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The Smart Way to use Input, Output and Outcome Specifications to get the Most from your Suppliers

Large, complex contract relationships are notoriously difficult to predict successful outcomes on. Many will make it through to a successful conclusion, some will fail spectacularly, and others will quietly underachieve. In this article we examine the smart way to use…

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6 Steps to Improving Health and Social Care Outcomes at Lower Costs

The following post focuses on one of the key issues explored in our white paper on improving Health and Social Care Services and significantly reducing costs. Download your free copy here. Improving health and social care outcomes, while significantly reducing…

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Strategic supplier innovation; how the world’s most successful organisations stay ahead

‘Harmony’ is one of the elements that is good for business. However, the further reality is that there needs to be a little ‘constructive tension’ in any organisation, to challenge accepted norms, alongside the freedom to express these challenges to…

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How to drive savings through better Outsourcing Relationship Management

Have your outsourcing relationships always followed a textbook flow from selection to outsourcing relationship management and finally to successful conclusion? Perhaps not; life just isn’t that simple. Critical strategic supplier and partner relationships are difficult, complicated and ever-changing, and as…

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Your ERP Project – Is your Systems Integrator really doing its job?

Our expert witness work in the High Courts often highlights problems with ERP project implementations. We receive and give evidence that explains what has gone wrong with the implementation of an ERP solution and why. Ironically, these unique insights into…

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5 tips to save your digital transformation project

It will not come as news to you that the vast majority of complex, large-scale digital transformation projects fail. This will happen for a litany of reasons, but against such a backdrop, the most important question is that if you recognise…

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6 ways to speed up the procurement process while effectively managing risk

Post Brexit, consultations continue over efficiency changes to the public sector procurement process. However, until we are informed otherwise, the EU procurement regulations remain inherent within UK legislation. No matter whether or when changes are introduced (or whether you are…

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5 tips to quickly get your stakeholders on board with digital transformation

When you are looking for a fit for purpose solution partner to help you on your digital transformation journey, how much of your focus is on the systems versus the likely effect on the business change that solution may cause…

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What knowledge and skills does a good ICF team require?

The size, structure, skills and expertise of an Intelligent Client Function (ICF) team will depend upon the nature and scale of the supplier relationship, the business outcomes to be achieved and the criticality of the service being delivered. As services are added or removed to/from…

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Buying digital transformation services and technology? 3 steps to success

Why read this post? It will help you sanity check your approach to buying digital transformation services and/or supporting solutions that may involve significant integration complexities. Why misunderstandings arise when buying digital transformation services In over 85% of the Expert…

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How to Make Shared Services Work For You: 5 Key Steps

Shared services can offer significant benefits – including improved savings, continuity and quality of service, systems and scalability – but only if you can overcome the challenges that will naturally appear when you ask service user parties with different goals,…

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The 4 Step Procurement Strategy to Minimising Risk and Maximising Value

It has never been more important for your project to have a robust, tried and tested procurement strategy that you can rely on. Agreement on a roadmap for the way you conduct your procurement project is essential to ensure all…

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Exiting a complex project or outsourcing agreement? 4 steps to exit (and transition) success

When looking to transition from one complex project or outsourcing agreement (including the supplier) to another, one of the key issues we find is that all too often organisations try to ‘fill in the gaps’ from what was being delivered…

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Drafting Collaborative Behaviours into a Fit for Purpose Contract

What is a ‘fit for purpose contract’? And how can it really drive collaborative behaviour? When it comes to complex projects and service delivery relationships, the aim of a fit for purpose contract is for it to provide the operating foundations to drive…

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Pre-contractual Due Diligence: How to validate a supplier’s sales pitch

Before signing up to new contracts – especially large ones – a round of pre-contractual due diligence is something that should never be skimped on, skirted around or ignored. Due diligence is the safety net that assures your supplier ‘asks you the…

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10 Key Behaviours for Successful Collaborative Joint Working

Joint working is often a product of financial necessity. However, it should also be viewed through a benefits lens – organisations coming together to generate and invest in much more innovative practices. Strategic alliances can be formed between multiple clients…

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Insourcing Services: What are the typical challenges and foundations for success?

There are many reasons why you might consider Insourcing services or a function that has previously been delivered by an external third-party provider. We look at the typical challenges organisations face when undertaking the decision to insource and the foundations…

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How to create an evaluation framework for procurement tenders

The creation of an evaluation framework for public sector procurements is something that I cannot stress the importance of enough; not only is a good evaluation framework the only way to accurately measure the relative merits (or otherwise) of submitted…

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The Government’s Sourcing Playbook; what’s good, what’s missing and what you should be implementing today

Why read this article? Key takeaways: There are 13 key subject areas of great practical importance which the government’s ‘Sourcing Playbook’ recommends in order to help drive maximum value in these complex projects and relationships. The first half of this…

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Why do I need a procurement consultant for complex procurement projects?

