News

Meet the Buyer 2020 Round-up: Scottish Government

Construction and SMEs with the Scottish Government Meet the Buyer 2020

On 2 June, the Supplier Development Programme (SDP) organised virtual activities to mark the occasion of what would have been the 12th annual Meet the Buyer event. While the face-to-face event was postponed, SDP carried out a “Twitter Takeover” of its account with buyers from Fife Council, East Renfrewshire Council, South Ayrshire Council and Scottish Government Procurement. This social media activity was complemented by two free SDP tender training webinars on Dynamic Purchasing Systems and Frameworks with Scotland Excel, and a “how-to” interactive session on using Public Contracts Scotland, the national public sector tender portal for Scotland. This round-up outlines what was said during the Scottish Government's Twitter Takeover of the SDP Twitter account as part of Meet the Buyer 2020: Live Virtual Event activities.

Scottish Government Procurement used the time on the SDP Twitter account to discuss the topic “Construction and SMEs.” Scott Bell from the Scottish Procurement and Property Directorate in the Scottish Government was joined by Graham Porteous, Head of Construction Procurement Policy Unit, Elisabeth Stark, Head of Manufacturing and Construction, and Colin Proctor, Director of Construction Industry and Delivery at Scottish Futures Trust.

Right away, there was a Tweet from FMB Scotland that linked construction, recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, and the green agenda.

Opening Tweet

In response to the Scottish Government's opening tweet, FMB Scotland asked another question that many would like an answer to, regarding when Phase 2 of the restart plan will begin. From the SDP account, Scottish Government Procurement tweeted that it is monitoring population health data that will inform when future steps can be taken.

Safety and Quality

The Scottish Government then tweeted about getting the construction sector back to work safely.

There was also a focus on quality of construction works, once the construction sector is back to work, in the Scottish Government's tweets.

Construction Policy Notes

The Scottish Government tweeted about the importance of effective planning for recovery in the construction sector, with an emphasis on a project pipeline to ensure continuity of work.

Scottish Government also linked to the latest guidance document available to date, which was updated on 28 May 2020.

There was additional emphasis placed on progressing construction recovery by proactively addressing risks to the market and contractors by the Scottish Government procurement officials.

Construction Scotland

Construction Scotland was given a mention by Scottish Government in a tweet that pointed to its Construction Re-Start Plan, which describes the construction industry re-start plan in more detail.

Additional Policy

Scottish Government officials returned to more emphasis on Construction Policy Notes on the recommencement of construction work, Project Bank Accounts, reopening of construction sites and managing disputes.

Another tweet pointed to a Scottish Government Procurement Blog on relaxing wet signatures for Project Bank Accounts to facilitate their use in the construction sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.

More policy advice highlighted managing disputes and maintaining cash flow.

Scottish Futures Trust

Scottish Government also mentioned Scottish Futures Trust as it turned to the role of technology and infratech in innovation of new ways of working in the construction sector.

Final Tweets

The Scottish Government asked if there were any final questions, but there were none forthcoming!

Scott Bell from the Scottish Procurement and Property Directorate in the Scottish Government, Graham Porteous, Head of Construction Procurement Policy Unit, Elisabeth Stark, Head of Manufacturing and Construction, and Colin Proctor, Director of Construction Industry and Delivery at Scottish Futures Trust then turned control of the SDP Scotland Twitter account back to Gillian Cameron, Programme Manager of the Supplier Development Programme.

Analytics

During one hour, the Scottish Government sent 19 tweets from the SDP Scotland Twitter account during Meet the Buyer 2020: Live Virtual Event. The tweets earned 5,328 impressions (the number of times users saw a Tweet on Twitter) and 187 engagements (total number of times a user interacted with a Tweet). The Scottish Government's tweets earned 15 retweets, 28 likes and three replies.

Further Information

The 2021 Meet the Buyer event is scheduled to take place on 8 June 2021 at the EICC. For more information, contact the Supplier Development Programme by email at info@sdpscotland.co.uk.

Share this page

SDP Scotland logo Loading