We work with many high profile organisations, reviewing their purchasing and supply management practices and putting forward recommendations for significant short and long term sustainable cost reduction and efficiency improvements.
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Public Sector
We have worked with over 40 public funded bodies across both Central and Local Government. Here are a few examples:
National Audit Office
We have successfully delivered three separate procurement projects for the National Audit Office (NAO), helping to improve Procurement processes and practices across Central and Local Government.
These projects included the design of a Procurement Audit Toolkit for exclusive use by NAO financial auditors across government; and advising the NAO on two separate procurement studies relating to the Further Education College sector and the Culture, Media and Sport sector (see more detail below).
We recently secured a two month contract by the National Audit Office (NAO) to conduct a Procurement Efficiency Review inside four Non Departmental Public Bodies within the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The review involved interviewing purchasing and finance staff and evaluating their process efficiencies both as stand alone organizations in their own right and as compared to the others in the review. We calculated the cost of processing an order from requisition through to invoice payment and finally recommended ways in which each organisation could reduce cost and achieve greater value for money by adopting improved procurement efficiency measures, such as joining purchasing consortia.
Download
NAO Report: "Procurement in the Culture, Media and Sport Sector" that we contributed to.
We secured a further contract with the NAO to work with their Value for Money Audit Study Team (Education and Skills) who were reviewing procurement across the FE College sector in England. Specifically, we advised on aspects of their methodology, participated in one of their case study visits and provided expert analysis of their emerging findings. As stated in their final report, "(the Buying Support Agency) have experience of assessing value for money in public sector procurement and of auditing procurement in further education colleges."
Visit Britain
VisitBritain - the national tourism agency - is responsible for marketing Britain worldwide and for developing England's visitor economy. With over 500 employees in the UK and 36 markets around the world, it receives £50 million grant-in-aid from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. VisitBritain wanted to conduct a detailed examination of it's procurement practices in response to the recent focus and NAO report into procurement in the Culture, Media & Sport sector. Following a series of meetings with potential consultant organisations, VisitBritain engaged the Buying Support Agency to conduct an independent review with specific terms of reference. We were selected because of our direct involvement with the NAO review and our expertise in this area.
The review consisted of structured forms to gather operational and financial information coupled with a series of interviews with the relevant stakeholders. The detailed information gathered was then analysed using the same models and methodologies applied to the NAO review to draw a set of specific conclusions and recommendations. The draft report was presented to the Director of Corporate Services, David Philip and to the Supplier and E-Procurement Manager, Tim Weston. Discussion of the draft report allowed us to refine the recommendations even further and provide VisitBritain with a detailed roadmap around procurement, balancing industry standard best practice with the special needs of a global organisation with complex and diverse procurement needs.
Tim Weston, VisitBritain's Supplier & E-Commerce Manager said "This has been an invaluable exercise and represents a giant leap forward in our quest for efficiency." "The Buying Support Agency have taken on board the complexities of our organisation and performed a very thorough analysis of our procurement processes." "We are justifiably proud of the areas where we already excel but would have struggled to understand where further improvements could be found without their expert assistance."
Partnering with top Accountancy Practices
Bentley Jennison & Tenon Group, Top 12 Chartered Accountants
Since 2002 the Buying Support Agency has been the preferred external procurement advisors to Bentley Jennison (currently the 12th largest Chartered Accountancy practice in the UK). In this time we have successfully delivered Procurement Consultancy Reviews and/or Best Value Audits at over thirty of their public sector clients - ranging from Universities, FE Colleges, Housing Associations, District Councils, the Police and Non Departmental Public Bodies. Whilst this has primarily been UK based, we have also conducted Procurement Projects to their clients in Bosnia.
We have also partnered with Tenon Group, a top ten Accounting firm, to provide their clients with procurement health checks
and procurement strategic development support. Says Adrian Rutter (Director, Government & Public Services at Tenon), "We have been very pleased
with the support we have had from the Buying Support Agency who have provided high quality and thorough analysis, helping our clients to
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their procurement."
Private Sector
We have successfully delivered many procurement projects across both manufacturing and service sectors.
Engineering: £250m Railway Infrastructure Services
BSA were approached by a £250m turnover railway infrastructure services company that sought independent specialist support to review its procurement practices. BSA conducted a month long business-wide review across all divisions and levels of management, considering:
- strategies and policies
- spend controls
- their staff skills and resource
- IS systems
- tender and contract management
- supplier management
- what was being spent by whom and with which suppliers.
