Shropshire Buyers celebrate success

The Shropshire and Telford Procurement group “COGs” have brought together some of the biggest buyers in the county for an event to look at utilising local suppliers for the benefit of your business.  

Organisations such as Shropshire Council, Severnside Housing, the NHS, and Telford and Wrekin Council, alongside businesses such as Muller and Oaklands Eggs, attended the event and contributed to the discussions about how to aid the buying local agenda.

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for business growth, who opened the event, said:

“These sorts of events are hugely beneficial for the Shropshire economy, as buyers make contacts here that can result in large contracts being committed within the county, resulting in increased employment and growth for our businesses.”

The COGs group encourages businesses to sign up to the Shropshire Procurement Charter at www.cogsatwork.co.uk.  The charter asks businesses to commit to buying locally wherever possible, and has doubled its membership in the last six months.

Ann Johnson, Chair of the COGs working group, said:-

“The COGs group is working hard to help small and large businesses to do more business together.  We have worked with our public sector partners to demystify their tendering processes, and we are working with businesses to make sure they are tender-ready.  We have an array of courses available on the COGs website, and we are here to try and help businesses in Shropshire and Telford to do business.”