The fantastic efforts of public sector procurement practitioners have often been overlooked, but the celebration of National Public Procurement Practitioners Day (N3PD) on 8 June, combined with the presentation of the 2004 Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards, saw the profession thrust into the limelight.

Over 150 procurement professionals arrived at the prestigious One George Street venue in London to attend the annual GO Awards and celebrate public sector procurement excellence as part of N3PD, which was sponsored by Government Opportunities and Constructionline and supported by a wide range of public sector organisations.

The GO Awards followed speeches from Eric Jackson, Director of E-Commerce and IT at the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA); Peter Howarth, Chief Executive of the Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO); and Gary Richardson, Director of Business Development at the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).

Introducing the event, Grahame Steed, Managing Editor of Government Opportunities magazine said: “N3PD is about raising awareness of the work of public procurement practitioners across the UK, and rewarding them with some well-earned recognition. It’s a day in the year to pause to consider the achievements that have been made.

“The GO Excellence in Public Procurement Awards are about celebrating the success of individuals and teams working within procurement, and also those who have dedicated the majority of their career to the public procurement cause”.

This year’s GO Award winners were presented with trophies by the winners of the 2003 Awards, who were Steve Gilbey, Head of County Supplies & Contract Services at Hertfordshire County Council (Individual category); Mark Roscrow, Director of Welsh Health Supplies (Collective category); and John Collings, Procurement Consultant at Colling Greenways (Lifetime Achievement category).

The Individual Award for Public Procurement Excellence went to Karen Bowman, Director of Procurement at the University of Edinburgh.

Norman Rose, Director General of the Business Services Association, who outlined Ms Bowman’s winning nomination, said she had developed a procurement strategy which had dramatically increased her procurement team's influence over commodity spend. Ms Bowman had recognised the need for training and helped develop her personnel's qualifications, enabling her team to take a leading role in implementing the Government's e-agenda and to become a beacon for others to follow on e-procurement.

“Karen found time outside her everyday work, to play a leading role within the University’s funding bodies and steering groups. She influenced the development and implementation of the National Procurement Strategy within her sector, worked closely with local government to help them develop and implement sustainable procurement policies and advised other bodies both within and outwith her sector on e-procurement strategy and implementation,” said Norman Rose.

The Collective Award went to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Jobcentre Plus Roll Out Procurement Team. John Stewart, Procurement Manager for the DWP, accepted the award along with his team.

Speaking about the winning entry, Eric Jackson from NHS PASA said: “The organisation has challenged the traditional approaches to projects and client-contractor working relationships. It has moved beyond the award of contracts on the basis of lowest price and using contracts as a weapon against contractors. Instead it has embraced partnering, invested in integrated and responsive supply chains and driven continuous improvement through value engineering.”

Two Highly Commended awards were made in the Collective Excellence category – the first to Norfolk County Council’s Corporate Procurement Unit and the second to Partnerships for Health.

The 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award went to Larry Petterson MBE, Head of Procurement and Commercial Development for Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, for his 43 years of adding value in the NHS.

His involvement in purchasing and supply commenced in 1961, as a clerical officer within United Cardiff Hospitals. Mr Petterson then held various appointments before becoming Head of Procurement and Commercial Development for University Hospital of Wales Trust and latterly Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, the third largest trust in the UK. He chairs the national e-business pathfinder group for Wales and the South East Wales regional forum, in addition to chairing the public sector group for the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, covering the Office of Government Commerce, the Ministry of Defence, health, local authorities and higher education. Mr Petterson is also Chairman of the Health Care Supplies Association.
David Smith, Director of Commercial Services for the Department for Work and Pensions, said of Mr Petterson that: “He is a person who believes in making as great a contribution as he can…above all he is person of the highest integrity on whom the accolade ‘Gentleman’ sits comfortably.”

N3PD raised £5300 for the British Heart Foundation and a cheque was presented to its representative Maureen Betts by Ron Burges, Managing Director of N3PD event organiser BiP Solutions.

Closing the event, GO’s Grahame Steed said: “When the idea of N3PD was conceived we felt it would strike a chord across the procurement community, and clearly it has done so. The number of people who have taken time out of their busy working lives to attend demonstrates how important the recognition of procurement professionals is.”

Plans are in place for N3PD 2005, and the organisers are confident that many more procurement organisations and public bodies will join in recognising and rewarding the efforts of public procurement practitioners across the UK.