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Gloucestershire businesses encouraged to source locally

Research from the Gloucestershire LEP, has shown that many of the region’s biggest employers will buy products from around the UK or further afield rather than local suppliers.

The LEP is now calling on businesses to procure from suppliers on their doorstep.

Recently the Business Membership Group (BMG) met with Gloucestershire’s public sector organisations including the NHS, County Council, MoD and GCHQ.

Keith Rog, Head of Marketing and Development at GFirst, which drives Gloucestershire LEP, said: “Whilst there are signs that the economy is slowly improving, we find that businesses continue to be stringent in their procurement practices.

“Public sector agencies are among the largest purchasers of goods and services in the county and they are keen to support local businesses, but efforts to drive down costs often mean they often have to exclude local small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Although we understand this option, not buying locally can have an economic impact on our businesses and the health of our economy.

“The commitment from the public sector organisations to work with our small and medium sized enterprises is real progress from the BMG and I look forward to the start of the seminars and hopefully better local procurement to boost our economy.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .