Procurement and commercial specialist JPS celebrates another major milestone
FEATURE
Knowledge – JPS founder Steven Johnson with , left , Matthew Thornton and , right , Niall Douglas and Maurice Johnson .
PROACTIVE PROCUREMENT
Procurement and commercial specialist JPS celebrates another major milestone
WORDS : PHIL TALLENTIRE PICTURE : CHRIS BOOTH
Back in November 2016 , Steven Johnson bravely took the plunge and set up his own business .
That decision has paid off handsomely and , eight years later , his thriving firm – Johnson Procurement Solutions ( JPS ) – has celebrated another birthday while looking ahead to an extremely bright future .
Steven decided to establish his own company after a successful career in the procurement and commercial sector , where he worked for several blue-chip organisations .
He amassed a wealth of knowledge that enabled him to set up JPS with a desire to add value , offer exceptional performance and provide an integrated service for clients .
Reflecting on his company ’ s impressive progress , Steven said : “ We have achieved our eighth year in business and are embarking on our ninth and while it hasn ’ t always been plain sailing , based on the current trajectory of the business we are very optimistic about the future and our strategic direction .
“ With projects already secured for 2025 in Teesside , the North-East and the North- West , plus a strong pipeline of project opportunities , we believe our forecasted growth plans will be easily achieved .”
Steven adds : “ JPS support clients throughout the UK . We are also extremely proud to work with Teesside-based clients including WSP , Johnson Matthey , px Group and Worley .”
JPS ’ s strategic focus is capital project delivery , providing support to both end clients and Tier 1 contractors in the oil and gas , energy and pharma sectors .
The firm offers a wide range of services that benefit clients . Capital project procurement includes establishing the most appropriate procurement strategy for a project and fully managing the procurement invitation to tender ( ITT ) process , as well as expediting all capital equipment , works packages and bulk materials .
JPS provides post-contract commercial management and quantity surveyor ( QS ) support , ensuring payments and variations are correctly managed in line with the agreed contract conditions , while also mitigating risk .
The company also offers support at the early stages of a project with market engagement during the engineering feed process and provides market pricing to support the total investment costs ( TIC ).
JPS is based at Aycliffe Business Park and Steven , who hails from Darlington , currently has a team of five , although he anticipates the number of employees will grow significantly in 2025 thanks to an expanding order book .
An exciting future now awaits the company – but things weren ’ t looking too rosy in 2020 , when the pandemic significantly impacted Steven ’ s fledgling firm .
“ Covid wasn ’ t fun ,” he admits . “ We had a different model back then , but when we hit Covid we literally got closed down
For more information visit jps-procurementsolutions . com .
overnight .” Steven battled through that significant setback and is now reaping the rewards for providing customers with an exceptional standard of service .
JPS was launched to help smaller organisations achieve best in best-inpractice processes , but since Covid has mainly focused on larger companies .
Explaining JPS ’ s role within a project , Steven said : “ We work for end-user clients or Tier 1 contractors .
“ They contract us to manage the full procurement cycle for the project , taking the engineering information to the market in the most efficient way and in line with the procurement strategy , ensuring nondisclosure agreements are in place and setting up robust terms and conditions which support project delivery and mitigate risk .
“ We go to the market with a formal invitation to tender and fully manage that process . We then complete the commercial review liaising with their technical team and handle all negotiations as part of that process and then present the client with a formal recommendation for award .
“ Once approved , we will place the contract from that point . And then we will build the post-contract commercial QS management onto that package as well .
“ We ’ re a one-stop-shop when it comes to that point . We take control . It ’ s our people , our boots on the ground supporting the client to deliver the project .”
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