Earlier this year, we announced that OT Group had been named as one of only two suppliers on Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Tail Spend Solution framework – a solution which aims to simplify the supply chain, consolidate deliveries, and provide complete financial oversight.
This was a big moment for us, so we spoke to Malcolm Brechin, national director of new business at OT Group, to find out what the news means for us as we look ahead to 2022.
Organisations – of all shapes and sizes – often see around 20% of their expenditure going through lots of small, indirect, and non-compliant suppliers, and the constant management of these merchants requires a significant amount of procurement resource – resulting in purchasing teams complaining of a lack of control, visibility of expenditure, and in many cases very little management information.
This kind of disconnect can make things tricky at the best of times – never mind when, as a nation, we’re still working hard to overcome hurdles associated with Brexit and the ongoing pandemic. That’s why now more than ever, it’s vital that public sector organisations are given complete clarity over their supply chain.
This new framework means that OT Group’s ecommerce solution, SmartPad – which recently unveiled some key updates for 2022 – will provide Government departments with a single procurement platform, which enables full control of expenditure and allows users to order pre-approved products in a fast, easy to use manner.
With 100,000s of unique products (SKUs) across 10,000s of suppliers and pre-agreed pricing to deliver significant value for money savings for the individual departments and Her Majesty’s Government.
But why does it matter?
Long tail spend is generally classed as relatively low value products purchased in an ad hoc manner by members of staff outside an organisation’s formal procurement practice. For example, a school purchasing stationery for a specific, short-term need or a local authority buying camera equipment and accessories.
The spend is often invisible until it appears in an organisation’s end of year accounts, and this can cause significant budget pressures if not controlled properly – and it is goods, rather than services which will be the initial focus in CCS’s Tail Spend Solution framework.
As such, we’re looking forward to developing a strategic partnership with CCS and their customers – demonstrating our ability to supply public sector organisations with anything they need, with complete management information.
About CCS
As an executive agency of the Cabinet Office, the CCS supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2020/21 CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits equal to £2.04 billion – supporting world-class public services that offer best value for taxpayers.
