Public and private sector come together

An initiative, called Sell2Plymouth, sees the University of Plymouth, Plymouth City Council and Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust come together for the first time to advertise contracts worth up to £20,000 on an internet portal which allows a single and simple registration process for businesses. The idea came from the Plymouth Procurement Forum, which has been set up by Plymouth 2020 - the city's Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). The forum includes both public sector buyers and business support organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise Plymouth, Business Link and the University through its Enterprise Solutions team. At present, many contracts in the public sector are awarded to large businesses because smaller companies are put off by the regulations and procedures that govern tenders for public sector work. The user-friendly portal has been designed to tackle this by enabling firms to register their business through a simple registration process which is then available to each of the three public sector organisations' buyers. The portal presents easy access to each of the organisation's requirements through direct links to their procurement web pages and tendering sites. Sell2Plymouth will also have direct links to business support agencies to access help and advice in applying for and winning public sector contracts.