6 customers save £300,000 on IT hardware

The requirement

Many organisations routinely purchase the same commodity goods such as laptops, desktops, tablets and peripherals, as and when they need them. Some customers experience issues with compiling their specifications to ensure their technical requirements are fully met.

We wanted to help customers to achieve savings and also provide the ability to purchase agnostically – providing the best value for money while meeting the customers’ needs.

The solution

One of our national further competitions, which are based on a standardised specification, was planned as the aggregated volume was expected to attract more interest from suppliers.

Using the Crown Commercial Service Technology Products 2 agreement (lot 1), a further competition was run and the most economically advantageous offer in the market was found by taking into consideration both price and non-price factors such as quality, technical specifications, compatibility with other hardware and warranty length. The further competition was concluded with an eAuction to maximise supplier competition.

The results

The competition, which happened in May 2019, brought together the common IT hardware needs of 6 customers, amounting to £1.9 million.

It achieved on average a 16.75% saving compared to market value. This is the equivalent of a saving of £300,000 for the customers who took part.

These results clearly demonstrate that with aggregated volumes and the adoption of a standard specification for a commodity product, significant cost savings can quickly be realised.

For further information

National aggregated further competitions are a tried and tested approach which has delivered significant savings to the public sector.

This is a fully managed service provided and funded by us. We will draft all documents, build the specification and run the procurement.

Customers just need to complete a form to express their interest, provide the final volume of services required before going to market and signing a contract with the successful supplier.

We would like to hear from customers who are interested in securing savings by aggregating their needs with other customers for commodity goods and services.

You have until September 2019 to take part in our latest IT Hardware aggregation. To express an interest or speak to a member of our team, please complete our online form quoting ‘NFC114 IT hardware aggregation’ in the comments box.

12 customers save £1.55 million on mobile voice and data services

The requirement

Purchasing mobile voice and data services is often a routine purchase for many organisations, regularly resulting in varied contract end dates from having to acquire individual mobile phones at different times. This can create a barrier to switching suppliers to gain a better value and quality service for customers.

The aggregation team works to create opportunities for standardisation to achieve greater leverage and further savings for customers. Through the interpretation of customer data and requirements, we develop aggregated competitions that meet customer requirements.

The solution

One of our national further competitions (which are based on a standardised specification), was planned as the aggregated value/volume was expected to attract more interest from suppliers.

Using the Crown Commercial Service Network Services framework agreement (lot 6), a further competition was run and the most economically advantageous offer in the market was obtained by taking into consideration both price and quality factors. The further competition was concluded with sealed bids.

Innovative contract terms were introduced allowing customers to migrate connections as and when existing contracts expire throughout the first year of the contract.

The results

The competition, which took place April to May 2019, brought together common mobile voice and data services of 12 customers, amounting to 13,203 connections.

It achieved an average savings of 73% compared to current customer spend, which is the equivalent saving of £1.55 million for those customers who took part.

These results clearly demonstrate that with aggregated volumes and the adoption of a standard specification for commodity goods or services, significant cost savings can quickly be realised.

Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:

We achieved excellent savings well above what we had expected, showing the significance of aggregated volumes. CCS also conducted the procurement for us, so the project didn’t take up lots of  time which could be spent elsewhere. We were kept up to date with relevant information at all times and we had total confidence in the process. The procurement has also given us the opportunity to review our mobile phone and data usage.

Paradigm Housing Limited:

Having taken part in a previous aggregation with CCS, we were keen to work with them again on our mobile voice and data contract renewal. CCS managed the process from start to finish, keeping us informed throughout and making the whole experience painless. We have achieved a 75% reduction in our mobile phone bill while improving the service we receive from the supplier through the adoption of the standard specification for services.

How can you get involved?

National aggregated further competitions are a tried and tested approach which has delivered significant savings to the public sector.

This is a fully managed service provided and funded by us. We will draft all documents, build the specification and run the procurement.

We are in the process of preparing for our next Mobile Voice and Data Services aggregation (NFC119) which will launch formally for expression of interest in October 2019. If you would like to take part, please complete our online form quoting ‘NFC119’ and a member of our team will be in touch.

