P4H - 13th July 2016 Birmingham NEC

I shall be presenting the Supplier Training Zone at P4H, the leading Procurement event supporting Operational productivity in the NHS run by BIP Solutions.  Which is a bit of a mouthful, but does describe what it is about.

It is free to the Public Sector, and £95 for private sector - but hopefully the training sessions alone compensate for that (not necessarily mine, of course - there are 3 other training zones as well).  The sessions I am running are not only applicable to the NHS, so there would be value in popping along if you supply other Public sector bodies too.

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)

Working with Procurement - Monday 10th February 2014

Further details as promised;

'Working with procurement’

10^th February 2014

Arthur Francis Lecture Theatre, Bradford University School of Management,

5.00 - 5.45pm registration - 5.45pm Evening speakers - 7.15pm Food - Networking.

After coffee on arrival, the evening offers you direct access to insights on this management theme through our speakers. Later, you can network with people over a nibble (or two) and share experiences. For us it’s not about the networking it’s about the knowledge and the insight we can all develop.

Speakers:

Paul Wright

Managing Director

PAWA Consulting

Jamie Ashton

Managing Director

Projex Solutions Ltd

This evening will examine strategy and purchasing within an organisation and also provide pointers on how to effectively engage in the tendering process, making the best of opportunities that present themselves to your business (particularly in dealing with larger businesses) and how to deal with them. Jamie Ashton will talk about the experience of SMEs working with larger  businesses and offer some thoughts on the best way to engage in supply chains and tendering opportunities.

For more information or to book on the event please contact:                                                                                                                      

ktnetwork@bradford.ac.uk

Business solutions and executive development opportunities from a Globally recognised Business School here in the heart of Yorkshire.

Number 1 Business School in the North of England (Financial Times).

In partnership with FSB

ERDF FUNDED consultancy support for Lincolnshire SMEs

MANAGE MY SPEND – SUSTAINABLE SME PURCHASING, AND BUSINESS TO BUSINESS COLLABORATION.

ERDF FUNDED CONSULTANCY SUPPORT IN LINCOLNSHIRE

SUSTAIN Lincolnshire is offering Small and Medium Enterprises in Lincolnshire help to be more economically sustainable. With the help of PAWA Consulting, Oakwell Management Services Ltd. is utilising a ‘Workbook’ approach to improving control over purchasing expenditure. The Workbook, co-authored by Ray Newell and John Kelly of Oakwell Management Services Limited, Professor Marc Day of Henley Management Centre, (Reading University), and supported by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, is a unique and innovative tool, designed specifically to help small business.

The Workbook is an ‘action’ document and is used in conjunction with consultancy support, delivered by expert associates who work directly with the client SME’s. The objective is to improve their purchasing techniques, emphasising economic sustainability to generate real savings for the business, and sharing experiences in a collaborative way.

Initially, the associate consultants visit the customer company and spend a short time with the Managing Director/Purchasing Manager to ascertain where help is required. This diagnosis is used to demonstrate how to improve procurement/purchasing process/s that are identified as ‘in need of enhancement’, and deploying experts for a maximum of two days fully funded consultancy support.

Oakwell are looking for an initial take up in Lincolnshire of somewhere in the region of 40+ companies.

This project is part of the SUSTAIN Lincolnshire programme, which is part funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), East Midlands Development Agency(emda)Single Programme and Lincolnshire County Council.

This is a great opportunity for Lincolnshire Businesses to obtain sustainable procurement support through Lincolnshire County Councils SUSTAIN project.

The project will help enhance small businesses that have purchasing as part of their daily routine, to make significant savings for their organisation, and allow them to collaborate with like minded organisations.

Eligibility criteria: Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) - Businesses of < 250 employees and < 50 million Euros turnover-Annual balance sheet under 43 million Euros, not more than quarter owned by a larger company

The project has a tight delivery horizon and therefore a quick response is critical. The project will finish at the end of September 2011.

Feel free to approach Oakwell, or you can approach me directly if you would like PAWA to deliver your consultancy support.

It is likely that in future there will be few of these fully funded projects, so I would encourage businesses to take the support now.

We are able to offer similar support to smes in the East Midlands, utilising the same workbook for the MATREC project.

Free Purchasing suport for SMEs

Through our partners at Oakwell Management Services, we are able to provide free purchasing consultancy to eligible smes in Lincolnshire through the SUSTAIN programme - click here for details. Businesses will be able to attend a number of seminars but more importantly to have one on one support to help them improve their procurement process.

Our element has to be completed by the end of September, and the number of places is strictly limited, so I strongly recommend signing up as quickly as possible. If for no better reason than that this sort of fully funded project is probably going to become very rare in the future. There is no contribution required apart from your time and committment.

What are the benefits? Well it is always possible that you are doing everything perfectly already, and there is nothing to improve. Generally though we find that there are easy to achieve improvements possible on the bottom line - they may be small in percentage terms, but who does not want to improve their profitability for lalmost no effort? In these difficult times a couple of percent on the profits is always welcome.

Often there are much bigger saving possible with a little effort, and large improvements in risk management.

Fuller details and a launch website will be available in a few days, but if you are interested please call me asap. This project is for companies in the Lincolnshire County Council catchment area - I hope you know whether that includes your business or not.

A similar scheme is being run on a limited basis in the East Midlands, called MATREC and focussing on materials businesses. If you want to know more, get in touch.