County council holds event for organisations to help boost the Northumberland economy

The free event took place at County Hall with the aim of supporting organisations to do business with the local authority.

The council awards in excess of 300 contracts annually – including contracts for construction, social care, utilities, ICT, education, transport and catering – and it looks to place its business locally wherever it can.

The supplier event was aimed at helping organisations in the county to build a knowledge and understanding of how to write a good tender, the criteria the council is looking for and how to find out about opportunities.

They were also told about forthcoming legislation that is intended to help open up public procurement to all suppliers, but particularly small businesses and social enterprises so that they can compete for and win more public contracts.

Richard Wearmouth, the council’s deputy leader, said: “It was fantastic to see so many organisations represented and from the feedback we have received, they found the event both informative and productive.

“Northumberland County Council spends around £600 million every year on projects, goods and services. That’s a considerable amount of money for a rural county and we really want to spend this money locally wherever we possibly can.

“We know that the public sector procurement process can sometimes seem confusing, so this event was aimed at helping local businesses to be ready to bid for work – not just from our council, but from other councils and public bodies too.”