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Meet the Buyer 2021: 2,000 suppliers registered for largest, free procurement event in Scotland

Meet the Buyer queue

Tomorrow (8 June), the Supplier Development Programme will hold a free online business event, Meet the Buyer 2021. The 12th Annual event will take place as a live, virtual event. Headline partners include the Scottish Government and Scotland Excel.

The Chair of the Supplier Development Programme, Councillor Heather Brannan-McVey, will deliver a keynote welcome, followed by Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism & Enterprise, who will deliver an opening address to the online event.

The virtual platform will showcase three agendas, with virtual presentations and live Q&A sessions, themed on inclusive growth, sustainability and innovation, and community wealth building.

Businesses across Scotland will learn details of upcoming public sector contract opportunities with The City of Edinburgh Council, Fife Council, Dundee City Council, Perth & Kinross Council, Angus Council and the Glasgow City Region City Deal.

Representatives from 27 of the 32 Scottish local authorities will be on hand at virtual exhibition stands throughout the day for you to meet and talk through their plans and projects, as well as wider council capital investment programmes, outlining what contracts are coming up to award and when.

Gillian Cameron, SDP Programme Manager, said:

“Meet the Buyer 2021 is the largest, free national procurement event in Scotland. It means taking one day from the demands of running a business to network and make connections with public sector buyers and decision makers from across Scotland and the wider UK.

“The Supplier Development Programme makes a crucial link between the public sector’s procurement strategic aims and operational practices, to help small businesses understand how to feature inclusive practices in their tenders, like Fair Work, addressing climate change, health and safety, community benefits and more.”

During the event, Glasgow City Region City Deal will formally launch the latest contract pipeline for its £1 billion City Deal infrastructure programme including details of over £150 million worth of tier one infrastructure contracts due to go to open tender in the coming three years.

Councillor Susan Aitken, Chair of the Glasgow City Region Cabinet and Leader of Glasgow City Council, said:

“Our City Deal is helping to protect the Region’s jobs and businesses from the impacts of Covid-19. In fact, to date local companies have benefitted from over £110 million worth of City Deal contracts.

“This event will give our partner councils the chance to engage with the business community at different stages of project timelines to tell them about upcoming contract opportunities.

“I’d urge local businesses in these industries to register for this free online event to find out more and to hear what support is available.”

The contract pipeline was issued before the event so that relevant businesses get advance notice of contracts coming up that they could either bid for or which they are already on a framework for – and then register to attend the event to find out more.

There will also be presentations from headline partner Scotland Excel on the theme, "It’s your world – take control," as well as BASE: "Scotland's Supported Businesses at the Heart of Scotland's Social & Economic Recovery" and SDP affiliate member PfH Scotland on its EESSH2 Framework. Suppliers will hear from Robertson FM on joining its supply chain, and RJ McLeod and Banks Group will present on opportunities related to the Kype Muir Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire.

The Food and Drink sector will be represented in two presentations from Soil Association Scotland and Scotland Excel on the theme, "Local and Sustainable Sourcing in Scotland’s School Meals - How can suppliers get involved?" as well as the chance to win £25K of in-kind prizes to showcase your business's innovation and creativity in food and drink through the STV Green Fund-backed #FoodHeroScot Campaign.

Meet the Buyer 2021 is free to attend and open to all, but businesses must register through the Supplier Development Programme website at www.sdpscotland.co.uk.

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