the public sector can drive savings and develop sustainable prosperity in local economies.

Download the Report

Billmonitor will run an initial analysis free of charge and offer a discounted savings-share for any organisations that makes use of its services – if there’s no saving, there’s no fee. Download the report and be sure to quote Value Match for an additional discount.  Billmonitor are 100% independent and do not receive a commission from the networks as it directly services Public Sector organisations. This means their motivation is always the same as yours, get the best possible price, rather than maximising the price to maximise commission. 

Be sure to quote Value Match when you ask for a free initial analysis.

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Introducing Rachael King to our Resourcing Team

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Value Match are thrilled to announce our newest member of the team, Rachael King.  Rachael will be working within our resourcing team as a Procurement Resourcing Consultant matching talent with opportunities.

Rachael began her career working in finance for Scottish Widows, part of the Lloyds banking group as a Resourcing Planner,  where Rachael was involved in the planning and setting up of a new contact centre.  Rachael then began working within the 360-recruitment side spending a few years within finance and banking recruitment with Scottish Widows before going into Agency recruitment where Rachael was working in the Manufacturing, Technology, and Life Science sector.

After moving to Newcastle, Rachael moved into inhouse recruitment working within the automotive and retail sectors recruiting for HR and Head Office Operations.

Rachael said, “I love working in recruitment as I love speaking with and meeting new people and love building relationships with candidates to help them source new roles but as well as help customers find the right talent for their organisations.”

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Crown commercial Services new Big Data & Analytics Framework

procurement
procurement
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Value Match
Bid Management

Find out more

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) are planning on launching a procurement framework for big data and analytics services with a projected value of up to £2 billion.

More information of this prior information notice can be found by clicking here.

This high value framework will be split into 2 Lots covering a wide category of spend; Lot 1 for the provision of ‘design, build and run’ professional services and Lot 2 to offer commercial off-the-shelf software.

For any organisation working within the ICT sector this new opportunity would certainly be one to consider.

If you are new to public sector bidding or are thinking you may need bid management support for this large framework, get in touch.

Value Match provide a full service that includes bid writing, independent evaluation, scoring and a feedback report that will ensure you put forward a compliant and competitive bid.

For further information, contact Lindsay Rosul

T: 07702 823 648
E: Lindsay.Rosul@value-match.co.uk

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Changes to procurement thresholds and calculation methods (from 1st January 2022)

procurement
procurement
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Value Match
Bid Management

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Changes to The Public Procurement (Agreement on Government Procurement) (Thresholds) (Amendment) Regulations 2021/1221 (the “Regulations”)

 

The Public Procurement (Agreement on Government Procurement) (Thresholds) (Amendment) Regulations 2021/1221 (the “Regulations”) has been laid before Parliament and will come into force on 1 January 2022.

Procurement teams should take note that the new thresholds from 1st January 2022 for goods and services will increase dependent on the contract type and are now inclusive of VAT:

Contract Type Current threshold Excluding VAT New threshold Inclusive of VAT
Public Works
£4,733,252
£5,336,937
Public service and supply awarded by central government authorities, and their design contests
£122,976
£138,760
Public service and supply awarded by sub-central contracting authorities, and their design contests
£189,330
£213,447

This is pivotal as more contracts fall within the scope of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

These new rules come into force in just under 2 months therefore Procurement teams should also consider their spend patterns to understand if the changes impact current spending and whether their documentation require updating to take account of these changes.

These changes do not affect any procurement commenced before 1 January 2022.

The new regulations also update certain financial thresholds in the Defence & Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011, the Concession Contracts Regulations2016 and the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016.

Contracts below threshold are still required to be published on Contracts Finder.

For further information, contact Lindsay Rosul

T: 07702 823 648
E: Lindsay.Rosul@value-match.co.uk

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Questions to ask yourself before bidding for a tender

Tender
Tender
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Do you have a checklist to go through when considering which tenders, you’ll consider bidding against? Having a checklist in place will ensure that continuing with the bid process is beneficial for your business and aligns to your overarching objectives.

1.How well do you know your customer?

Knowing your customer is crucial to understanding the tender.  If you know what the customer values within their tender, then you will be able to tailor your bid accordingly.  Understanding any potential preferences might give you a higher chance of success. Can you and your team meet the tender requirements?

There are a lot of different aspects to winning a tender.  Establishing a winning bid management team with the correct skills, knowledge, and experience is key.  The team will be responsible for preparing win themes, project management, design and writing responses, to name just a few of their activities.  Think about the size of your team and compare it to the volume of hours the tender(s) will take.  There is often a time frame in which to submit a bid so ensuring you can allocate enough resources to hit the deadline is crucial

2. Do you have a solid foundation of experience to win the bid?

When approaching a tender one of the first thing to consider is your ability to demonstrate you have delivered similar contracts/projects in the past and/or the strengths of the team/operations you have in place to meet the buyer requirements.  It is common that tenders require sector-specific experience and evidence of how you performed therefore, making sure you have on hand a set of case studies to demonstrate your capability is critical.  

