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Cheshire East Council and Bloom help businesses set their sights on game-changing public sector contracts

Over 35 businesses in the North West who attended a supplier engagement event hosted by Cheshire East Council were informed about upcoming lucrative projects they could tender for.

At the event, organised in conjunction with Bloom Procurement Services, the audience heard how contracts with local authorities and public sector bodies could provide the step-change to increased profits and the creation of high-quality jobs.

Lianne Halliday, procurement team Manager, Cheshire East Council, said: “The council is very keen to engage with local businesses, and we wanted to make them aware that by engaging with the Bloom marketplace, they can access a vast array of fantastic opportunities. Many will not have tendered for public sector contracts previously and others may have been put off in the past due to what they felt were exhaustive tendering processes. However, the Bloom marketplace is very easy to sign up to and navigate and it allows access to live, high value contracts. The great thing is that once a company has created a foothold in the public sector, the likelihood of winning further work is greatly enhanced.

“Despite current uncertainty about the financial climate within public services, there remains a high level of contracts being offered for tender for companies that have the right skills and can demonstrate innovation and flexibility. Engaging with the Bloom marketplace and providing high quality responses to tenders, makes them well positioned to be appointed.”


At the event Bloom provided insight into its procurement model, which is dedicated to professional services spend and practical tips on how to win public sector contracts locally and nationally.

Carl Sheldrick, consultant at Strasys said: “Although we have been working for Cheshire East this year via the Bloom marketplace, this event opened up more opportunities both with Cheshire East and other organisations. I also learnt a few things about procurement mechanisms. I’m looking forward to working with both organisations in the future.”

Formed in 2012, Bloom provides a fully compliant end-to-end marketplace solution for the procurement, contract management and payment of all consultancy and professional services. Bloom’s solution supports and assists the entire UK public sector to buy and manage professional services from a choice of regional and national suppliers. The company is the exclusive operator of the multi-million-pound NEPRO³ professional services solution on behalf of NEPO (the North East Procurement Organisation).

Martin Connolly, head of client on-boarding and supplier engagement at Bloom Procurement, said: “Suppliers are recognising that what we are offering is unique and can be transformative for their businesses. The abundance of success stories we are seeing is testament to that, being a marketplace and connecting them to over 360 public sector buyers. Bloom can manage everything, keeping everything really simple so that every single service provider knows they have the support to be involved, with no fees for registering or competing in bids. We love engaging with suppliers and getting their ideas and feedback. The response to the event was fantastic.”

The NEPRO solution was set up in 2012 to help the public sector buy and manage professional services spend whilst achieving better outcomes and improving value. NEPRO³ is the third evolution of the solution will open up procurement opportunities for public sector buyers – giving them access to a constantly evolving supply chain. Bloom has a large network of suppliers registered, allowing them access to opportunities across over 360 public sector organisations. Already, the company has successfully completed 5,500 projects from very small to multi-million-pound opportunities across the public sector, including local authorities, hospitals, emergency services and education bodies.

Anthony Davies, client services manager at Bloom, said: “We are delighted to partner with Cheshire East Council to facilitate greater growth for businesses in the area and to strengthen the local economy. We are committed to opening up procurement across the area, working with suppliers to help them win work both inside and outside of the region.

Getting started with Bloom is easy and stress-free, it takes just twenty minutes to register and the reward is a multitude of opportunities with over 360 public sector bodies across the UK working with the Bloom marketplace.”