The university’s Procurement Team has been shortlisted as finalists in this year’s Government Organisation (GO) Awards.

The UK GO Excellence in Public Procurement Awards are all about showcasing organisations that lead the way in public procurement best practice across all UK nations.

This year, the university’s Procurement Team has been selected as finalists in the coveted Team of the Year category, for the second year running.

To win their place as finalists, the team have shown emerging talent across the board in their dedication to improve customer service and satisfaction at the university over the last year.

Notably during this time period (Jan 21 – July 22), The Procurement team conducted the tender process for the Digital Core project, which replaces multiple finance, HR and procurement systems that are over 20 years old with one modern solution that will enable the university to deliver services more effectively.

This procurement involved more than 230 colleagues from across the university at different stages throughout the process and demonstrates the level of complexity and collaboration undertaken.

In addition to this, the team launched the Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) board and worked with colleagues in the Commercial team on a ‘Getting to Green’ programme with a significant strategic supplier to transform the relationship and set a solid foundation for the strategic partnership moving forward.

This was an emotive project as it required surfacing and addressing many ‘noise’ issues that had gone unrecognised or unresolved for many years to transform the relationship and unlock the unrealised value of this contract.

Head of Procurement at the university, Rosalie Parkin, said: “We are so pleased to be shortlisted as finalists for Procurement team of the year, for the second year running.

We may not be as large as some of the other contenders like the Ministry of Justice or the Department for Education – but what differentiates us from other teams is our focus on continuous improvement which means that we are always evolving and adjusting our approach as we learn more.

The team are known for their positive attitude, and we are always listening to feedback with the aim of providing the best solutions for the wider university. This is the reason why I am so proud to work with the team and what we have delivered so far”

Winners of this year’s GO Awards will be handed their awards at a celebratory event on Thursday 1 June 2023 at the voco St John’s, Solihull.

Find out more about the GO Awards.