"the current unsustainable patterns of production and
consumption must be changed in the interest of our future welfare
and that of our descendants."
– Millennium Declaration
Welcome to the City of London Corporation’s City Procurement
pages. This section is designed to offer City-based
businesses more information when considering the local impacts of
their purchasing decisions. Here you will find information
about;
Contact us
For more information about the City Procurement Project, please
email
procurement@cityoflondon.gov.uk
or phone 020 7332 1563.
Local
purchasing
Why purchase locally?
By purchasing locally, businesses have the opportunity to foster
local economic regeneration and create employment opportunities
with money they would have to spend anyway. We believe that
purchasing from local Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SMEs) that
offer best value for money can help increase market competition and
regenerate our local economy. There are also clear Corporate
Social Responsibility benefits, both social and environmental, from
buying locally.
The City of London Corporation encourages businesses within
London to aim to procure from local businesses located in some of
the more deprived areas in London. View the
London Map of Deprivation (351k).
Find out more about why purchasing locally is so important.
Supporting City businesses to procure locally
To ensure City companies continue to procure goods and services
at best value for money, we undertook research to find out which
local, SME-orientated sectors are fit to supply.
Download the full findings of the research
here (778k).
The City Corporation is able to offer City businesses tailored
assistance in promoting supplier diversity and sustainable
procurement. For more information or to arrange a
consultation, email
procurement@cityoflondon.gov.uk
The City of London Corporation is able to provide written
guidance via its Local Purchasing Toolkit.
For further information please visit our resources
page
In addition to encouraging City firms to make responsible
purchasing decisions and to buy locally, we also encourage City
firms to work with their Tier 1 and 2 suppliers to advance the
agenda further down the supply chain. The City Corporation
will be hosting sector-based Meet the Buyer events, which City
businesses and their suppliers are welcome to attend. If you
are interested in a particular sector, please email
procurement@cityoflondon.gov.uk
The City of London Corporation has developed a
Local Procurement Charter and
associated guidance note calling on
developers to source 10% of goods and services, relating to
development, from the City and its neighbouring boroughs. The
Local Procurement Charter seeks to encourage City developers and
their contractors to source locally and drive the economies of
local small to medium sized enterprises. This will in turn drive
local employment levels within the seven surrounding boroughs,
where up to 10% of the local population is unemployed. The
City of London Corporation hopes that the aims of the Local
Procurement Charter will be supported by planning agreements for
new developments from autumn 2011.
Green purchasing
Green purchasing is environmentally responsible procurement;
it's about using your purchasing power to promote productive use of
resources and materials. This involves integrating environmental
considerations into all stages of the purchasing process: from
avoiding unnecessary purchases and identifying greener products to
the specifications you use for contracts and whole life costing.
Quality is the priority: green products are fit for purpose and can
be cost comparable.
The City Corporation helps host the City Environmental Forum,
during which informal, themed meetings with presentations given by
both outside speakers and Forum members are held on a quarterly
basis. These meetings look at best practice and practical advice on
environmental and sustainability issues. There is no fee associated
with membership, however, members are encouraged to host meetings
and recommend or provide speakers. Topics covered to date include;
Energy, Achieving Buy-in for Environmental Initiatives,
Environmental Management Systems, Sustainable Refurbishment, carbon
footprinting and the Carbon Reduction Commitment.
See more information on environmental issues.
You may also wish to visit the Mayor’s
Green Procurement Code website.
Supplier diversity
Supplier Diversity takes creative and proactive steps toward
ensuring equal opportunities for under-represented businesses, such
as minority ethnic-owned, women-owned and disabled people-owned
businesses, to bid for business (contracts and procurement
opportunities) with the public and private sectors. It is important
to be aware that Supplier Diversity does not guarantee work; it
only provides equal opportunities to under-represented businesses
to compete.
Supplier Diversity Europe (SDE)
SDE’s
mission is to enhance the capacity of large organisations and
under-represented SMEs to engage in business relationships with
each other.
Minority
Supplier Development UK (MSDUK)
MSDUK is a private
sector-led, not-for-profit membership organisation created to
provide a direct link between its corporate members and minority
businesses to enable the building of mutually beneficial business
relationships.
Diversity Works for London (DWfL)
DWfL is
a Mayoral programme that provides an interactive website with an
online self assessment tool, supplemented with advice and practical
guides on diversity management aimed at small, medium and large
businesses.
Social Enterprise Mark
The ‘50in250’ campaign was launched at the City of London in 2011,
organised by the Social Enterprise Mark it encourages businesses to
procure from Social Enterprise Mark holders i.e. businesses which
invest over 50% of profits into environmental or socially
responsible projects.
Fairtrade
The Fairtrade Mark is an independent consumer label which
appears on around 2,500 products as an independent guarantee that
disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a
better deal. There are an estimated one million farmers and workers
directly involved in Fairtrade and millions more benefit indirectly
from the extra money it brings to their community.
The City of London was awarded Fairtrade Status for the Square
Mile on 22 October 2007.
Visit our Fairtrade website to find out what this means.
The City of London Corporation also hosts a City Fairtrade
Steering Group, which comprises a number of influential businesses
and organisations including Aviva, KPMG, Waitrose, Matrix Knowledge
Group and the Barbican Centre. The steering group is open to
representatives of businesses, resident or community groups based
within the Square Mile. If you would like to get involved please
email
fairtrade@cityoflondon.gov.uk
or call 020 7332 1431.
Find out more about the Steering Group.
The City Fairtrade Steering Group has launched the
Fairtrade
Hub, which is a new online tool that allows its members:
- to pledge their support for Fairtrade in the Square Mile
- to share practice examples and help each other overcome any
barriers
- fairtrade purchasing
- to keep track of the latest news and events around Fairtrade in
the City
- to shape the future of the City's Fairtrade campaign
To find out more about the City campaign and how you can get
involved
read our FAQ or email
fairtrade@cityoflondon.gov.uk
or call 020 7332 1431.
For more information on Fairtrade, products and suppliers, visit
the Fairtrade Foundation’s website.