In what is currently a demanding climate for the Public Sector, the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) is celebrating a number of successes since partnering with Cheshire-based de Poel, the leading temporary staffing expert.
Established in 1976, NEPO undertakes high-value procurement in major strategic areas of spend (such as construction, energy, facilities management and professional services) on behalf of eleven North East local authorities and a range of associate members.
As an independent temporary labour procurer, de Poel acts as an intermediary sitting between its clients – across both public and private sectors – and a select panel of compliant agencies. Through pioneering technology and a transparent approach, the de Poel solution continuously adds value, reduces costs and improves standards.
Since being awarded the NEPO contract less than 24 months ago, de Poel has already enhanced the temporary labour provision of NEPO’s customers, delivering significant efficiencies and improvements that include:
- Cost savings of £1.23million (£230k above the original estimate)
- Almost 2,000 agency workers transacted per week for NEPO’s customers, equating to over £30million in spend
- 65% of revenue within the local economy and 35% from national businesses reported in the initial 12-month period
- Significantly reduced administration, with all framework authorities going from hundreds of invoices per week to just four per month.
This has meant that NEPO is now able to target new areas they were unable to previously such as Education and Social Care, and be assured that the right workforce will be in play at the right time – ultimately ensuring a positive service to all their customers.
Due to the levels of service delivery and savings that have been delivered, NEPO has just extended the contract taking the partnership long into 2018.
Andrew Preston, Group Managing Director of de Poel, commented: “It is fantastic to be working with NEPO, offering the very best in temporary staffing solutions to their growing network of North East local authorities and associate members.
“We are delighted they have decided to extend the contract for a further two years; the target now is to grow the contract to a minimum of £40m in the next twelve months and continue to support NEPO in capturing further areas of their agency staffing spend, which were historically out of scope.”
Chris Probert, Public Sector Contract and Performance Manager, echoed: “The extension of the contract is a clear demonstration that the delivery model NEPO selected delivers tangible results. The team of Recruitment Partners on the NEPO account have worked tirelessly to deliver to a first class service; one that has been recognised by the National Outsourcing Association with a shortlisting in their annual Professional Awards for ‘Excellence in Business Process Outsourcing (Public Sector)’.
“We look forward to delivering further savings to all authorities and continuing this excellent working relationship with NEPO.”
Adam Smith, Regional Procurement Officer – Professional Services for NEPO, added: “The success of the partnership so far is a direct reflection of the processes and controls de Poel has put in place, as well as the efforts they have made to understand, and cater to, each individual NEPO Member Authority and their requirements.
“Their determination and enthusiasm for the contract to succeed and surpass all expectations has been evident throughout and we look forward to building on our partnership even further.”