CIPS Excellence in Procurement Awards 2020.

We are delighted to announce that the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been shortlisted for both ‘Outstanding People Development Programme’ and ‘Procurement Consultancy Project of the Year’ at the prestigious CIPS Excellence in Procurement Awards 2020.

This is testament to the fantastic work undertaken by their team, and one that we have thoroughly enjoyed supporting – a great achievement. 

With entries judged by some of the leading minds within the sector, being shortlisted for an Excellence in Procurement Award is prestigious recognition of the quality of the work we can deliver and the benefits our clients can expect to receive.

Outstanding People Development Programme – Recognising excellence in professional procurement capability development.

Central to national security and intergovernmental diplomacy, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a complex brief and is required to deliver overseas development projects worldwide, often in extreme conditions and at short notice. 

From a challenging start, the last 18 months has seen the team responsible for procuring FCO’s overseas development programmes invest in a dramatic change unlike any other procurement team in Whitehall. Working with their partner Augmentas, FCO overseas development procurement teams – initially made up of a mixture of new, trainee, contractor and experienced staff – took on the challenge to address the evident inconsistency in processes, and the inevitable variable standards in procurement delivery. Within a wider review of FCO’s procurement operations, the overseas programme both brought in a new leadership team and maximised the capabilities of their external managed service partner to make real changes. 

Now, the FCO overseas development procurement team has reversed its fortunes and become a model for others to emulate. The team is performing at the highest standards, having helped FCO to improve dramatically in its assessment against the Government Commercial Operating Standards – raising morale, retaining and building talent and driving up customer satisfaction within a framework of strong compliance, a focus on value and effective risk management. 

Procurement Consultancy Project of the Year – Recognising successful procurement consultancy projects.

Central to security and diplomacy, the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a broad brief and is required to deliver projects worldwide. Core to this work are the overseas development programmes led by FCO – an area of significant overseas investment that required an immediate uplift in commercial and procurement management expertise.

A newly recruited management team took the challenge on and, with the help of specialist managed service consultancy Augmentas, has been able to make the difference. A multi-level approach saw people and customers at the forefront of success. With the business as usual operation being supported on a daily basis, a low-key but fast-paced programme of improvement was carried out delivering improved documentation, processes, governance, oversight and more. 

Staff attrition is now at an all-time low and customer satisfaction has improved by 50 percentage points (81%), all within 12 months.