Alternatively, you can call our dedicated customer team on: 0345 410 2222

NHS saves an average of 74% using new health network

The requirement

The NHS, along with other health and social care organisations, needs to access and share information reliably, flexibly and efficiently in order to carry out frontline services effectively. Previously, the ability to do this was delivered through N3, a long standing single-supplier national broadband network which was expiring and no longer fit for purpose due to the increased demand on the network. The solution identified to meet the new requirement was the creation of the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN). NHS Digital’s objectives were to:

  • create a competitive multi-vendor marketplace
  • transform to a state delivering 35% cost reductions
  • move from centralised funding to a devolved funding model

NHS Digital was tasked with helping to migrate 14,000 network connections – the largest ever network migration in Europe – from N3 to a new competitive multi-vendor marketplace capable of delivering improved bandwidth with improved interoperability. This included remote consultations between hospitals via video conferencing, and simpler access to cloud-based services supporting key initiatives like ‘The NHS Long Term Plan’.

The solution

The Network Services team at Crown Commercial Service collaborated with NHS Digital to create a new commercial agreement – the Health and Social Care Network Dynamic Purchasing System (HSCN DPS) – to enable health and social care organisations to procure HSCN connectivity and services.

Working closely with NHS Digital, industry bodies, and stakeholders, CCS delivered the HSCN DPS, a compliant, quick, and easy route to market for health and social care organisations delivered within the agreed programme timescales. Access to support from procurement experts with contractual terms and key performance indicators that meet NHS requirements was also provided.

The migration timescales required NHS organisations to take action quickly. NHS Digital and CCS worked closely with NHS organisations across the country to assess their needs, understand their contractual landscape and aggregate the demand into regional groups. The required volumes generated by combining the needs of multiple trusts provided suppliers with larger opportunities to bid for, making these more attractive to the market and helping to drive prices down.

CCS’s aggregation team ran 8 regional competitions for a total of 204 health and care providers, representing approximately 3,549 services, which reduced the cost and effort of procurement for the NHS customers.

The results

Patrick Clark, NHS Digital’s HSCN Programme Director, said:

‘Creating a competitive market for network services in health and social care and driving both product innovation and value for money has been an ambition of the HSCN programme since the outset. Establishing the HSCN dynamic purchasing system in partnership with Crown Commercial Service has played a significant part of realising this ambition. The DPS has promoted the formation of a thriving market for HSCN services and provides health and social care organisations with an easy to use, low risk way of procuring excellent value, compliant services.’

The HSCN DPS successfully delivered a competitive multi-vendor marketplace – with over 30% of these suppliers being small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The aggregated competitions awarded between June and November 2018 delivered an average saving of 74% when compared to the current price paid.

This is the equivalent of an aggregated saving of £59.3m for the customers who took part in the programme. Due to the competitiveness of the HSCN offerings, some customers chose to upgrade their service rather than replace like-for-like, which, while not saving money, enabled greater clinical benefits.

The CCS and NHS Digital HSCN collaboration was awarded the Innovation Award at the Yorkshire and Humber Skills Development Commercial Awards 2019, and was shortlisted as a finalist in the Public Procurement category for the CIPS Supply Management Awards 2019.

The delivery of the HSCN DPS and associated regional aggregated procurements are critical elements in the delivery of the Health and Social Care Network and support the ongoing migration away from the N3 network.

For further information

The HSCN dynamic purchasing system (DPS) (RM3825) is the primary route to market for HSCN services. This agreement has been specifically designed for procurement of HSCN services and so its scope and the associated terms and conditions are aligned to HSCN connectivity services. 

For requirements which include business applications and overlay services in addition to HSCN, CCS’s Network Services 2 (RM3808) framework can also be used.

To learn how the HSCN DPS could help support your initiative, you can visit the agreement web page or get in touch.

Health and education customers achieve average savings of 72% on mobile voice and data services

The requirement

Purchasing mobile voice and data services is often a routine purchase for many organisations, regularly resulting in varied contract end dates. This can create a barrier to switching suppliers to gain better value, as potential savings may be reduced or lost due to early termination charges. 

Through our regular bulk buying opportunities, our aggregation team help customers by combining their mobile voice and data requirements with other organisations, helping to achieve savings which would not be reduced by early termination of existing contracts. 

The solution

Using our Network Services 2 framework (lot 6), a national further competition was run (which was based on a standardised specification) and the best value offer in the market was obtained by taking into consideration both price and quality factors. The further competition was concluded with sealed bids.

Innovative contract terms were introduced allowing customers to migrate connections as and when existing contracts expire throughout the first year of the contract. 

The results 

The competition, which took place in February 2020, brought together common mobile voice and data services of 5 customers, amounting to over 9,800 connections. 

Participants included customers from  the health and education sectors.

The aggregation team achieved average savings of 72% compared to current customer spend, which is the equivalent saving of £1.1 million for those who took part. 

