What a busy summer we’ve had! In fact, with so many exciting things going on at Cameron Consulting we simply didn’t have time to issue our Summer Newsletter! Therefore our Autumn newsletter is a “Bumper Issue” packed with news, views and opinions on a range of current issues. In particular, we are delighted to have secured major new contract wins in the housing, higher education and central government sectors and across a range of procurement types comprising works, services and supplies. We are also delighted to welcome new recruits to the team including Dr Vicky Vass and graduate trainee, Jamie Carmillat. In keeping with our tradition of driving best practice in procurement we are delighted to share articles with you that inform and educate our readers. The world of procurement is constantly changing and to ensure that we deliver safe and efficient services to our client base requires us to be at the forefront of innovation and best practice. Let us know what you think about our articles including whether you would like to contribute so that we can feature a “reader's contribution” section in the future?

Finally, you may have noticed some changes to the appearance and feel of our website. Six months ago we made the decision to make our website more engaging and dynamic and in particular, to utilise social media on a regular basis. The first part of this transition comprised a new front page with a twitter feed. The site has now been completely overhauled on a content management platform. This will enable us to share news and views with you on a more regular basis, as and when it happens. We hope you like the new look, but as always, all comments are gratefully received.

Neil Thody
Managing Director

Rosebery Gas Servicing

We are delighted to be appointed by Rosebery Housing Association as Procurement Adviser to support them in the re-procurement of M&E contracts. Our commission comprises the development of a procurement strategy involving the "soft market testing" of potential suppliers to ensure that the solutions being delivered are appropriate to the individual needs of Rosebery. Legal support is provided by Trowers & Hamlins.

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Epping Forest District Council

Following the successful procurement of an "in-sourcing" solution for the Council's Direct Labour Organisation (DLO), we have been re-engaged to support the Council in the procurement of supplies. The commission will comprise the procurement of a single source supply merchant to the Council with the aim of reducing the cost of material supplies and improving product quality in the delivery of day to day repairs. Legal support is provided by Vertex Law LLP.

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Mapeley Estates Ltd

We have been appointed to work with Mapeley Estates Ltd as their procurement adviser in connection with its outsourcing contracts. Initially we will be supporting them deliver two contracts. The first is "Churn and Disposals" which comprises contracts for office relocation services and recycling of office furniture. The second contract is for the installation of Automated Meter Readers (AMRs) to support better monitoring of energy usage, improved billing and reduced administration.

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Interactive Procurement
– A New Approach

Supply Management (August 11) published an article entitled "Breaking With Tradition" (see http://bit.ly/nOL2Xe) where Swiss Bank, UBS adopted an innovative selection process to procure a new M&E partner to fulfil facilities management services across the client's property portfolio. The first part of the process comprised market engagement prior to procurement including meetings with potential providers as well as peer organisations. This process enabled UBS to specifically define their requirements and also to engage stakeholders in the process. The next stage of the process would ordinarily comprise a RFP (Request for Proposal) based on explicit tender documentation. In the case of UBS they felt that this was a time and resource intensive process and preferred to adopt a "technical workshop" approach instead, whereby bidders had to facilitate a workshop using the team that would be deployed if successful. In particular they cited the benefits of this approach to selection by observing the organisation skills and non-verbal communication within the team. They also undertook site visits to client organisations to assess the capabilities of the service provider. Shortlisting and a further workshop were undertaken in arriving at the final solution and the outputs of the workshops were then incorporated into the final contract. UBS has benefited from a shorter procurement cycle and a partnership approach, which has enabled both parties to align the organisation cultures from the start and therefore build a sustainable partnership.

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