Local Authorities

We are specialists in understanding how to ensure Complex Supplier Relationships work brilliantly in Local Authorities. We optimise these relationships across many service areas so they deliver maximum value, consistently.

We know the Strategic Suppliers in the Local Authority marketplace, really well:

  • Their strengths. The key attributes of each Strategic Supplier and what internal client disciplines you will need to have in place so they can achieve your outcomes and objectives, quickly.

  • Their challengesComplex service delivery does not always go to plan. We can advise you on what diligence measures your team can put into place to assure these Strategic Suppliers deliver to your expectations.

  • Their contractual constraints. We know what most Strategic Suppliers will accept contractually, what they will not, and why. Our ‘Optimise’ process assures you can overcome these constraints and be fully contractually protected for fit for purpose services.

Key expectation you should have from Strategic and Complex Supplier Relationships:

  • Optimum value in service and solutions deliveryThese specialist suppliers represent themselves as ‘experts’ in their disciplines. Recent case law determines you can often rely on the supplier’s represented expertise to drive maximum value for money in your service delivery, even if your contract terms are ambiguous in terms of their responsibilities.

Benefits of using BPG to facilitate your Strategic Supplier Relationships

  • We know what practices work really well. Having optimised over 500 complex supplier relationships, we have deep expertise of trust building in relationships. We also have proven template documentation, including procurement structures, service requirements, agile fit for purpose contracts, implementation and operating governance, along with expertise in what actions you need to avoid to make sure your strategic supplier relationships achieve your outcomes, quickly.

Key Considerations when Local Authorities enter into Complex Supplier Relationships

How the BPG 'Optimise' Process delivers great Strategic Supplier Relationships

The BPG ‘Optimise’ Method is evidenced from over 500 complex supplier relationships. It shows there are 8 characteristics present in every successful complex relationship. We can help you successfully implement these quickly to improve service innovation, supplier relationships and drive down BAU costs.

Click here to see how the ‘Optimise’ process can help you drive maximum value in your strategic supplier relationships.

A few examples of the Strategic Suppliers we know well

  • 3m
  • Accenture
  • Action For Employment Ltd
  • Amey Group
  • A-One Integrated Highway Services
  • Aspire
  • Atkins
  • Atos Origin
  • Babcock International Group
  • Bae Systems
  • Balfour Beatty
  • Bfs Group
  • Birse Civils
  • BT Group
  • Bytes Technology Group
  • Capgemini
  • Capita
  • Carlson Wagonlit Travel
  • Computacenter
  • Costain-Skanska A14 Joint Venture
  • CSC
  • Deloittes
  • Dennis Eagle
  • Dtz Holdings
  • Enterprise
  • Ernst And Young
  • ESH Group
  • Ferrovial
  • Fujitsu Services
  • G4s
  • Galliford Try
  • Genesys Telecommunications
  • HCR Group Holdings
  • Heckler and Koch
  • Hewlett-Packard
  • IBM
  • Interserve Site Services
  • KBR
  • Keir Group
  • KPMG
  • Lakehouse
  • Land Securities Trillium
  • Logica
  • Man
  • Mantix
  • Mitie
  • Modus Services
  • Morgan Sindall
  • Morgan Vinci McAlpine Joint Venture
  • Purple Foodservice Solutions
  • Reed Specialist Recruitment
  • RMPA Holdings
  • Road Management Services
  • Seddon Group
  • Serco Group
  • Shaw Trust
  • Skanska UK
  • Sodexo
  • Steria
  • Turner & Co. (Glasgow)
  • Veolia
  • Vinci McAlpine Joint Ventureworking
  • Viridor
  • Wates Group
  • Willmott Dixon
  • Xerox

The Behaviours you should expect from a 'Good' Strategic Supplier Relationship

  • Objectives being met
  • Critical friend supplier
  • Inherent commercial trust
  • Sustained collaboration and innovation
  • Reduced service cost
  • High reputation with your peers
  • Internal team aligned
  • Services always aligned to outcomes
  • Flexible/agile contract structure
  • Evidenced based results

Typical Complex Supplier Relationship hurdles faced by Local Authorities

We’ve dealt with optimising over 500 complex supplier relationships. More than 50% of complex supplier relationships experience misunderstandings between client and supplier over your requirements and expectations.

If the right foundations are not in place to drive maximum value, you may experience:

  • Additional charges and costs for ‘misunderstood expectations’
  • A lack of understanding of contractual roles and responsibilities
  • Governance and performance escalation not clearly delineated
  • Senior client executives not being clear on their expectations and dynamics of the relationship
  • Not enough investment by senior executives in the resourcing or skills of the client supplier management team
  • Loss of key in-house expertise to the supplier (inadvertent staff poaching)
  • Employee resistance to new working methods from the supplier
  • Clashes of culture between client and supplier staff and so forth.

Operational challenges faced by Local Authorities

Local authorities are in the single largest financial crisis in their history. Budgets are continuing to reduce in cash as well as in real terms, demand and expectations on services are growing, and there continues to be significant financial pressure to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities across the population.

Responses to these challenges are continuing to be fairly well defined: improving productivity and impact through shared services, a ‘shift to prevention’ and more effective joint working with other public agencies, with the third sector and with communities. Also noted are that these changes are occurring against the backdrop of a fall in local government employment by 25% (800,000 employees) over the last 7 years, and an increase in net borrowing (£8.6bn in over the last two years). The key issues being faced include:

  • An ageing population (the pension-age population is forecast to rise by close to a third [34%] and the number of over-75s in the population is set to grow by 89% over the next 20 years).
  • Fragmented families
  • Housing affordability
  • Increasing pressure on social care and health services
  • Higher expectations of public service quality and convenience
  • Localised environmental risks around flooding and air pollution are expected to heighten
  • Greater fiscal devolution (will present opportunities to councils to ‘control their destiny’ as well as risks around the resilience of their local tax bases).

Advances in External Service Delivery

To support local authorities in their financial challenges of having to keep ahead and deal with the issues above, IT and technological innovations are being made to accelerate the move to digital self service for many of these services. In addition, strategic service partners in outsourcing services or providing shared services (whether public or private sector providers) are improving their approach to be more flexible and increasing the innovation quotient to improve external service delivery to help local authorities deal with these challenges.

What stage are you at in your Strategic Supplier Relationship?

New Supplier Relationship

You’re procuring or contracting and you need it to work really well.

Existing Supplier Relationship

You’re in a partnership that could be working better.

Broken Supplier Relationship

It’s gone wrong. You need help to exit a relationship early and safely transition to another.