These results clearly demonstrate that with aggregated volumes and the adoption of a standard specification for commodity goods or services, significant cost savings can quickly be realised.  

Bangor University

Paul Wood from Bangor University, who took part in the  NFC119 competition for mobile telephony said:

“CCS made the process easy and our feedback on initial documents was taken onboard and revised (we wanted to ensure data overseas was covered including the post Brexit era). The contract was awarded to Telefonica – this was fortuitous  to us as they were the incumbent supplier. No SIM cards needed changing. We worked with Telefonica to allocate relevant package bolt ons. A few accounts were tested and the rest done without any need for end user intervention. Our costs have reduced by at least 60% compared to the previous contract. We would recommend the NFC process on this framework to interested parties.

How can you get involved?

National aggregated further competitions are a tried and tested approach which has delivered significant savings to the public sector.

This is a fully managed service provided and funded by us at CCS. We will draft all documentation, build the specification and run the procurement. 

Our next Mobile Voice and Data Services aggregation (NFC127) is now live and customers have until 13 August 2020 to submit their requirements, with a formal contract award set to take place in October 2020. Visit our website to find out more and view our customer webinar, or If you would like to take part, please complete our online form quoting ‘NFC127 mobile voice and data aggregation’ in the comment box and a member of our team will be in touch.

8 customers save £810,000 on IT equipment through collective buying

The requirement

Many organisations from across the public sector routinely purchase IT equipment such as laptops, desktops, mobiles and tablets. Organisations often purchase these commodity items as and when they need them, and this demand has only increased due to changing, more flexible working environments. We recognised this demand, and with budgets and resources more squeezed than ever, we wanted to help customers achieve savings.

Our complimentary aggregation service (also known as collective buying) allows us to combine the similar needs of customers from across the public sector. As the largest public procurement organisation in the UK, we are able to use our national buying power to achieve savings that would not be possible by individual purchasing. 

The solution 

Using lot 1 of our Technology Products 2 agreement, the technology aggregation team ran a further competition on behalf of customers no matter how big or small their requirements. Customers provided us with their own specifications, implementation plans and delivery schedules, which our team pulled together into a single, larger procurement to attract increased interest from suppliers. The best  offer in the market was obtained by taking into consideration both price and non-price factors. The further competition was concluded with an eAuction.

There is not only an obvious cost saving that can be achieved for you if you take part in our aggregations, our  team of experts who deliver social and economic value on a day-to-day basis are also on hand to help you, along with an unrivalled national buying power. This means we are able to take care of the process for you to get the best possible deal, which releases your internal resources to focus on other areas of your business or on more complex procurements.

The results 

The competition, which took place in March 2020, brought together IT hardware requirements of 8 customers, amounting to £4.5 million at market value. 

It achieved an average of 21.55% savings compared to market pricing. This is the equivalent of over £810,0000 for the customers who took part. 

For further information

Aggregated procurement or collective buying is a tried and tested approach which has delivered significant savings to the public sector.

If you would like to get involved in our latest aggregation for IT hardware, you have until 30 September to complete the customer requirement form. Please complete our online form and a member of our team will get in touch.

Or, to find out more about our future opportunities please visit the aggregation webpage; 

Together, we can add power to your procurement.

84 customers save over £2.8 million on Adobe licences

Following the success in early 2020 of the aggregated procurement to establish a supplier for the new Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA) negotiated with Adobe, we decided to ask Lisa Shinn, Category Manager for Aggregation at CCS, how this new approach will impact the public sector.

CCS has aggregated Adobe products in the past – what is different about this competition?

This aggregated competition was for multiple intakes of customers across a whole year, rationalising the supply base for Adobe and driving greater savings. Thanks to our previous work on aggregating Adobe licenses, we had already identified a number of customers with co-terminus agreements – making the volume for this aggregation even higher.

What role did the CCS aggregation team play in this?

The team worked hard to understand the customer licensing needs, which included working closely with Adobe to address any specific queries. As always, we conducted the whole procurement from end to end, saving a lot of process time for customers. We also ran the procurement through an existing CCS framework agreement, so ongoing contract support and advice is permanently available.

How many organisations were part of the initial aggregated procurement?

A total of 84 public sector customers across a variety of sectors participated in this competition.  This was split between 37 customers who were new to the CCS Adobe ETLA and 47 customers who were renewing under the CCS Adobe ETLA.

