Government

 

Category: Desktop Computers

Savings: £1.7 million 

 

 The NHS Supply Confederation needed thousands of new desktop computers. By partnering with TradingPartners they were able to cut the cost by more than 40%.

 

The review by procurement professionals at the Confederation found that at least 4,700 new computers would have to be bought at eight Trusts. Hundreds more were likely to be required by other Trusts in the region. The total cost, at current paid prices would have amounted to over £4 million. Technical requirements were drawn up and the Confederation started talks with seven suppliers selected from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) framework agreement.

 

TradingPartners proposed and developed a tailored spend negotiation project. All seven suppliers agreed to quote. Altogether 313 bids were received. “We spent months getting the information we needed together, liaising with Trusts and talking to suppliers with the help of TradingPartners. It was crucial to ensure the requirements were clear and that all stakeholders had confidence in the process" said Rachel Alwin, Project Buyer at the Confederation.

 

When the successful bids were accepted, it meant that prices were cut by 43 % - a saving of more than £1.7 million. Rachel Alwin, Project Buyer at the Confederation, says: “There were a lot of questions at first when we decided to go for this type of spend negotiation because many people weren’t familiar with it. We explained that it’s just a transparent negotiating tool and would form part of the full procurement process

 

“The exercise not only helped save a huge amount of money, but also gave Trusts information about what they were buying and how much it was costing”, Rachel says. This visibility was an extremely useful by-product of the project. Previously, all the Trusts in the region dealt with suppliers individually. By combining the spending power of the NHS Trusts in the Confederation’s region and using the most up to date techniques with TradingPartners, the best available deal in the marketplace was achieved.