ASW is a group of 11 not-for-profit housing organisations, including DCHA, working together to reduce procurement costs. ASW expects to replace almost 8,500 kitchens over the next four years as part of this.
Included in the plan are kitchen replacement projects, together with responsive and new build requirements. This is the biggest product group by spend. A kitchen tender e-auction was held recently at Tor Homes’ offices in Totnes. The e-auction was managed by Trading Partners, specialists in procurement e-auctions, reducing clients’ costs of externally purchased goods and services.
This event was well attended by representatives across the 11 housing organisations. The results will be published after the official award of the contract, scheduled for the end of November.
In the summer, tenants’ representatives had the opportunity to view and assess the products from each company. DCHA regional committee member, Dave Robertson said he was really pleased to have been able to attend the kitchen exhibition.
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Dave says, “What ASW is looking to achieve through this tender process is just fantastic. Anything we can save money on through the more we buy, the cheaper the price, it just makes great sense! ASW puts us in a very strong bargaining position. Buying in small quantities doesn’t benefit tenants. Saving money through buying in bulk will help to maintain lower rents for tenants, which is so important.”
ASW Procurement Manager, Neil Biddiscombe says, “Selecting suppliers through this process has worked really well for us.” ASW is also going through the same tender process for the replacement of approximately 6,000 bathrooms over the next four years.
“The e-auction is a reverse auction which opens up more competition, but also provides increased visibility and is arguably fairer for suppliers,” says Neil.
A contract has also already been awarded to Vado-UK to supply the kitchen and bathroom taps. Vado-UK National Sales Manager, Dean Pamphilon says,
"It's a great idea for housing associations to work together to arrange contracts. Because it is a big contract, Vado-UK have been prepared to offer our taps at a lower price than the ASW partners would have been able to achieve on their own. ASW partners can buy taps that the tenants and maintenance managers like, with backup service and support that meets all requirements.
Dean also comments on Vado-UK’s experience of working on this tender, “The project was well run. It was clear at all stages what we were required to do, and we were delighted that the tenants representatives ranked our products the highest when they viewed them."
Watch this space for more details of the kitchen and bathroom contracts…..
