Enfield Council

The shared Procurement Service between the London Boroughs of Enfield and Waltham Forest has been developed since April 2011 and has been established to provide a one team approach to both authorities. By bringing the two functions together, customers have access to a greater pool of procurement expertise and the two boroughs have the opportunity to generate greater savings through a joint approach to procurement.

The shared Procurement Function is the centre of commercial expertise for Enfield and Waltham Forest and the joined up approach is designed to offer the best use of resources and deliver value for money to both councils.

NEXT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT – CONSTRUCTIONLINE

In the interest of delivering further procurement efficiencies and supporting best practice, the partnering London Boroughs have adopted Constructionline, the UK’s largest certification service with a database of 23,000+ pre-qualified contractors, consultants and material suppliers.

Constructionline seeks to cut the workload for both buyer and supplier by reducing the administrative process in stage 1 pre-qualification by collecting, assessing, storing and monitoring standardised procurement information.

A PROVEN AND TRUSTED METHODOLOGY

With 90% of Enfield’s supply chain already registered on Constructionline, the Council was able to save their current suppliers a considerable amount of time and money in the migration process and reduce the burden for its suppliers from having to join multiple pre-qualification schemes.

“As the Constructionline Client Relationship Manager and as part of a team of three working in the London area, we were able to ensure a quick and painless adoption process for Enfield Council and Enfield Homes with no disruption caused for any existing operations or their suppliers. A well prepared, internal and externally executed communication plan was the key to a successful transition.” Andy Preston, Client Relationship Manager* at Constructionline.

Enfield Council, Enfield Homes and Waltham Forest Council, now all use Constructionline to source a pre-qualified supply chain for their construction project opportunities where appropriate, however suppliers that aren’t a member of Constructionline can also tender for work with the councils through the traditional method of pre-qualification.

Enfield Council has adopted the Constructionline methodology to help manage its pre-qualification process for appropriate sub-OJEU construction opportunities with the use of the PAS 91 question set to assess its supply chain’s credentials.

LOCAL ENGAGEMENT

“By adopting Constructionline as our pre-qualification service provider, Enfield Council anticipates that this will avoid unnecessary cost and bureaucracy for our local providers and SMEs, as well as increasing their awareness of contract opportunities within other Local Authorities and the wider Public Sector.” Kim Sharpe,Category Manager, Enfield and Waltham Forest Shared Procurement Service.

In February 2014, Enfield and Waltham Forest took the opportunity to connect with local SME suppliers at Constructionline’s Showcase ‘Meet the Buyer’ event, held at Wembley Stadium. As the largest event in Constructionline’s history, Enfield and Waltham Forest benefited from the opportunity to meet with over 1500 local suppliers in attendance.

Enfield Council is keen to work with Constructionline to put on regular supplier events, where providers can meet with Council representatives in order to better understand how to do business with the Council. This is also an opportunity for Constructionline to meet with providers to ensure that they have access to support when using the system, and to help them build their supply chain.

SUMMARY

“Enfield Council, Enfield Homes and Waltham Forest have been able to maximise the operational efficiencies and the reduction in information duplication/cost through their full adoption of Constructionline. This includes the incorporation of PAS 91 and SSIP into their standard operating procedures. This is an outstanding example of joint working, across and within borough boundaries, to bring efficiency gains for all participants in the supply chain.” Andy Preston, Client Relationship Manager at Constructionline.

*Andrew Preston is now Buyer Services Sales Manager