Friday, January 29, 2010

A Brief Introduction to the Supply Leicester Project


A few months ago, work began on an exciting two-year project called Supply Leicester. Modelled on the successful Supply London project, Supply Leicester aims to work with public sector procurers in Leicester to encourage greater engagement with local SMEs. In particular, Supply Leicester targets female, disabled and black and minority-ethnic (BME) owned SMEs in Leicester’s disadvantaged areas. The project provides these businesses with advice, guidance and support on how to access procurement and supply chain opportunities in the public sector.

The project has three main partners: Leicester City Council (LCC); De Montfort University’s Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME); and private sector consultants. In its role as lead partner, LCC will manage the project and will engage strategic partners, contract specialist support, and deliver services and support to SMEs.

Building on its longstanding work on procurement, CREME will ensure that the project’s interventions are grounded in the evidence base. Key sources include the two best practice guides produced for the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) (.pdf link); and the recent Handbook on Supplier Diversity in Europe (.pdf link). Supply Leicester will therefore benefit from emerging best practice in procurement.

Consultants appointed to deliver support to the project will be responsible for delivering the products and services to bring about change for procurers and suppliers.

This project will look at several key areas during the course of the project:

• Evaluating procurement opportunities vs. SME capacity to fulfil them

• Improving communication between certain buyers and suppliers

• Make recommendations on simplifying the procurement process based on the research

• Introduce and provide support in the possible future implementation of the Single Equalities Bill (if passed in 2010)

• Improving access to supplier opportunities

• Create opportunities for diversifying supply chains

Currently, the project is still in its initial phase but we will keep you up to date once the first pilots and seminars start taking place.

-Alex Kiselinchev