Procurement framework launches to tackle North West’s skills shortage

A new procurement framework in the North West is looking to tackle the region’s skills shortage.

Contractors securing work through Procure North West will have a responsibility to support construction skills training.

The framework will directly fund additional training by donating a percentage of its fees to help more young people develop skills and access apprenticeships.

Procure North West is now seeking to appoint contractors that can deliver public sector construction projects in the region up until 2022.

It will cover four project value bands – £1m to £5m, £5m to £15m, £15m to £25m and £25m-plus. Each category will have up to eight alloted contractors.

All public-sector bodies are eligible to use the framework, including local authorities, NHS trusts, schools, colleges and universities.

Procure North West will also support public sector bodies looking for financial backing for strategic projects with grant funding through a Strategic Procurement Fund.

Managing director Robbie Blackhurst said: “Public sector budget pressures and skills shortages are two of the biggest issues facing the construction industry right now.

“As well as helping to facilitate projects that will help shape our growing towns and cities, I felt it was important to be able to give something back to help protect the future of the industry in the region.”

He added: “The framework pushes the boundaries of how procurement can support public sector bodies to deliver their strategic targets and enable them to deliver projects that they may otherwise not be able to get off the ground.”

Robbie has more than a decade of experience in public sector procurement in the construction industry.

He continued: “Through my own experience and our detailed analysis of procurement options across the UK, there are multiple factors that result in frameworks not working in the most efficient or beneficial ways for both clients and contractors.

“For example, some come with high fee rates, while others have too many or not enough contractors per project value band. That’s why I wanted to develop a hybrid procurement route, that takes the best individual component parts of what is currently available and bring them together under the Procure North West framework.”