Procurement specialist, Guthrie Group Ltd, has secured a place on the new £40m Scotland Excel framework for specialist safety equipment and protective clothing, giving all 32 local authorities potential access to the company’s consignment stock and innovative cost-saving eprocurement services.
Having completed a detailed tendering process, Guthries demonstrated its ability to deliver efficiencies, productivity improvements and cost savings, while ensuring health and safety at work for council employees.
In particular, the firm’s pioneering eprocurement system GuthriesIMS™, which is designed around a client’s individual business to track, monitor and order stock in a totally transparent and accountable way, brings unique efficiencies for local authorities.
Cloud –based, the GuthriesIMS™ technology operates different permission levels for ordering, while its reporting structure gives management clear visibility of usage in order to initiate meaningful discussions for new efficiencies or the introduction of better quality or different products better suited to the customers’ needs.
Cynthia Guthrie, Joint Managing Director of The Guthrie Group, said:
“We followed up our selection on to the PPE framework at the Meet the Buyer exhibition in Paisley and were delighted with the response.
“We understand that public bodies are under a lot of cost pressures – a situation that we are absolutely poised to tackle and help solve with our offer of a fresh approach to procurement In particular the GuthriesIMS™, is designed to find solutions that recognise the needs of the business or operation and works at all levels.
“In matters of personal safety at work, it is essential to provide cost savings without compromising quality or performance and that understanding is crucial.”
Scotland Excel, launched in 2008, is a centre of procurement expertise for the local government in Scotland.
Director Julie Welsh said:
“Our new PPE contract is in place to help Scottish councils buy the wide range of protective equipment and clothing that staff across services need, to ensure their safety at work.
“There are many council employees delivering essential services across the country that need PPE, including road workers, tradesmen, refuse collectors, cleaners and catering staff.”
Guthrie Group Ltd is one of the largest independent, family owned distributors of health & safety and facilities supplies in the UK. It was the first in its sector in the UK to achieve the BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distribution accreditation, holds ISO 9001: 2015 accreditation and continues to promote the highest standards across the industry.