News

SDP's top achievements in 2023

2022 has been a successful year for the Supplier Development Programme, as we have been able to get back to face-to-face events working in partnership with our partners and supporting the connection between buyers and suppliers across Scotland with opportunities related to public sector tendering.

SDP thanks you for all your support throughout the year. We also wanted to share with you some of our biggest collective achievements!

Meet the Buyer South

This year the Supplier Development Programme launched the first-ever Meet the Buyer South event. The event took place on 4 October 2022 at Ettrick Riverside Business Centre in Selkirk. The Headline Partners were South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), Scottish Borders Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council.

The event aimed to support SDP members in the South of Scotland and allowed businesses and social enterprises of all sizes the opportunity to meet in person, with public sector buyers, private contractors with supply chains, and business support services in the South of Scotland.

In total, 578 suppliers pre-registered on the SDP website for the Meet the Buyer South event. There were 239 actual attendees on the day. Of those, 105 were from unique Scottish SME businesses. Of those, 7 were based in Dumfries and Galloway, and 24 were based in the Scottish Borders.

After the event, suppliers said:

• Overall, the event was excellent in terms of being able to meet buyers, especially within the public sector.
• “The event was well run and very informative.”
• “For my first SDP event, I was impressed, everyone seemed very passionate about the event.”
• “I thought the staff were really helpful.”

Meet the Buyer North returns as a face-to-face event

The Supplier Development Programme’s 5^th annual Meet the Buyer North event returned at the beginning of September as an in-person, face-to-face event. This year more than ever, the event focused on one-to-one networking, Meet the Buyer North was a fantastic opportunity for businesses in the North of Scotland to meet one-to-one, with public and private sector buyers, contractors with supply chains, and business support services in the Highlands and Islands. In total, 672 suppliers pre-registered interest on the SDP website. There were 345 actual attendees on the day, which was made up of 225 Scottish SME unique businesses. Of those, 39 were based in the Highland Council area, 42 were based in Moray, 20 were based in Aberdeen City and 36 were based in Aberdeenshire.

After the event, suppliers said:

• “Thanks for all the people involved, well worth the trip.”
• “Super event, met some of our clients and some new potential ones, busier than expected, and believe I will gain a couple of good opportunities following this event.”
• “Great event, well turned out and good opportunities.”

Meet the Buyer 2022: Live Virtual Event

For the second year in a row, Meet the Buyer was scheduled in an alternative format, as a virtual event, to support efforts towards economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and allowed suppliers to connect with the public and private sectors from the comfort of their own screen. Meet the Buyer 2022 took place on 15 June with the Scottish Government and Scotland Excel were official headline partners.

The post-event survey highlighted that 83% of Scottish SMEs said they were more likely to bid for public contracts after participating in the event.

There was great interest in the event. In total, 1,248 suppliers pre-registered interest on the SDP website for the Meet the Buyer 2022: Live Virtual Event plus 44 bookings for the Talking Tenders session with NHS Lanarkshire and 14 bookings for the Talking Tenders session with Scotland Excel for Repair, Maintenance and Refurbishment Framework.

There were 728 actual attendees on the day, including both exhibitors and individual suppliers. 510 suppliers logged in during the Meet the Buyer 2022 event, and of those 322 were from 278 unique Scottish SMEs and supported businesses.

Mitie joined forces with SDP

SDP welcomed its newest Corporate Member, Mitie in 2022. Since joining Mitie in partnership with the Supplier Development Programme hosted a Talking Tenders webinar to inform suppliers about the organisation’s future supply chain opportunities in Scotland.

The event was popular with suppliers with 109 suppliers pre-registered on the SDP website. On the day 56 suppliers attended. After the event, SDP distributed a supplier feedback survey. One supplier said, “The information presented by Mitie was concise and clear.” While another supplier said, “I enjoyed learning about Mitie and their onboarding process.”

Mitie also participated in this year’s Meet the Buyer North event.

Mitie has several customers in the public sector, including the provision of Hard FM for The Scottish Government and its five strategic partner organisations, covering buildings located across the Scottish Mainland and Islands.

Mitie also holds Hard FM contracts for The Scottish Parliament, The City of Edinburgh Council, West Lothian Council, Network Rail, Skills Development Scotland, and North East Scotland College, and for other contracts that include Sainsbury’s Bank, Babcock, Magnox, GlaxoSmithKline, and Lloyds Banking Group.

Mitie has committed to a more open and transparent supply chain by joining the Supplier Development Programme for all of its contracts, including its newest with The Scottish Government and The City of Edinburgh Council.

Through this contract, Mitie plans to support The Scottish Government’s climate change and circular economy targets, and support Scotland’s expectations in relation to social and economic and help deliver the standards required.

Mitie has enlisted the services of the Supplier Development Programme, Scotland’s leading free business support initiative in all aspects of tendering for Scotland’s micro, small, medium and supported businesses.

