Introduction to Public Procurement - CIPS - Manchester 2nd July 2019

There are a handful of places left for the next CIPS Introduction to Public Procurement at Manchester airport Radisson on Tuesday 2nd July 2019.

Full booking details are here.

In this course I will deal with the current common UK public procurement processes.

Future courses are in Edinburgh in September, and London in November. 2019

Introduction to Public Sector Procurement.

I am running the Introduction to Public Sector Procurement for CIPS in Manchester on 26th June 2018.  Full details are here.

Next one after that will be Edinburgh on 28th September (adapted to Scottish public procurement regulations, but also suitable for English, Welsh and Northern Irish delegates).  Then 20th November in London.

The last 2 courses will also have a second day going into more detail about some of the less common procurement routes such as Competitive Dialogue - Applying the Public Procurement Regulations.

The London event will also have the third part of the programme - the Future of Public Procurement.

Alternatively you could go for a 3 day course combining all 3 days, with a bit of extra stuff, in the Public Sector Skills Programme which we like to call the Summer school in public procurement - London 7/9 August, Manchester 21-23 August, and Edinburgh 4-6 September.

Hope to see you at some (but not all).

Procurex North - Manchester 24th April 2018

Tomorrow is Procurex North in Manchester at Manchester Central (which is part of the G-Mex complex).  Free to people working in the public sector.  Details here.

In the afternoon I am talking in the Winning Tenders Zone - so you can adapt your plans accordingly (listen or avoid).

There are a lot of good speakers during the day - especially in the Keynote Arena.  

Hope to see you there.

Procurex South - now onto Procurex North in Manchester 24th April 2018

Had a really good time at Procurex South.  Thanks to Twitter posters for the photos. Lots of questions from delegates, which I hope I managed to answer.  Good buzz around the place.  Got to get away from the stand to hear very interesting bit from Professor Sue Arrowsmith on Public Procurement implications of Brexit.  Her paper for the European Parliament last year is still the state of the art.  Current situation is wait and see but don't expect major changes in the near future.

And so onto Procurex North in Manchester on 24th April 2018 - full details here.  I am again running the Winning Tenders training zone.  Hopefully with new insights, or at least new jokes.

Hope to see you there.

CIPS Public Sector Skills Programme

CIPS are running a series of Summer schools on Public Sector Procurement.  These 3 days that should give a good grounding in UK Public Procurement, and they expand on the two single day courses we run as open training.

Bravely I am leaving the last session to talk about Brexit.  Wish me luck. 

I shall be running all of them, though CIPS is shy of mentioning that - obviously not wanting to put people off.

Full details are available here.

Dates and venues (non-residential) are;

18-20 July 2017
Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, London

29-31 August 2017
Radisson Blu Hotel, Manchester Airport

13-15 September 2017
Radisson Blu Hotel, Edinburgh

CIPS Introduction to Public Sector Procurement - Manchester 17th May 2017

I shall be running the CIPS Introduction to Public Sector Procurement at the Radisson, Manchester airport on 17th May 2017.  Details here.

This is for people newly involved in Public Sector Procurement, or those with more experience looking for a better understanding of the underlying structures and the processes.

Always a good event.  Hope to see you there.

I am not always sure that people realise that this is day 1 of 2 that we run together - the second part is Applying EU Procurement Processes, and looks in more detail at the common and less common procurement processes such as DPS, Competitive Dialogue etc.  I believe there is a discount for booking both. 

Procurex North - Manchester

A good event - I had a bit more time than usual to wonder the stands and meet up with friends old and new, such as Susan Rashid and Greg Jackson of Supply Chain Consultants - really good CIPS study centres.

My stint was quite short, and I will probably doing more at Procurex South at Olympia 20th April 2017.

Procurex North - Manchester 21st March 2017

Today is Procurex North in Manchester.  Hope to see you there.  I shall be running the Winning Tenders sessions from 12:20.  Feel free to come along and ask awkward questions.
If you can't make this Procurex South is 20th April 2017 at London Olympia.

