Supplier Relationship Development

Background

London local authorities spend over £9 billion annually on goods and services. The top 100 suppliers in London account for approximately 25% of this total and the top 1,000 suppliers for nearly 60%.  Collectively, London authorities can account for over 70% of the turnover for some of these suppliers and are therefore in a very strong position to ensure the best possible outcomes in terms of quality, value for money and innovation.

The Supplier Relationship Development Project, in conjunction with its partners, examined ways of improving the relationship between selected strategic suppliers and their local authority customers for mutual benefit.  Many avenues were explored, from technological to relationship-building, to good procurement practice. Broadly speaking, Supplier Relationship Development (SRD), sometimes known as Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), is a proven technique that offers all local authorities an opportunity to reduce costs and/or improve outcomes from their major third party spend and contracts, as well as develop new and existing markets

In the first phase, local authorities developed an opportunity assessment via a Common Assessment Framework approach, while at the same time, suppliers also examined how local authority customers caould make improvements in procurement.

Project outputs:

Opens in a new windowSupplier Relationship Development in the Public Sector: How to Deliver Cashable Savings and Quality Improvements: a White Paper

The White Paper is designed to make the intellectual case for SRD as well as provide advice and guidance on sources of further information and advice. Many London local authorities have been piloting SRD for the last two years and the many lessons we have learned have been captured in this document as well as the key ingredients of adopting SRD.

In the White Paper introduction, Rob Leak ,Chief Executive of LB Enfield says "Many people talk and write about transformational procurement. In my experience, SRD is truly transformational in that it could eventually lead to a radical change in the way local authorities and other public bodies organise commission and buy their major items of expenditure and engage with large providers."

Download the White Paper Opens in a new window

See also the accompanying key outputs - the SRD Implementation Toolkit for the Public Sector and the You and Your Contractor booklet of case studies.

Project id: CA30
Status: Complete
Project director: Mark Atkinson
Contact: mark.atkinson@london-fire.gov.uk
Phone: 020 8555 1200 ext 31185
Mob: 07909 536931
Project manager: Christine Morton
Contact: christine@mortonatlantic.com
Phone: 07734 915176