Media release: The north of Scotland is open for business: Meet the Buyer North 2019

THE Supplier Development Programme will hold the second, annual Meet the Buyer North event on Wednesday, 4 September at Macdonald Aviemore Resort.

Confirmed headline partners include Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Each year, everything in the public sector is bought – there are very few in-house services across Scotland – which adds up to an overall spend of £11 billion.

While there is a regulated tender process to be a supplier to the public sector, it’s one process to sell across the wider public sector. These buyers have a duty to engage with local SME businesses to support local employment and retain wealth locally. Transparency is required for the procurement of goods, services and works, so public sector buyers are required to be open, fair and honest in the way they choose suppliers and in any dealings with them.

For owners of small or medium-sized businesses, the public sector is the best customer to have because there is no debt risk: payment can be made on a received invoice within ten days if there’s a cash flow need, and within 30 days as the legal maximum.

Public sector contracts offer stability for your business. Regardless of the economic implications of things like Brexit or economic downturns, public services still need to be delivered. This provides suppliers with a relatively stable and durable customer base. There is also marketing mileage from having a large customer like a public body, which can then be used to promote your service to grow your business.

Gillian Cameron, SDP programme manager, said: “If a business is trying to break into the public sector in the Highlands and Islands, Meet the Buyer North 2019 is a great chance to spend one day away from the office to meet procurement officers face-to-face.

“It costs precious time and effort for suppliers to find contacts for procurement departments and upcoming contracts, not to mention travel time for individual meetings and time spent away from delivering their businesses on phone calls and networking.

“This unique event eliminates that costly time and effort and brings buyers from Scotland and the UK’s public sector, private contractors and business support providers all under one roof. Best of all, it’s free to attend.”

Focusing on public sector buyers in the North of Scotland, exhibitors include Local Authorities, NHS, Higher Education, Central Government, as well as key Tier 1 contractors that want to open up their supply chains.

Meet the Buyer North 2019 offers businesses a unique opportunity to meet buyers and decision makers from across the public and private sectors. SMEs that attend can use the opportunity to raise their business profiles and prepare for upcoming contract opportunities, and SDP has put together a guide on how to optimise their time on the day.

There will also be a programme of speakers and workshops, where SMEs can hear from a range of expert speakers. This year’s agenda will feature Moray Council, the Scottish Government Cyber Resilience team, SELECT Trade Association, as well as Crown Commercial Service. SDP will also be running a short training workshop, offering businesses top tips on tendering.

Meet the Buyer North 2018, held in Inverness, was a smash success with over 400 people in attendance. SDP received highly positive feedback about the event, with 89 per cent of suppliers rating their overall event experience as either good or excellent, and 62 per cent of suppliers said that they would definitely or very likely bid for public contracts after attending the event.

Businesses that want to introduce their company and make these all important connections, to find out about potential contract opportunities relevant to their business in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland should book their place for free by visiting the SDP Scotland website.

ENDS

Notes for editors:

• SDP is a publicly-funded partnership led by local authorities, working in conjunction with Scottish Government and other public bodies, to bring Scottish SMEs support in all aspects of tendering. By assisting businesses to become tender ready for public procurement, SDP improves all-round efficiency, sustainability and market potential.
• In Scotland, there is an annual public spend of £11billion. In the UK, there is an annual public spend of £240billion. SDP Scotland offers free training throughout Scotland to Scottish SMEs to support and champion them tendering for this work.
• Confirmed exhibitors include: Angus Council, Dundee City Council, Forestry and Land Scotland, Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Historic Environment Scotland, Moray Council, Perth and Kinross Council, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Government, Scottish Procurement Alliance, SELECT, Supplier Development Programme, and The Highland Group (Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and The Highland Council). APUC, Bancon Construction Ltd, Balfour Beatty Ltd, Business Loans Scotland, CITB, Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, Crown Commercial Service, Federation of Small Businesses, hub North Scotland Limited, Inverness Chamber of Commerce, Just Enterprise/CEIS, Living Wage Scotland, NHS Highland, Public Contracts Scotland, Roadbridge UK Limited, Scotland Excel, Scottish Government – Cyber Resilience, Scottish Water, Sellafield Ltd and Transport Scotland.
• Visit www.sdpscotland.co.uk for more information.

MEDIA RELEASE issued by Supplier Development Programme. You too can share your stories (aka press or media releases), on this site. Email here for more information.

Contact: Jennifer Payne
Phone: 01698454889
Email: jennifer.payne@southlanarkshire.gov.uk
Website: http://www.sdpscotland.co.uk