Ahead of this year’s GO Awards Scotland, Gov Opps chats to Elaine Brown, Corporate Procurement Manager for Tayside Contracts, a finalist at this year’s awards…
Why did you decide to put yourselves forward for the GO Awards Scotland this year?
I believe that the winning of a prestigious award such as a GO Award demonstrates to the organisation you work for that you are achieving good things on their behalf. I also believe that by being publically praised and recognised for the efforts you’ve made brings respect to your organisation as a whole. Suppliers are also starting to realise that by working for an organisation that has been recognised as a leader in the procurement field, via such an award, that they are working with a professional organisation and can benefit themselves from the relationship.
What do you think sets you apart from the other nominees in your category/categories?
To be honest there are so many really good things going on in procurement across Scotland at the present time that it would be unfair for me to comment on how my application is better than that of other nominees. We work closely with other public sector procurement teams in search of collaborative benefits and know the efforts being made out there. That said our suppliers do comment that they value working with Tayside Contracts as they find us very professional in our approach and fair in comparison with other authorities. We are often cited as an exemplar of best practice within their own supply chains.
What would be the biggest benefit to your organisation from winning a GO Award?
It brings confidence to the team that they are doing a professional job as well as recognition from both internal and external colleagues of the high standards being achieved when we work in an environment where growing expectations make appreciation harder to come by.
What would you say has been the biggest challenge in the past year and how have you overcome it?
Our biggest challenge has been to ensure best value for the public purse against a backdrop of reducing budgets, whilst balancing the constant pressures to use local produce from the political arena of our, not one but three ,constituent councils. All at the same time as giving best service to our end ‘customers’ whose expectations are ever increasing.
What’s next for your organisation?
To continuously strive for better contract management to ensure that we are getting the best of our suppliers when spending the public purse.
Tayside Contracts is a finalist at this year’s GO Awards Scotland, which takes place on Tuesday 23rd October at Marriott Hotel, Glasgow.