12.20 - 12.45

 

Introduction to Public Procurement

+

12.50 - 13.15

 

Complying with the standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ)

+

13.20 - 13.45

 

Tenderers’ Common Mistakes

+

13.50 - 14.15

 

Addressing Sustainability in Your Tenders

+

Procurex North Manchester Central 21st March 2017

The seasons are turning, and as well as the cherry blossom, Procurex is coming around again.

The first is Procurex North at Manchester Central (next to GMex) on 21st March.

Looks good to me - but then again I am biased as I am running 4 training sessions.  Fewer than usual, so it gives me a chance to actually see some of the other interesting sessions.

Full details are here.   It is free for Public Sector delegates, and £95 for the private sector.

Hope to see you there - I do have more free time than usual so look forward to chatting.  Or wittering on - take your pick.

Writing a Tender Specification - Course, Manchester 29th November 2016

I'm stepping in for Eddie Regan, who has another course at short notice, to present Writing a Tender Specification in Manchester on Tuesday 29th November 2016.  Fuller details are here.

Usually a very interesting event - throws up quite a few questions, and of course the main issue is that if we don't have the right specification the procurement almost certainly fails to deliver the right outcome.

It might be my last UK course in 2016 - should be a good one.

Introduction to Public Procurement - Manchester 4th October 2016

Finally got a few days without either courses or (looming) deadlines, so have found time to report that I am stepping in for Eddie Regan at BIP Solutions to run the Introduction to Public Procurement course in Manchester on 4th October 2016.  It is pretty full, and after that the next ones are in Edinburgh in November and London in December, for which normal service will be resumed and Eddie will be the presenter.

Training course: Applying EU Procurement Processes, Manchester, 30th June 2016

This is the second of 2 single days from CIPS covering the fundamentals of Public sector procurement in the EU.  Which on that date we still will be, though we might not be some time later.  Whatever happens in the referendum though these regulations will be with us for the next few years.

It does help if you have attended the first of these days, but it is not essential - particularly if you have some experience. 

In this course we look in more detail at some of the less usual procurement processes, such as Innovation Partnerships, and flesh out a bit more of the surrounding requirements we outlined in day 1.

You can do both days in a row or spread them out to suit yourself.

Full details are here.

Hope to see you at one or the other - or even both.

Training Course: CIPS Introduction to Public Procurement, Manchester, 29th June 2016

This is the one day Introduction to Public Procurement, covering all the basics.  Venue is the Radisson Blu at Manchester airport which is fairly easy to get to (there is a bus station, train station and it is just off the motorway).

People have liked it so far, so hope to see you there.

Procurex North 8th March 2016 in Manchester

Hope to see you there.  I have a rather full dance card of presentations. I  hope not to overrun.  I shall be in the Supplier Training Zone from 1pm (and a few other odds and ends before that)

Procurex North: Manchester 8th March 2016

Apologies for the lack of posting, but I have been rather busy on a number of rather interesting training programmes that I hope to be able to tell you about later.  They should be continuing throughout this year (and maybe next) so I do hope to get clearance from the client.

One thing I can mention though is that I shall once again be presenting at Procurex North in Manchester on 8th March 2016.  I shall be running one of the training zones (not sure which one yet), but more importantly Sally Collier Chief Executive of the Crown Commercial Service will be giving one of the key note speeches.  I'll forgive you if you listen to her rather than me.

Hope to see you there.

The new season: Contract Management and Compliant PQQ courses in Manchester 16/17 September 2015

It's not just football that has a new season.  We always have a relatively quiet summer for training, and then things pick up again in September.  Like the transfer window a few things are usually up in the air till the last minute.

