Arts Council England save over £220,000 when procuring Facilities Management services through CCS

The requirement

Arts Council England (ACE) develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives, supporting a range of activities across arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections.

ACE was looking to contract with one supplier to provide facilities management (FM) services nationally, across a diverse estate of nine offices spread over England’s nine regions. It was essential for the services to be streamlined by incorporating new technologies into their processes, such as an online logging system to manage the required services. Another key requirement was to make their data management more efficient, ensure social value and, of course, to achieve value for money in terms of both quality and price.

Due to the relatively small size of the Arts Council as an organisation, they previously found it difficult to appoint a supplier to provide FM services. On a previous tender exercise the Arts Council received no bids due to a lack of supplier interest.

The solution

The Facilities Management Marketplace provided by CCS incorporates a new lot aimed at supporting smaller Government bodies. As such, ACE used the agreement to help them find a suitable supplier to deliver their needs. The agreement also aligned with the Arts Council’s social value aims, ensuring:

• living wage paid by suppliers
• supply chain opportunities for local SMEs
• zero waste
• appointment of apprentices and supporting placements to school children and young adults
• recruitment of long–term unemployed labour and locally engaged labour
• recruitment of young people not in education, employment or training
• procurement and sourcing of sustainable, ethical and fair trade services and products
• community engagement

By using the agreement, ACE was provided with clear guidance from the CCS FM team, allowing them to follow a simplified procurement process and  direct award in accordance with the agreement criteria. 

CCS supported ACE from early engagement to contract award and will continue to be on hand for the duration of the contract. 

The result

By using the FM Marketplace agreement, ACE has achieved a saving in excess of £220,000 over the term of their contract, based on price alone. ACE also appreciated the support received during the process, with queries being resolved within 24 hours of them being raised. CCS also provided support on contractual matters which enabled ACE and the supplier to build a robust business relationship.

Zobair Mehmood, Head of Procurement at ACE said:

The support provided by the FM team at CCS made the procurement of the new contract very efficient and straightforward. I would definitely recommend using CCS for any procurement needs.

 Get in touch

This framework is now also available via our new digital portal. Customers can quickly view suppliers who can provide the required services, see an estimated contract cost, create and offer a direct award contract or shortlist suppliers ready for further competition.

If you would like to know more about any aspect of our FM framework please contact info@crowncommercial.gov.uk and one of our team will be in touch.