Small and medium enterpises

The Small Business Friendly Concordat was prepared for local authorities in support of the National Procurement Strategy for Local Government. It is a voluntary, non-statutory code of practice that Wirral signed up to in November 2005.

The concordat requires local authorities to adopt small and medium sized business (SME) friendly procurement practices, and to encourage a diverse selection of suppliers in order to help stimulate a varied and competitive market place. Its primary purpose is to establish the actions that local authorities should take to make their contracts more accessible to SMEs.

Corporate Procurement has worked in the areas listed below to ensure that, wherever relevant to procurement projects, we deliver on the promises we’ve made through the concordat:

• We outlined our commitments to SMEs in the Corporate Procurement Strategy.
• We produced a guide for suppliers on doing business with the Council, which is available on our website.
• We advertise forthcoming contracts widely.
• We ensure that details of awarded contracts are provided online in the contracts register on the North West’s Local Authority procurement portal The Chest.

• We ensure that the procurement process is fair and transparent through the implementation of established Contract Procedure Rules.

• We provide feedback facilities to suppliers so that they can better understand how to tender effectively for our contracts.

• We treat suppliers openly and fairly through our contract management systems. This ethos includes paying suppliers on time, gathering feedback on supplier performance and ensuring dialogue in the case of problems occurring during a contract.

• We hold supplier workshops where existing and prospective suppliers can talk to Procurement staff. Open days are also held for specific projects, which aim to advertise pertinent opportunities to local businesses and SMEs, which are advertised in the What's on section.