Customers in the education sector already get specialised discounts for Adobe products and police authorities have their own agreement for Adobe, so for this reason our customers in these sectors were not encouraged to participate in this aggregated competition.

What sort of discounts are customers getting through this new agreement?

Our customers saved a whopping £2,872,632.  This amounts to an average saving of 31.75% against market pricing for the same Adobe products.  

Lisa continues:

The aggregation team at CCS run numerous technology related aggregations, for the likes of  IT hardware, mobile voice and data services, payroll systems, networking, plus much more.

In fact, we are looking to run a series of aggregated procurements for Microsoft subscription services starting in 2021!

To discover our latest technology aggregation opportunities, or to express an interest in our latest opportunity for Microsoft subscription services, please visit our website.

CCS helps 39 schools save £323,000 on broadband and internet services

Background

In February 2020, we were approached by 3 multi-academy trusts (MATs) – Ebor, Pathfinder and South Bank – to help them buy fibre-based broadband connectivity and internet services to replace expiring contracts for 39 schools in York and the surrounding area. 

COVID-19 restrictions meant this was deferred until September 2020, when we were asked to fast-track an aggregated procurement for broadband and internet service provider (ISP) services on behalf of the MATs.

The MATs were keen to enhance their broadband connectivity and safe internet provision to meet the specific needs of pupils and their teachers, both in schools and at their homes.

They wanted to ensure a seamless transition to any new provider, including robust technical and commercial requirements, as well as continuity of existing functionality across the MATs and schools. This was reflected in the specification to create a balanced mix of price and quality in the supplier selection criteria, to ensure the service was fit for purpose. 

The solution

We ran a national further competition to buy broadband and internet access and web filtering services for the 3 MATs and their schools, using our  Education Technology framework (RM6103) – lot 3, broadband services. 

The most economically advantageous offer was gained by taking into consideration both the price and non-price factors.

The result

The winning supplier was an SME called Talk Straight Ltd, who were geographically close to the customers, based in Ilkley. They managed to achieve overall savings of 38% when compared with the MATs’ previous contracts. This is a total saving of £323,000 over the initial terms of the new contracts. In addition, the new contracts include a degree of flexibility to enable each school to select services matched to its specific budget.

Installation and migration from old to the new fibre-based services continues on a tight timescale, with completion currently anticipated by the end of April 2021.

Tim Moat, Director of Communications and Development at Ebor Academy Trust, said: 

CCS was very supportive throughout the entire process. This was a big deal for the 3 MATs, and as well as collective savings, we jointly benefited with such a complex procurement by not having to do it alone. CCS, in particular Paul Weiser, was quick in helping to iron out the inevitable wrinkles, post-award.

Add power to your procurement with CCS

National aggregated further competitions are a tried and tested way to achieve significant savings for the public sector.

This is a fully managed service provided and funded by us at CCS. We will draft all documentation, build the specification and run the procurement for you.

If you have similar needs that you think might benefit from being combined with others to create greater scale and commercial benefits, please visit our website to find out more. 

To express interest in any of our forthcoming aggregations, please complete our online form quoting ‘aggregation’ and a member of our team will be in touch. 

Changes to our frameworks in October

Welcome to our monthly framework update to help you with your procurement planning. We will publish it online each month and also share it in our newsletters and on our social media channels.

The update provides a brief summary of what has been awarded, extended or expired during the previous month. It also outlines what is due to expire in the next 3 months.

You can also get an overview of all of our live frameworks in our interactive digital brochure.

Frameworks awarded in October  

Frameworks extended in October

Frameworks that expired in October 

Frameworks due to expire in the next 3 months

Further information

If you need further details about any of these frameworks please get in touch.

You can also find out what new procurements we are working on by exploring our upcoming deals page.

If you don’t currently receive our monthly customer newsletter why not also subscribe to receive these updates and more directly to your inbox? Just fill in this short form.

Conducting pre-tender market engagement virtually

Many public sector organisations and suppliers are now working remotely in response to COVID-19 – something that could remain the case for some time. This means that when you’re planning to run a procurement using a GCA agreement, any pre-tender market engagement exercises you do to gain valuable feedback from framework suppliers are more likely to be run virtually. 

If doing this virtually is something you are unfamiliar with, or if you’re looking for some tips and tricks to improve your process, our procurement experts have shared their advice. 

Why conduct pre-tender market engagement?