At the end of the review we delivered a prioritised action plan for significant cost reduction. We also recommended short-term operational changes and wrote a procurement manual tailored to their organisation. This means that the company can move forwards confidently armed with a route map to adopting best practice procurement practices that will ultimately deliver significant client benefit and shareholder value.
We have also delivered Best Practice Purchasing Training across their Senior Executive and Purchasing teams as part of their change programme.
Charity Sector
Charities have also benefited from our specialist skills;
One of top ten largest UK Charities
The BSA were approached by a well known Charitable Organisation who asked us to benchmark their central purchasing function with a view to establishing whether or not value for money was being delivered. We also compared value across a basket of goods and services against prices obtained via an external Purchasing Consortium. Finally we advised on how the charity could further improve its purchasing process efficiencies.
Purchasing Health Check
Engineering: £8m subsidiary
The BSA were approached by a £8m turnover manufacturer and installer of physical security protection products. They realized that they were struggling to keep a lid on costs and that their procurement and production lead times were too slow to keep up with increasingly more demanding customer needs. We spent a week conducting a purchasing health check; this involved our reviewing their internal processes and in particular focusing on the degree to which the purchasing function were able to add value in the business both in terms of cost management and in driving value through the supply chain. We recommended major changes in roles and responsibilities within the purchasing function and proposed a more strategic approach to their supplier management.
In addition to this health check, we analysed their stationery, janitorial supplies, utilities and telecoms expenditure and through their joining of the BSA Consortium we were able to deliver in excess of 15% cost savings in these areas with immediate effect. We will continue to monitor the supply chain to ensure that service levels (delivery/quality) remain high (or even improve) and that prices remain competitive, ensuring that value for money is maintained whilst the client is a member of the BSA Consortium.
Purchasing Best Practice Training Programme
Helphire Group PLC (Accident Management Specialist)
This FTSE 250 Client has recently received our 3-day Best Practice Purchasing Training programme. It involved a tailored workshop, with the third day taking place two weeks after the first two days, to enable delegates to take what they had learnt back to the workplace. The third day then required delegates to present back problems set by the trainer at the end of day two. This reflective problem solving element made the training experience more practical and relevant to the delegates, making their learning experience much more valuable to the Client. According to Paul Leverington, Group Purchasing Manager, "the BSA purchasing course was well structured and clearly presented. The presenter had a good level of personal experience that reinforced the theoretical background. The concept of reinforcing the learning with each attendee through a workplace based project is great. We'll easily save the cost of the course through application of good practice on these workplace projects." The Client wants to run the course again over the next few months.
Bottom Line Cost Saving through the BSA Consortium
20% cost savings for £100m Building Supplies Company
One of our clients on the BSA Consortium is a UK based brick and timber merchant with annual turnover in excess of £100m. When they engaged in our services they were seeking some immediate cost savings in one area of their non-core expenditure, namely stationery and office supplies. Our initial price analysis showed them that they would save 20% from their total stationery/office supplies bills if they joined the BSA Consortium and so they joined immediately. They not only enjoy such savings from day one, they also have peace of mind in knowing that the Buying Support Agency is constantly monitoring supplier performance and price levels. Thus value is obtained in the short and long term by being a member of the BSA Consortium.
Leisure Group saves significant costs through BSA Consortium
A Kent-based client that manages several leisure centres has just saved 33% on a like-for-like basis for its stationery supplies, 21% for its catering supplies (non-food), 14% on its telecoms and 12% on its catering (food and drink) supplies, thanks to its membership of the BSA Consortium.
Food Manufacturing
A rapidly expanding multi-million turnover food manufacturing company realised that without extra skilled resource it was unable to develop its primary and transit packaging to ensure value for money whilst maintaining its premium product positioning in the marketplace. It therefore asked the Buying Support Agency to review its current packaging (glass bottles, jars, labels, bubble wrap and corrugated trays) to ensure that value was optimised without increased supply chain risk. Our research of the packaging market and knowledge and contacts within the sector enabled us to propose alternative designs and through our partner suppliers delivered significant cost reduction whilst ensuring peace of mind to the client that service levels would either be maintained or improved consistently over time. The company is now on stronger footing as it seeks to win national supply contracts with the major supermarkets.