A free set of guidelines for buyers on how to use online auctions has been published by BuyIT, the e-procurement best practice network backed by the government and private industry.
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Selling e-procurement to the finance department is the most challenging part of its implementation for purchasing professionals, Moira Crabtree, purchasing director at insurance company Royal & SunAlliance, told delegates.
Government research body the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has signed a £31 million leasing contract in what is thought to be the first UK private finance initiative (PFI) shipping deal.
BAS signed the 15-year PFI contract with Norwegian Rieber Shipping to lease the 14-year-old icebreaking ship Polar Queen.
BAS signed the 15-year PFI contract with Norwegian Rieber Shipping to lease the 14-year-old icebreaking ship Polar Queen.
Stringent vetting of public-sector construction suppliers’ safety records is outlined in guidelines from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
BOC Gases has won top prize in the first Kelly’s Award for Excellence in Purchasing and Supply. The company topped the petrochemicals category and was named overall winner by the BBC’s John Humphrys at a black tie dinner at London’s Grosvenor House last week.
I enjoy reading these reports and this one I enjoyed more than most - not least because the author Paul Tucker declares early in the study that “knowledge management is not just for the IT department” and “IT will have a vital secondary role to play, but the primary enabler is the creation of a corporate culture that understands the importance and techniques of knowledge development”.
Purchasers must “put the passion back into procurement” to tackle the challenges and opportunities of the economic downturn, Robin Cammish, chief executive of the QP Group consultancy, told the CIPS conference.
Corporate travel consultancy Hogg Robinson is reorganising its procurement department, including adding more responsibilities for overseas operations, according to the company’s new director of procurement.
Purchasing managers fear that the troubled US economy has led to the weakest growth rate in UK private-sector services in two years, according to the latest CIPS report.
Partnering arrangements between buyers and suppliers could be under threat if the government’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill becomes law, industry experts have warned.