Emma Gillespie and Chris Lay

The Procurement Agency for Essex (PAE) was formed in 2004 by the Chief Executives of the Essex Councils to “transform procurement in Essex through the promotion and facilitation of collaboration across Essex”.

The PAE members (14 Essex local authorities and the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service) work together to share procurement information and expertise, placing collaborative contracts and generally reducing duplication through visibility and collaborative working practices, thereby achieving greater procurement efficiencies. The PAE also actively promotes and maintains high procurement standards across Essex.

A key aim, identified by the PAE was to reduce the administrative burden on member organisations and their suppliers.

The potential for a supplier portal was identified as a way of providing a single solution for:

In late 2007, the PAE launched its own procurement portal, www.paessex.gov.uk, in partnership with BiP Solution’s, using BiP’s “Project” and Select services.

Project provides the PAE members with the facility to create submit and manage contract notices and awards, including OJEU and lower-value contract formats. The PAE also set up a collaborative database of notices placed across Essex to monitor notices placed and to assist with collaborative procurement initiatives.

Select is the national pre-qualification accreditation service for the public sector and is fully compliant with the EU Treaty, EC Public Procurement Directives and UK Regulations. Additionally, BiP Select has been fully endorsed by the Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO). Members of the PAE have full access to this supplier database and the associated supplier management tools.

BiP Select provides buyers with a formalised mechanism for assessment of pre-qualification documentation, which is an integral part of the majority of tendering exercises. Public sector organisations require assurance that potential suppliers across the EU are suitable to tender for public contract opportunities in terms of their legal, financial and technical capacity.

There are two Select registration options for suppliers to consider:

Select Accredit - third party accreditation to a recognised government standard set by the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

Select Certify - allows suppliers to certify themselves by providing and verifying their own pre-qualification documentation.

Emma Gillespie of the PAE stated: “The PAE identified the need for an efficient and uniform method of advising suppliers of contract opportunities and for carrying out supplier pre-qualification. After a detailed market survey of possible providers, it was decided that the BiP Select service most suited the needs of the PAE and its members.

“The simple and structured approach adopted by the Select service is inclusive to all suppliers, and therefore instantly affords all suppliers the opportunity to be advised of contract notices and to potentially begin the tendering process with any of the authorities in the PAE and beyond.”

Chris Lay, current Chairman of the PAE, stated:” This tool helps suppliers do business with a large proportion of the Essex public sector market, reduces bureaucracy on both sides and adds clarity to the process”.