Gloucestershire LEP urges businesses to procure locally

Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership is urging the county’s biggest employers to procure from local businesses to help boost the economy.

Research from Gloucestershire LEP’s Business Membership Group, which is made up of more than 50 business membership organisations, found that many of Gloucestershire’s biggest employers will buy products from around the UK or further afield rather than get them on their doorstep.

Keith Rog, Head of Marketing and Development at GFirst, which drives Gloucestershire LEP, said: “Whilst there are signs that the economy is slowly improving, we find that businesses continue to be stringent in their procurement practices.

“Public sector agencies are among the largest purchasers of goods and services in the county and they are keen to support local businesses, but efforts to drive down costs often mean they often have to exclude local small and medium-sized enterprises. Although we understand this option, not buying locally can have an economic impact on our businesses and the health of our economy.”

To encourage local procurement the Business Membership Group (BMG) met with Gloucestershire’s public sector organisations including the NHS, County Council, MoD and GCHQ.

All the organisations have now committed to work with the BMG on a series of events to help local businesses better understand the specific supplier requirements of each public sector body and to develop their engagement in the procurement process.

Keith Rog added: “The commitment from the public sector organisations to work with our small and medium sized enterprises is real progress from the BMG and I look forward to the start of the seminars and hopefully better local procurement to boost our economy.”

The seminars are expected to be held in the autumn. For more information visit the Business Membership Group section at www.gloslep.co.uk .