More than £108m of council work to be awarded to businesses

Doncaster based companies are projected to win over £108m of council work in 2016/17, a result of Mayor Ros Jones’ pledge to ‘buy local’.

Despite reduced council budgets, the amount of work awarded to firms in the borough has increased by over £27m since 2013/14 and now represents 68% of all council spend.

Mayor Jones said: “I was determined Doncaster firms could bid for suitable contracts and by understanding what is involved in the procurement process have every opportunity to win work.

“We have put on workshops, organised events and provided support for business owners so they understand the rules, can find available contracts and know how to prepare their tender bids. This work is certainly paying off with amount of work being won by local firms increasing by a staggering 34% in the last four years.

“When I became Mayor back in 2013 the council spent more money with firms located outside of borough so I am obviously delighted this position has been turned on its head. The vast majority of work now goes to local firms, which supports the local economy and helps stimulate jobs and growth. I am committed to continuing our efforts to support local business where ever we can.”

To make this possible, Doncaster Council’s procurement team has trained about 130 businesses on how to do business with the public sector and procurement rules have been changed to include local suppliers.

Working with the Business Doncaster team, supplier engagement events have enabled firms to meet public sector buyers, while other public sector agencies in Doncaster have also been encouraged to ‘buy local’.

One local firm to have benefitted is Emergency Response Training Ltd. Based at Canberra House, Finningley, close to Doncaster Sheffield Airport, it has supplied the council with health and safety training.

Debbie Pearson, managing director of ER Training, said: “The procurement advice we have received has been first class. It has helped us understand what is expected in a tender document and has seen our company successfully win work with the council and other organisations.”

Dan Fell, chief executive of Doncaster Chamber, added: “Doncaster Chamber believes that it is important for local organisations in the public and private sectors to do business with each other to generate new supply chains and keep work local where possible.  For many years the Chamber has encouraged partners to ‘Buy Doncaster’ and, as such, is delighted that Doncaster Council has such a high percentage of its good and services locally.”