Blogs

Sadly, Phillip Blackmore, our Regional Procurement Manager, will be leaving SWPA. Phil has been a great colleague of the SWPA team for over two years and will be greatly missed! We are now recruiting for his position.

The South West Procurement Alliance (SWPA) is seeking to appoint a Regional Procurement Manager covering the South West Region. 

Have you bid for a public sector contract or framework previously? Were you successful, and how was the overall experience? 

Public Sector procurement has a stigma of being complex and a considerable investment of time and resources needed for the bidder. There are several perceived barriers to public sector tendering, but how can you overcome these and ultimately improve your tender experience?

Garland UK has published its first benchmarking report on the commercial roofing industry in collaboration with some of the UK’s leading experts. The report reveals the main challenges commercial landlords and estates teams face with their roofing assets and shares expert advice, strategies and considerations to overcome them.

SWPA’s Community Benefit Fund, delivered in partnership with South West Community Matters, has been running since 2018. The fund is designed to support small community groups, with grants of up to £1000.00, who might otherwise fall under the radar of larger funders. We have delivered £50,000.00 of funding to over thirty-five regional groups.

All public sector organisations who applied for the social housing decarbonisation scheme will find out if they have been awarded the grant between the end of February and the start of March 2023. The gov.uk website states that grant funding agreements must be signed with successful lead applicants and projects starting in March.

There are several issues in the supply market that are driving increases in the cost of materials and labour being used in the delivery of our frameworks

These include:

• Additional tariffs and import administration overheads
• Increased transport costs
• Material shortages (driving price increases)
• Energy price increases

Building compliance is being highlighted more than ever as a consequence of fire doorset legislation amendments. This legislation is purposed to ensure the safety of individuals both in and around the building, following guidance from the Grenfell fire. As of 23^rd January 2023, it will be a legal requirement to ensure all appropriate steps are taken to reduce the risk of fire. Upon failure to comply to the legislation, the responsible persons will be penalised both legally and financially. This amendment will ensure the correct individual is held accountable for failing to ensure fire safety in the infrastructure. The legislation in Approved Document B covers social buildings, and those over 11m in height.

Faced with a predicted 38% drop in new housing starts over the next two years. Public sector frameworks offer shelter from recession. They traditionally operate on four-year cycles, and present better industry access and cost consistency for the public sector. Furthermore for contractors and suppliers, they bring more predictable pipelines of work.

Due to the extent of cyber-attacks on businesses, the Cyber Resilience Centre (CRC) is helping small and medium sized companies in the South West to protect themselves against cyber-attacks. This scheme was launched in 2020 by the home office. They plan to support Gloucestershire, Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Wiltshire and Dorset.

It was an exciting and illuminating visit to Offsite Solutions in Highbridge last week by the CESW Smart Construction Theme Group. Offsite Solutions are one of the major UK manufacturers of bathroom pods providing a range of designs from basic to high-end luxury and offering a range of light gauge steel and GRP framed standard designs or bespoke solutions.