V4 Services helped Bristol City Council with an assured model for a strategic partnership delivering procurement and contract management services. The work came as an output from delivering a new target operating model for Bristol.
Background
Bristol City Council’s spend on third party contracts is over £650 million. Procurement resource and the ability to recruit has been an issue with BCC for many years. The problem is down to competing with the MOD, University, and NHS for experienced procurement and contract management skills, knowledge, and experience.
An internal BCC risk review identified procurement as an area with significant risks, challenges, and missed opportunities to deliver savings.
V4 Services were engaged to provide resource capability to three areas, including Growth & Regeneration, People & Communities, and Resources. V4 consultants were embedded into the team working alongside the BCC inhouse team. V4 have run over 250 procurements for BCC, developing the procurement strategy, policies, and tender documentation. V4 also ran clarification sessions and dialogue stages, whilst providing ITT compliance checks, peer-to peer-reviews, and an evaluation strategy. This included an evaluation of the bids, moderation, and award of the contract.
The Director of Finance required from V4 a strategic overhaul of the structure, roles, and responsibilities with the following aims:
- De-risk the procurement process
- Keep the market interested and engaged
- Make an immediate step change of procurement’s agility, capability, and capacity
- Deliver an excellent service to stakeholders
- Create a sustainable solution, preserving business knowledge and commercial viability
Approach
V4 proposed a commercial/delivery model, wrapping flexible consultancy resource around the core client team, with an assured model of delivery. The team - made up of 3 senior consultants - reviewed the procurement strategy, policy, contract procedural rules, routes to market, and procurement documentation. From the pipeline of projects across the Council we needed to balance risk versus commercial viability and what could be achieved and expected from the additional capacity.
The process below detailed an assured process map. This also highlighted in parallel to the timeline and provided a deeper understanding of consistency, transparency, and tracking assurance.
The Outcomes
V4’s engagement helped ensure that the success in this endeavour minimised risks when procuring goods and services, whilst improving contract management KPIs. It also ensured that it was a robust service offer that would stand up to scrutiny.
To find out how V4 Services can help you with your next project, please get in touch.
