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8 CRE
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New Supplier Diversity Guide from the Commission for Racial Equality
to win lucrative contracts with public authorities – local government alone spends over £ 40 billion a year on procurement- those who embrace supplier diversity will have a competitive edge
The Commission for Racial Equality( CRE) has recently launched a free guide for procurement professionals within large organisations. Produced for the CRE by the Centre for Research into Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship( CRÈME), the guide encourages large organisations to make the most of the rich diversity of businesses in Britain today. It presents a comprehensive business case for supplier diversity, as well as providing a practical guide to setting up a supplier diversity programme within your organisation.
According to Alan Christie, Director of Private Sector Policy at the CRE,“ These programmes encourage competition by allowing more suppliers to compete for contracts. This will lead to a better choice of suppliers and help organisations to meet their corporate social responsibilities.”
Focussing on‘ levelling the playing field’ for ethnic minority businesses( EMBs), the guide has been developed to help organisations assess their current procurement practices. It demonstrates how a‘ supplier diversity programme’- a systematic way of ensuring you consider the full range of businesses capable of meeting your needs – can be of benefit to your organisation.
The guide is based on current best practice, and features real life case studies from organisations such BT and Miller Construction describing their experiences of implementing a supplier diversity programme. It also includes the perspectives of ethnic minority businesses that have benefited from this process. An example from the public sector is the Environment Agency, who have taken a number of steps to reduce the barriers for SMEs and EMBs wanting to bid for contracts. At a national level, the Environment Agency now spends nearly £ 34 million( or 7.5 per cent) of its annual expenditure with EMBs.
For organisations wanting to win lucrative contracts with public authorities – local government alone spends over £ 40 billion a year on procurement- those who embrace supplier diversity will have a competitive edge. As public authorities have a duty to promote race relations under the Race Relations Act 1976, they will look to ensure that their suppliers also meet the requirements under the duty. If your organisation has an active supplier diversity programme this will make you an attractive supplier to public sector organisations looking to meet their legal duties.
Transport for London is one such organisation that included terms within its invitation to tender for the development of the £ 1 billion East London Line project, to provide fair opportunities for smaller suppliers, especially EMBs who have in the past found it difficult to enter the system for bidding for contracts. Similar terms may become requirements for any 2012 Olympics related procurement opportunities.
Supplier Diversity: A guide for purchasing organisations is available to download free from www. cre. gov. uk / supplierdiversity engage | uk ISSUE FOUR 2007