3. Are you able to comply with the terms and conditions?

Tenders are issued with their own set of terms and conditions which must be reviewed to ensure you are able to comply and you are comfortable with what the buyer is asking from you.  Leaving terms and conditions to the last minute may mean you decide not to bid and have wasted valuable resource. 

4. Is this worth it?

Before deciding whether to tender or not, read our bid decision guide. 

SME’s and businesses looking to start bidding, should consider registering for one of our monthly 1:1 session with our experienced procurement manager, Matt Saunders.  This is an opportunity for SMEs to discuss bidding, strategies and how to get started.  Book an appointment.

For more information about the tender process within the UK visit this website: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/314364/laa-tender-best-practice.pdf

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Effectively Specifying for Remanufacturing

specification
specification
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Background

Continuing on from the success of Benefits of Remanufacturing, Value Match and Circular ComputingTM have now expanded upon this course and produced Effectively Specifying for Remanufacturing so that you can procure remanufactured products and deliver on near term targets as part of a broader net zero procurement and resource preservation strategy. As part of our values commitment, Effectively Specifying for Remanufacturing remains free for all learners to access the CPD accredited course This module is ideal for all stakeholders in IT, procurement and social value professionals, and those wanting to further their understanding of remanufacturing and the circular economy. For each course completed, Circular Computing will plant 1 tree through their decarbonisation partners to support the UK journey to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2050.
Register for FREE

Learning Outcomes

  • Understand the general requirements that need to be included in the specification
  • Appreciate the benefits of ISO and British standards for remanufacturing
  • Recognise the ability to test products prior to and during a procurement testing
  • Understand the specific requirements that should be included in the specification
  • Learn how to use our Remanufactured Specification Template

Matching Capability with Knowledge

Our courses are CPD accredited, meaning the learning activity has reached the required Continued Professional Development standards and benchmarks.  The learning value has been scrutinised to ensure integrity and quality.  The CPD Certification Service provides recognised independent CPD accreditation compatible with global CPD requirements ensuring any learner can record their hours in contribution to their continued professional development.

If you have a specific training requirement, or think a specific topic area would be helpful to create a new training course please contact Lindsay Rosul, who would welcome the opportunity to discuss any ideas further.

Click here to register for free access

For further information, contact Lindsay Rosul

T: 07702 823 648
E: Lindsay.Rosul@value-match.co.uk

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How Value Match support the Value Match Foundation

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Value Match placeholder image
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Value Match actively support the Value Match Foundation.  The Foundation’s mission is to create benefits for society and our planet, through the promotion of 6 values for individuals and organisations.  So that we can connect with each more meaningfully, on the basis of our shared values.  Through this, forming more effective relationships, which also create wider benefits for society.

Value Match Foundation and values

In business, these 6 values can be used to match socially purposed buyers with suppliers: the Foundation’s aim is to enable buyers to source all their requirements from suppliers that are pursuing a social mission.

The Foundation also supports charitable and socially purposed organisations through free web-based training and advice. 

Value Match support the Foundation via a 5% profit donation.

Via the Foundation, Value Match provides access to our library of procurement courses to charities and socially purposed organisations.  17% of users registered to our procurement courses are charitable and socially purposed organisations.

Our team are on hand to assist the Foundation through procurement and marketing activities.  Lindsay, Alison and Brian are active volunteers for the foundation and David is a trustee.

Discover Value Match’s four core values; Value People, Value Relationships, Sustainable Prosperity and Value the Environment and how we embed our values in the organisations we work with.

Want to learn more about values: check out the Value Match Foundation website.

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Training Resources

Free CPD Accredited Online Procurement Courses

Procurement Training
Procurement Training
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Value Match Training has several free CPD accredited training courses available, our online courses are suitable for all procurement, bidding professionals and stakeholders involved in procurement.

remanufacturing

Benefits of Remanufacturing

  • Recognise the need for change and understand the impact on our planet
  • Learn about the circular economy and product value retention business models
  • Understand what remanufacturing is and how it differs to refurbishment
  • Appreciate the sustainability and product benefits of remanufacturing
  • Learn how to overcome barriers relating to the procurement of remanufactured products
  • Examine evidence that demonstrates the significant benefits of remanufacturing
Find out more
specification

Effectively Specifying for Remanufacturing 

·         Understand the general requirements that need to be included in the specification

·         Appreciate the benefits of ISO and British standards for remanufacturing

·         Recognise the ability to test products prior to and during a procurement testing

·         Understand the specific requirements that should be included in the specification

·         Learn how to use our Remanufactured Specification Template

Find out more