We are committed to giving all suppliers every opportunity to
compete for our contracts on a level playing field and where
possible taking full advantage of the skills and enterprise
available locally. We welcome the opportunity to talk to any
business groups about opportunities to work with us.
We recognise that a diverse range of suppliers have much to
offer by bringing increased competition for goods and services and
supporting us in the development of commissioning intentions. Third
Sector Organisations including Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's)
often have a lower cost base, provide innovative ‘niche’ market
goods and services, are more responsive and can offer a better
quality of service. We also understand that there are many
barriers, both real and perceived, faced by these suppliers wishing
to do business with the council.
We actively encourage all suppliers to work with us and to
tender for our requirements. We want to ensure that our procurement
processes do not unreasonably prevent any type or size of supplier
from bidding for our contracts and welcome feedback from suppliers.
Our contracts are awarded on the basis of the best value to the
authority, taking into account a range of qualitative and price
factors.
Read our Supplier Charter
Barriers to entry
We recognise that the following are potential barriers to market
entry for smaller suppliers:
- Difficulty in identifying opportunities - It is not always easy
to know where to look for tendering opportunities. Adverts placed
in the Official Journals of the European Communities (OJEU), are
not always easy to understand because of the terminology used;
- Size and type of contract - Larger requirements may be
off-putting for SME's. Increasing the use of framework agreements
can make access to council contracts difficult;
- An overly complicated tender process can be a problem for any
potential bidder, in particular SME's. Increased complexity leads
to higher bidding costs which can make tendering too expensive for
SME's.
Positive action – our response
The Council has signed the Government's Small Business Friendly
Concordat and the Suffolk Compact’s Voluntary and Community
Sector’s Funding and Procurement Code of Practice. We have also
adopted the guidance outlined in the joint Office of Government
Commerce (OGC) /Small Business Service (SBS) booklet
‘Smaller supplier…. Better value?' (pdf, 1.8mb) and the OGC /
Home Office booklet
‘Think Smart Think Voluntary Sector’ (pdf, 175kb).
In particular we:
- Consider the needs of Smaller
organisations when developing our procurement strategy. For
example, by considering what added value SME' can bring to the
supply chain, potential for involvement in development of
commissioning intentions. the size and complexity of contracts and
the possibility of allowing sub-contracting;
- Work with representative bodies for the
Voluntary Sector and small businesses to develop best practice in
commissioning and procurement;
- Ensure tenders are based on a clearly
defined business needs and that the complexity of the process,
pre-qualification, evaluation criteria and timetable are
appropriate;
- Publish with each tender, the evaluation criteria and process
to be used;
- Make available through our website, a corporate register
of all on-going contracts with contact details and a ‘Plain
English' guide to procurement and tendering processes;
- Make extensive use of a small business
friendly pre-qualification questionnaire to make applications
quicker and easier;
- Ensure that when a contract is advertised, it appears on our
Suffolk
Sourcing site as the national opportunities portal,
Contracts Finder and/or the
Official Journal of the European Union
(depending on the size of the contract);
- Take every opportunity to meet and talk with SME's about future
tenders and bidding processes (for example at meet the buyer and
supplier forum events);
- Develop wider use of electronic
tendering and e-procurement across the council to simplify the
tender process and reduce bidding costs;
- Ensure that all bidders are made aware of the opportunities for
formal feedback on their tender submission after contract
award.
Further support
There are a range of Business Support Agencies in Suffolk that
can offer advice and information to new and small
businesses.
Suffolk County Council, in partnership with the relevant
district councils, also operates five business development centres
throughout the county to encourage new business and business
growth.
Voluntary and community organisations can find further
information and guidance on the council’s funding opportunities
through the Suffolk Single Gateway.
Answer involves a package of support to help businesses
improve their efficiency including an efficiency network,
development of an environmental charter and on-site audit
support.
The contents of this page are intended for general information
only and should not be relied on as forming a binding commitment on
the council