Purchasers can help communities ‘buy better together’
We often write about the benefits achieved when organisations collaborate on procurement. But have you thought about applying this outside the workplace?
Well, the government wants you to. Earlier this month, alongside Co-operatives UK, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills launched the Buy Better Together Challenge, encouraging ideas for community buying.
There is a fund of £60,000 on offer to those communities that come up with the best ideas for purchasing together, including £15,000 for the overall winner. A guide has also been published, with advice on how to get started, what to do about money and examples of communities that are already buying together.
This sounds like a good opportunity for the procurement profession to offer some advice. If you are interested, register your interest here.
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This idea is of interest to me in a way that at my University in Uganda (Kyambogo University) and my Department, we expose candidates to Cooperative purchasing as one of the course unit. It was the pioneer University in Uganda to offer procurement and supply management courses.
Am indeed happy that it is featuring here for a broader discussion. I look forward in benefiting and contributing to the discussion.
The guide (link in the story) contains several case studies, which illustrate well how this works.