Guildford Council “Fraud” – WTF?!
An alleged fraud at Guildford Council exposes major failures in procurement and financial management.
Entries by Peter Smith
Avoiding Bad Buying in UK Local Councils
As the results come in from local elections in England, it is clear that basically the country just wants the Conservative Party to go, the sooner the better. I don’t […]
Memories of Charlie Hurley – Negotiating with your Hero!
Charlie Hurley passed away on April 22nd at the age of 87. That name will mean nothing to most people but to football fans of a certain generation, and in […]
What Happened to Ethics, we ask “Professional” Services Providers!
Bad buying obviously covers every potentially sector and category, but I have had a long interest in professional services spend and procurement for many years, including as co-author of “Buying […]
Is UK Public Procurement Getting Confused About AI?
This is a big year for public procurement in the UK. In October (probably) the new Procurement Act becomes law, finally replacing the EU public procurement legislation with a new […]
The NHS gets “supplier” incentivisation all wrong
(Pic; A&E on a Saturday night) Incentivisation is a fascinating topic. In a business context, for example in terms of incentivising the right behaviour by suppliers, it can require knowledge of […]
15 years of government policy failure – can Shirley Cooper change that?
Congratulations to Shirley Cooper, CIPS Past President, who has become the UK government’s “Crown Representative for small businesses”. In that role, she will represent the interests of smaller firms, particularly […]
Fancy a Great Job?
There was a major announcement this week in UK public sector procurement. Gareth Rhys Williams (GRW), who has been Chief Commercial Officer for government since 2016 was appointed the new […]
You Get What You Incentivise
The dental service in the UK is falling apart because of badly designed contracts that do not incentivise dentists appropriately
What does NAO think about NHS Supply Chain?
The new NAO report on NHS Supply Chain highlights some major areas for improvement