How PfH helped East Lothian Council get the right scaffolding contractor in place

Putting local suppliers at the heart of public procurement: How PfH helped East Lothian Council procure scaffolding services with confidence

East Lothian Council is responsible for nearly 9,000 homes across south east Scotland. Committed to supporting local businesses and delivering value for their communities, the Council needed a compliant way to appoint a scaffolding contractor for a property refurbishment programme. After an initial attempt to run the process independently fell through, they turned to us for support.

THE PROBLEM

A stalled procurement and a refurbishment programme waiting to move forward

East Lothian Council had set out to source scaffolding services to support a planned refurbishment contract. Running the process in-house hadn’t produced the outcome they needed, and with a three year contract to award, they needed a fresh approach. That’s when they got in touch with us.

THE SOLUTION

Using a Dynamic Purchasing System to open up the market to local businesses

We connected the Council with the scaffolding Lot on our Capital Works Dynamic Purchasing System. Rather than simply pointing them to a list of suppliers, we took an active role in the process. We identified scaffolding companies operating in the East Lothian area, worked to get them registered on the DPS and made sure they were fully set up to respond when the tender went live.

Our team then worked alongside the Council on their tender documentation, handled the advertisement and supported the commercial evaluation from start to finish.

Mikel Vallejo, Senior Procurement Officer at East Lothian Council, said: “The PfH Scotland DPS allowed us to engage with local suppliers to be added on their framework. The DPS functionality enabled the option to consider small and medium local suppliers to have the opportunity to bid for public contracts.”

THE RESULTS

A three year contract awarded to a local business

KC Scaffolding, a local contractor, was appointed following the tender process on a three year contract worth £150,000 per annum. For the Council, it was a result that ticked every box. They got a contractor they were confident in, the process was fully compliant and a local business got the opportunity it deserved.

“KC Scaffolding managed to win our mini competition, which is bringing value to our Council and also supports the sustainable procurement agenda.”

Mikel Vallejo, Senior Procurement Officer, East Lothian Council

---