  • understand your requirements better
  • explain your requirements to suppliers
  • write clearer requirements to publish to suppliers
  • understand how much the product or services you need could cost
  • understand how long it might take to implement the product or service
  • write a better business case for internal approval (governance) or spend controls 
  • encourage competition
  • ensure a good number of applications
  • ensure better applications 
  • stimulate innovative solutions to what you are trying to achieve through the procurement

What stage are you at?

Pre-tender market engagement or early market engagement can be carried out in a few ways, but generally falls into 2 categories: 

1. I don’t have draft requirements  

I want to gain a better understanding from the market about what is possible.

Things to consider: 

  • is there something already in the market? 
  • how have other public sector organisations solved a similar problem or addressed comparable requirements?  
  • how much is it likely to cost? 
  • what resources (such as staff, products or equipment) would be needed?
  • how long could the work or supply of products take? 

Invite all suppliers on the agreement(s) you’re considering using to engage – see the supplier lists for various agreements. Keep an audit trail of all communications.

2. I have draft requirements 

I want to warm up the market and give suppliers an understanding of my requirement.

Things to consider:

  • ensure all details shared state ‘DRAFT’
  • is there a different approach suppliers can suggest to the technical solution or product specification? 
  • how much is it likely to cost?
  • how long could the work or supply of products take? 
  • is the requirement to get best value for money? 
  • what essential criteria must suppliers have? 

Invite all suppliers on the agreement to engage – see the supplier lists for various agreements. Keep an audit trail of all communications.

Next steps

Choose a platform to contact suppliers

Email 

You could use your existing email platform or create an account on GOV.UK Notify. To do this, you will need to:

  • have a group mailbox for suppliers to respond to
  • invite other team members to activate your Notify account

eSourcing tool

You could use your organisation’s eSourcing tool if you have one, or we have a free eSourcing tool you can use for running procurements under our agreements. Using an eSourcing tool also allows you to ask suppliers questions in advance of a webinar or conference call with them in a more formal way that ensures transparency. 

Create a template email

You can email suppliers inviting them to attend a webinar or conference call as part of the engagement process. In your email, you should:

  • describe the type of suppliers you want to engage with – for example, what essential skills must they have and/or what product specification must they be able to offer?
  • provide a reasonable time limit for suppliers to respond 
  • provide any limitations on number of attendees, for example, first 500 suppliers to register

Webinar or conference platform

Consider your requirements for the engagement session when choosing your platform. Would running polls to gather quick feedback be helpful and does your existing or potential platform have this functionality? Would you want to split the attendees into groups? If you’re looking for a conferencing service, our previous guidance on this subject might help. 

Help and support

For further guidance and support email us with details of the product or service you are looking to buy and outline the type of advice you are looking for.

Building the NHS workforce

Many thousands of workers have rejoined the NHS to bolster our hospitals and a new generation of nurses have started their careers early to join the frontline in the fight against coronavirus. Millions took to the streets for the weekly clap for carers and people have been inspired and motivated to play their part joining the largest healthcare service in the world – building the NHS workforce of the future. 

In March, the Health Careers website saw a 223% increase in the number of people expressing an interest in a career in nursing, and more than 400,000 NHS job applications were submitted. 

2020 is the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. These individuals are vital to our health service. We need to recruit and retain people in these essential and rewarding roles. 

Building the NHS workforce

The NHS Workforce Alliance was formed to enable the NHS to deliver a sustainable workforce model. The alliance brings together the expertise of NHS Procurement in Partnership and Crown Commercial Service as the biggest public procurement partnership in the UK. As leaders in the field we are collectively working to raise the bar to help the NHS address the staffing crisis and achieve a sustainable workforce model. 

With the rise in numbers expressing an interest in becoming part of the NHS, we can help your trust recruit permanent staff domestically and internationally, run retention programmes, use NHS England / Improvement approved frameworks to source agency staff and get workforce consultancy and advice.

Every alliance partner has developed award-winning, accredited, cost saving, compliant agreements. And 4 out of the 5 partners are NHS organisations, so we understand the staffing and cost pressures faced by our health service. 

We provide the NHS with straightforward and compliant routes to market, as well as dedicated support and expert category advice to enable you to create and maintain a sustainable workforce. 

The range of frameworks in the alliance portfolio cover International Recruitment, Flexible Resource Pool – Staff Bank, Non-Clinical Temporary and Fixed Term Staff, National Clinical Staffing, eRostering, HR and Payroll Solutions and Workforce Support.

Can we help you to turn this surge of interest and new recruits into the NHS workforce and help you get the staff you need into your wards, clinics and offices?

Your local procurement partner

For more information, please contact your local procurement hub: