Swindon Borough Council has an annual turnover of approximately £245m, of which over £150m is spent on goods, services and works provided by third parties. Obtaining Best Value is paramount to our organisation, and this can only be achieved with the support of our suppliers. Contracts are awarded on the basis of obtaining value for money for the taxpayer, and whilst we are unable to favour local suppliers we are committed to supporting and encouraging local companies to compete for contracts and as such have signed up to the Wiltshire Guide for local small and medium size enterprises.

The guide is available as a downloadable pdf file:

How to do business with the public sector (480Kb)

As a long-established organisation we will ensure that contracts are awarded and monitored in a fair, open, honest, non-discriminatory and professional way whilst ensuring that our suppliers receive prompt payment for goods and services received.

How to Use this Guide

This guide has been produced to provide support and advice for local and national suppliers, contractors and other organisations in applying and bidding for work from Swindon Borough Council. It provides detailed guidance on the tendering process and highlights legislative and Council policies that govern our procurement processes. The Council’s policies with regard to acceptance of tenders and quotations are explained, along with the relevant National and European legislation which must be complied with by law.

This website outlines various related topics in brief. Where further information is available, either on this website or on external websites, hyperlinks will be available to take you to the relevant area.

Supplier Forum 12 April 2006

The first Suppliers’ Forum took place at Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway on 12 April 2006.

Invitations were sent out to our top one hundred suppliers.

The event was a great success with some sixty representatives of local companies attending, many of whom are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The aim of the Forum was to engage further with existing suppliers by providing them with information about eProcurment. The key issue - how it will affect our existing suppliers - was addressed and supported by a presentations from Lloyds TSB, our preferred purchase card supplier, and Office Depot who already embrace the eProcurement ethos.

Sir Chris Clarke from the ODPM delivered an informative and entertaining presentation on the wider issues of government policy as it affects local authority procurement. Swindon’s economic growth profile and development plan enabled suppliers to recognise the many new opportunities available that could benefit their companies.

Feedback from the suppliers who attended has been encouraging and further forums are planned for the future.

Presentations from the Forum

These are available as downloadable pdf files:

Supplier Forum Presentation by Gavin Jones (1403Kb)

Raising the Profile (281Kb)

eGovernment - Whatever Next? (139Kb)

eProcurement - How it Will Affect You (249Kb)

Swindon Borough Council and Office Depot (16Kb)

Corporate Transaction Services (Lloyds TSB) (170Kb)