Sarah Howard, Community Benefit and Social Value Manager, Mitie, said:

“We are delighted to be working with the Supplier Development Programme and look forward to engaging with new suppliers, especially SMEs, social enterprises and supported businesses.”

Since signing up to the Programme, Mitie has hosted a Talking Tenders webinar in partnership with SDP to inform businesses of all sizes about future supply chain opportunities in Scotland. The event was of great interest to suppliers. Prior to the event, 109 suppliers were pre-registered to attend the event. On the day of the event 56 attended the webinar.

After the event, SDP distributed a feedback survey, where the comments were very positive. One supplier said, “Being online made it much easier to concentrate and take on board the speaker’s presentation and information. The information presented by Mitie was concise and clear.”

Another supplier said, “I enjoyed learning about Mite themselves as well as learning about their onboarding process.”

SDP working with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde & NHS Lanarkshire

Over the past year, the Supplier Development Programme worked with both NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and NHS Lanarkshire, supported by the Health Foundation, to engage small and medium sized businesses throughout these health board areas. There was a focus on reaching businesses owned and led by people from diverse backgrounds with the aim of increasing diversity within its supply chains.

The first events organised as part of this project were aimed at staff/buyers from each health board. These online webinar-based events helped provide NHS staff with an overview of the project and help give an understanding of what NHSGGC and NHS Lanarkshire can do to increase the potential for SMEs to bid and identify upcoming contracts suitable for a more diverse engagement of businesses. Next, the Programme organised a Partner & Stakeholder Engagement event. This event was aimed at engaging organisations who could help both NHSGGC & NHS Lanarkshire progress towards putting diversity at the core of its supply chain and for them to promote this project to their network of local businesses that currently support their work.

The next stage of the project involved developing supplier engagement with both health boards. The first of these were Talking Tenders Supplier Engagement events. Businesses – especially micro, small and medium-sized businesses that may be owned or led by women, minority, disabled and LGBTQ+ individuals – were particularly encouraged to attend the webinar event.

SDP crosses the ocean

The Scottish Government approached SDP to help them deliver an Open Supplier Meeting to fulfil its Climate Justice Communities Services contract.

The Scottish Government was seeking a supplier who would scope, design, and deliver a wide-ranging multiyear climate justice programme within Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda. The first session gave suppliers background information on the project. Prior to the event, there were 93 pre-registered suppliers on the SDP website. On the day, 61 attended the online event.

The second session was a supplier aligned training session. One of SDP’s expert trainers talked suppliers through Consortium Bidding and how to use this process to bid on the Scottish Government’s Climate Justice Communities opportunity. At the end of the session, suppliers had the opportunity to virtually network with one another. Prior to the event, there were 48 pre-registered suppliers on the SDP website. On the day, 37 attended the online event.

Meet the Contractor: Dunfermline Learning Campus and Westfield Energy Centre Projects

hub East Central Scotland, in partnership with Fife Council, Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) and the Supplier Development Programme hosted an in-person event on 28 April 2022 held at the Carnegie Conference Centre. The event helped local businesses engage with the headline partners and discover what contract opportunities are available as part of the Dunfermline Learning Campus (DLC) (£200m project) and the Westfield Energy Centre which will be designed, built, and operated by Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI). On the day of the Meet the Contractor event, in total there were 132 participants, of these, 100 attendees were from 80 unique Scottish SMEs/supported businesses. Nearly half (49%) of all Scottish SMEs and supported businesses who attended were based in the Fife Council region. The post-event survey also highlighted that 96% of Scottish SMEs said they were more likely to bid for public sector contracts as a direct result of participating in the event.

Recognised as Highly Commended at the GO Awards

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), Robertson Facilities Management, and the Supplier Development Programme were one of four finalists in the ‘Contract and Supplier Management Award’ category and received a highly commended award at the awards ceremony on Thursday, 27 October 2022, which was hosted by TV presenter Sarah Heaney, with an official welcome from Nick Ford, Director of Procurement and Property, Scottish Government.

Brain Rose, Property Asset Manager, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said, "We are pleased to be recognised in this category for our work with the Supplier Development Programme. It was encouraging to see such great attendance at the sessions held to assist businesses understand the potential opportunities with Robertson FM in the delivery of our Hard FM contract.

Shona Dunsmore, Business Development Director, Robertson FM said, “I am delighted to see Robertson FM and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service get recognised for this project. This is a recognition of the excellent partnership we have with the Supplier Development Programme and the work our procurement teams and others have undertaken together to help local businesses engage with supply chain opportunities."

Gillian Cameron, Programme Manager, SDP said: “We are delighted to be recognised as Highly Commended in the Contract and Management category. This recognition shows the real benefit of joint-up procurement, and that the Supplier Development Programme assisted Robertson FM and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to make critical connections with micro, small, and medium sized businesses.

You can view the full list of winners on the GO Awards Scotland website.

Thank you

Thank you to all of SDP’s partners for achieving these milestones during a difficult year for so many. We look forward to working with suppliers in 2023!