Case study

UK police forces expected to save nearly £2 million on office supplies

The Crown Commercial Service has helped police forces make great savings on office stationery.

selection of office stationery including notepads, pens, calculator and bulldog clips

Background

One of the areas where police forces have historically struggled to collaborate and standardise to achieve savings is office supplies. As part of the Collaborative Law Enforcement Procurement (CLEP) Programme, opportunities for savings on office supplies were identified through collaboration and standardisation of their requirements.

In 2015 an office supplies category strategy was developed through the CLEP programme with the objective of saving between 7 and 10%. This represented a potential saving of in the region of £690,000 - £980,000 for forces.

The solution

As the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) already had an established framework for office supplies (RM3703) in place, it made sense for the programme to undertake a further competition under the agreement, rather than re-approach the market directly.

In doing so the programme was immediately able to benefit from standardisation and consolidation as the products available through the agreement are based on a streamlined core product catalogue of around 900 items.

Additionally, 60% of the UK police office supplies had previously been bought through a single supplier which presented an opportunity for greater competition by running an eAuction, led by CCS. This brought over 85% of the UK police spend together.

The results

By combining use of the framework with an eAuction the forces were able to benefit both from the savings achieved through the framework, which were further enhanced through an eAuction.

Overall savings in the region of 23% were achieved, with some forces saving up to 31% (based upon the top 20 items purchased).

Based on the national UK police spend on office supplies this result offers a potential total saving in the region of £1.9 million. A phenomenal result for all involved and far beyond the original target set.

Get involved

To take part in an eAuction or find out more about the framework:

Visit the Office Supplies (RM3703) web page

Email the team at officesupplies@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Call us on 0345 410 2222

Published 4 August 2016