Helping Reading Borough Council achieve their procurement goals

We’ve managed more than 50 tenders on behalf of Reading Borough Council (RBC), from reactive repairs at a school to the construction of a new theatre studio to heat pump installations.

RBC’s Strategic Procurement Manager, shares her experience of working with Westworks and how we helped achieve their procurement goals.

Client Testimonial

Chloe Sharpe, Strategic Procurement Manager at Reading Borough Council

As someone working within the housing area of procurement, I have found that Westworks have a range of solutions available that offer an easy way to meet almost any requirement.

The Westworks experience

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a number of the team at Westworks and have had an overwhelmingly positive experience each and every time.

They are not only highly knowledgeable in their respective areas but are also consistently supportive and approachable.

Whenever challenges arise, they demonstrate understanding and a willingness to talk through the problem and share their experience and expertise; their ability to do so and provide guidance has made a significant difference in the projects that we have run together.

They simply approach every project with an unrivalled level of professionalism.

Why Westworks?

We chose to work with Westworks because of their reputation for providing a compliant, flexible, and efficient route to market.

Their DPS offered us access to a wide range of pre-approved suppliers, which helped us meet our procurement objectives without the delays and complexity of a full tender process.

A diverse supply chain

Westworks provides access to suppliers in a way that no other DPS or framework solution is able to. They have established DPS’ that offer solutions for an incredibly wide range of housing needs, and I’m yet to find a requirement that they aren’t able to meet.

Additionally, as a Local Authority operating at a borough level, we have a real drive to use locally based suppliers and identify routes to market that enable them to have a real chance at successfully bidding for our work.

Through working with Westworks over a number of years, we’ve seen a number of local contractors successfully apply for, and then subsequently be awarded work through their range of DPS solutions, which in turn has seen these organisations grow and expand.

The sheer number of contractors that the DPS solutions enable us access to helps to guarantee that we’re obtaining value for money and levels of competition that it would otherwise be hard to find.

Achieving procurement goals

Procurement simplified – The Westworks team were incredibly supportive throughout the process. They guided us step-by-step, ensuring that all documentation and procedures were fully compliant and contained no errors. Their clear communication and practical advice made the process straightforward and stress-free.

Responsive service – What stood out most was how easy they made everything for us. From initial engagement onwards, the team were responsive, knowledgeable, and always willing to go the extra mile to resolve any challenges quickly.

Value for money – I would highly recommend Westworks to other contracting authorities. Their expertise, professionalism, and commitment to simplifying procurement make them an invaluable partner for achieving best value and compliance.