The achievements of public sector procurement practitioners were recognised at the well-established National Public Procurement Practitioners Day (N3PD) 2006 on 6 June, which was combined with the presentation of the 2006 Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards.

Over 200 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, organised by BiP Solutions and sponsored by GO magazine, Constructionline, Visa Commercial, Supply2.gov.uk and supported by a wide range of public sector bodies.

This year, N3PD was hosted by Vivien Creegor, Anchor Newsreader of Sky World News and featured high-profile speakers Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner and Head of the EU’s Internal Market and Services andSir Digby Jones, Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry.

Mr McCreevy said that commitment to turning policy into reality was crucial to the efficient development and implementation of successful public procurement: “The economic importance of public procurement is, above all, a dynamic phenomenon.

“It goes without saying that even wider participation in a system that lowers prices can bring a positive impact on major macroeconomic Keynote speaker Sir Digby Jones indicators and enhance the performance of the EU economy as a whole.”

Sir Digby Jones outlined why business is interested in public procurement and how business can contribute to its improvement. He added: “Ensuring good procurement methods is central to the provision of good public services. Ineffective procurement means ineffective services and this is something the public should not – and will not – tolerate. Government at all levels must therefore attach the utmost importance to the competitiveness, productivity and value for money public procurement delivers.”