A consortium of local authorities in the north-east have
cut the price of office supplies by 44% in their first jointly-run
eAuction.
The online auction, run by TradingPartners, saw suppliers battle
over the internet to cut the price they will charge for supplying
the package of goods. The result was that the councils saved £5.8m
on the previous cost of £13.2m.
The goods included desk top office supplies, paper, envelopes
and computer cartridges.
A total of 19 suppliers were selected to take part in the
eAuction after showing they would be able to meet the requirements
of the contract.
The event was the first of its kind undertaken by the North
Eastern Purchasing Organisation (NEPO), a consortium established in
1976 to lower the price of goods by buying them in bulk, organising
joint contracts for access by the 24 member authorities.
Andrea Tickner, chair of the NEPO officers group and also head
of corporate procurement at Gateshead council, said, “This is a
tremendous result for NEPO, that could not have been achieved
without the support and commitment of the member authorities.
"Our auctioneer TradingPartners provided advice and guidance
throughout the process and much of the success must also be
attributed to them.”
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