New Financial Support Package for eAuctions
Date Issued: 2 February 2010
New financial support package for eAuctions now available after Derby City Council saves more than £250,000 on mobile phones
Derby City Council’s budget has been boosted by more than a quarter of a million pounds after a 52 minute eAuction delivered remarkable savings of almost 40% on the original projected cost of new mobile phones for its workforce.
And now public sector organisations wishing to follow Derby’s lead by holding their own eAuctions for essential goods and services can take advantage of a substantial financial support package on offer from Buying Solutions.
Buying Solutions says that financial support for set up costs will be available for any public sector organisation, from central government departments to local authorities and the emergency services for example, committing to an eAuction before March 31, 2010. This is a limited offer and financial support will be provided on a case by case basis.
Says Rob Knapman, Buying Solutions’ Director of eCommerce, “We were delighted to provide Derby City Council with financial assistance to help to run what has been a hugely successful exercise - but because we would also like other organisations to share in the excellent results that eAuctions can clearly deliver, we decided to put this latest offer together.
“Secure, online eAuctions are increasingly being used across the public sector as an effective procurement tool providing an excellent value for money solution which encourages a heightened level of competition as the auction unfolds and optimises cost savings.
“We have recently facilitated eAuctions across mobile solutions, IT hardware and furniture, with customers benefiting from savings ranging from 13% to 45% across these categories. The benefits are not limited to these areas with products and services from most of our framework agreements suitable for an eAuction.
“They also encourage collaboration which was illustrated by another successful eAuction run by North Yorkshire County Council. Operating on behalf of a number of collaborative partners the auction for telephony generated savings as high as 29% against customer spend levels at the time.”
Commenting on the eAuction, Ian Beverley, Director of Procurement for North Yorkshire County Council, said:
“eAuctions are a powerful tool for delivering significant savings when used in the appropriate circumstances, and auctioning a service such as telephony has delivered outstanding results for North Yorkshire.
“On each occasion this process has been used as the further competition process under a Buying Solutions framework agreement, ensuring minimum procurement overheads for maximum savings return.”
Buying Solutions would be delighted to hear from organisations interested in taking up the offer of financial support, with all applications considered on a case by case basis.
Buying Solutions is also working closely with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Centre for eAuctions, which has been established to increase the impact of eAuctions in the public sector.
The Centre has a remit to provide coordination and support for eAuctions across the wider public sector, particularly where there is scope for increased collaboration.
For more information about how you might run an eAuction or to view a live eAuction, please contact the Buying Solutions customer service desk on 0345 410 2222 or email epayment@buyingsolutions.gsi.gov.uk