But, I can confirm that I shall be running a couple of courses for BIP Solutions Pass Training in Manchester this month
Wednesday 16th September I shall be running Drafting a Compliant PQQ - which is a rather interesting topic given the changes to PQQs this year.
Thursday 17th September it is Contract Management - which is a topic that I know I always drone on about, but has always been vitally important and given the changes in the PCR 2015 will now be even more important than before.

Both are at the Renaissance Marriot in Manchester, just off Deansgate and down the hill a bit from Harvey Nichols (in case you need any more incentive to come along), next to a multi-storey car park.

Hope to see you there.  Now where is that suit and tie?

Further Public Contracts Regulations 2015 courses

My colleagues at BIP Solutions have got just a few more courses to run before we have a bit of a break for the summer.  The Autumn is pretty packed for me both in the UK and overseas, so I am reasonably pleased that we have a time to regroup before then . We shall be tweaking the courses as we become clearer about the new PCR2015, and what people want to know about it.

In the meantime I shall be presenting the existing (and already modified) event in Manchester next Tuesday 23rd June 2015 at the Marriott Renaissance - details here.  Last time we ran this event in Manchester it sold out - so I hope there will still be room for you if you want to go along.  We always take a few extra copies just in case.

The next day (Wednesday 26th June 2015) I shall be running the event at the Thistle in Newcastle Upon Tyne, and then that will be it for me for open courses in June.  One of my colleagues will be running the event in London on the 25th (at the very nice Kingsway hotel)

Procurex North #PXNorth

Procurex North #PXNorth was what I did yesterday.  And great fun it was too.  Apparently I don't look anything like my picture.  Full houses all round until the last (repeat) time, and lots of questions and one to one sessions to fill in that awkward time between sessions that I would otherwise have wasted resting, eating my lunch or checking my notes for the next session...

Thankfully nothing I couldn't answer, despite the newness of the regulations - and some genuinely interesting news about a new innovation partnership in the North West which will a) be one of the first (if not the first) and b) of great potential value.  Hope to hear and share more later.

Procurex South is 10th March and has the added advantage of Digby Barker in the Supplier zone rather than me - I am running Contract Management in Southampton that day if you want to come along.

Oh, and the Yang Sing restaurant is just as good as it was when I lived in Manchester a dozen years ago.  Great night out.

New EU regulations and Procurex North

Procurex North is this week at Manchester Central on Thursday 26th  February.  Which just happens to be the day that the new UK Procurement regulations come into force for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  So bound to be lots to discuss - and a lot of reading, rereading and arguing for us consultants to make sure we understand it before then.  Or at least think we understand it.

Procurex North is free if you are in the Public Sector, and £95 if you are in the private sector.  Hope to see you there in the Supplier zone.  I hope you will be gentle with your questions - or rather be as rough as you like with the questions but be forgiving of my answers.

Procurex North Manchester 26th February 2015

It all seems to be Manchester this month.  Which suits me - always great to go back.
As mentioned in an earlier blog I shall be taking part in Procurex North at Manchester Central on Thursday 26th February 2015.  For those who don't recognise the location, it is the conference centre formerly known as GMex, where I once saw Prince - back when he was "the artist formally known as Prince".  Parking underneath GMex, sorry Manchester Central, tram  stop Deansgate-Castlefield, (formerly known as GMex) or St. Peter's Square (still called that as far as I know)

I shall be running the Supplier Training Zone (details here) looking at the new EU procurement regulations which are coming in (literally) any day now, sustainability and selection criteria. 

There will also be a Buyer's training zone, an E-enablement zone (where I hope to be able to sneak in to hear the latest about procurement cards), and keynote speeches from Sir Howard Bernstein (Chief Exec of Manchester City Council, and one of the architects of the great development of Manchester over the past 20 years),  Jim Hemmington (head of procurement at the BBC - don't forget to ask questions about Salford), Sally Collier (Chief Exec of the Crown Commercial Service) and several other speakers.
Plus the usual array of exhibition stands.

Always a great event - hope to see you there.