In this article, you should find everything you need to know about procurement services (including strategic procurement), procurement and contracting strategies, and procurement consultants and advisors. It will also offer guidance on whether external advice for procurement might be helpful…

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What is a strategic partnership?

In this ‘Back to Basics’ article, we’ll answer the question ‘What is a strategic partnership?’ by being clear about what distinguishes strategic partnerships from other types of supplier relationships. We’ll look at some common features of strategic partnerships, the potential…

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Collective Bargaining – 3 steps to making it work really well

If an individual or small group of employees wants better pay, healthcare or changes to other terms of employment, they may highlight this to you, their employer. But how seriously will you take their request (barring the nature of the…

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FAQ: How do I protect our services if our strategic partner is sold?

While change can be worrying, often it’s the anxiety surrounding a prospective change in the status of your strategic suppliers/partners which can cause more uncertainty. Therefore, rapid, inciteful and accurate information to determine the validity and severity of an issue…

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NAO report: The importance of early market engagement for strategic digital projects

While there has been a tendency towards agile principles and approaches within procurement in recent years – often to compensate for unknown ‘unknowns’ at the outset of a project – in complex strategic projects it is usually far more cost…

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NAO report: How ICF can spark greater innovation and commercial trust

The relationship you create, nurture and commit to with your strategic supplier partner(s) has the potential to drive the right behaviours to generate sustained dedication to innovation. In turn, this often helps you achieve your ultimate business outcomes more quickly…

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NAO report: The importance of building a sound business case for digital projects

You may be looking for a way to achieve better value and success from your digital transformation projects. A good source of inspiration would be a recent NAO report on the topic – The challenges in implementing digital change. It…

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6 Steps to Smarter KPIs to Achieve Your Business Outcomes

It is easy to say that SMART KPIs must clearly align to business objectives and to state that your business vision and your business objectives must be clearly articulated, however, the process needs focus and collaborative input and agreement from…

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Complex projects: Is your supplier balancing your interests with its own?

A collaborative partnership in complex projects can only exist where a fair and balanced spread of interests and value is achieved between the parties. In other words, good partnerships exist in an environment where mutual interests are not only sought…

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11 Tips for Good Contract Management Strategies to Drive Success in Major Projects

Many of our blogs refer to the importance of not only entering larger contracts in the right way but also the equal, if not greater, importance of managing these contracts and the providers they are with, once they are in…

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Brilliant, shared services partnership model designed to generate exceptional outcomes

The South East Lincolnshire Councils Shared Services Partnership is stated to be a “ground breaking”, “bold and ambitious” new alliance between the Boston, East Lindsey and South Holland councils – the largest collaborative local authority relationship of its kind in…

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What is a supplier’s Duty to Warn?

One of the key factors in creating a successful supplier relationship is to understand that the written contract terms with your supplier do not represent the final word on how your partnership should be maintained. If your supplier represents itself…

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The BPO market: 19 lessons learned from its past, present and future

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market in the UK today is worth c.£16bn and is expected to rise to c.£20bn over the next five years. It currently employs over 200,000 people in around 32,000 businesses and allows user-organisations across the…

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What Documents Support Effective Contract Management?

The foundation of effective contract management is a suite of essential documents which allow managers to keep track of performance and expenditure on their contracts, while dramatically reducing the time required to do so. Key documents that support effective contract…

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8 future trends for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market

This is the final article in a series which has charted the rise of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market and technology outsourcing, from its early days and the aspirations of those who developed this new way of working across…

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What is the current state of play in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market?

We have come a very long way since the early days of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market, but how much: has really changed for the better; and conversely, have ‘improvements’ been seen to have, in reality, just papered over…

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How the outsourcing market has evolved over the last 20 years

You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been, as they say. So, by taking a look back at the origins of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and how the outsourcing market has evolved and…

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NAO report on the challenges of implementing digital change: Flexible contracting

In July the NAO published a cross-governmental lessons-learned report dedicated to the question of how to ensure that when implementing digital change, major projects have a greater opportunity to achieve a positive outcome. It’s a vital document, seeing as the…

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What are a client’s best practice roles and responsibilities in contract and supplier management?

Effective contract and supplier management involves a number of facets. At its core, though, are two fundamental points: Define and maintain a clear purpose with your strategic contractor/supplier, so that roles and responsibilities between you remain aligned to the business…

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Professional Services Pricing – How do Best Practice Group’s fees work?

Your Challenge – You are overseeing a major project that involves a significant service delivery transformation or the procurement of a complex IT solution. You may be engaging in a new strategic supplier relationship or need to improve one that is…

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13 steps to building and maintaining a successful outsourcing partnership

Articles on the subject of a successful outsourcing partnership tend to deal with the timeline in segments – some will talk about essentials at the inception stage, while others will wax lyrical about ways to keep your supplier on your…

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Free Guide: The 5 Steps to Successful Strategic Commissioning

Download our free guide and learn the 5 Steps to Successful Strategic Commissioning

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Making Strategic Supplier Relationships Work - Best Practice Group

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