Twelve North West councils have landed savings of £10m, following three e-auctions in the region. The local authorities entered into auctions arranged by the North West Centre of Excellence for £30m worth of equipment which will result in savings of around 30% over the next four years. The auctions were held for £8m of IT hardware, £16m of stationery and IT consumables, and office furniture worth £6m. They involved five councils in a Merseyside collaboration for the stationery and IT consumable contracts, five for the office furniture contract - which was hosted by Liverpool City Council and nine councils working together for the IT hardware contracts. Councils involved included Sefton, St Helens, Wirral and Knowsley MBCs. Neil Hind, e-procurement programme manager with the North West Centre of Excellence, believes local authorities are becoming more aware of the benefits of e-auctions and the value of collaborative procurement programmes. 'E-auctions are more effective than the usual tendering process because they allow for prices to be pushed down further, while still being able to maintain quality,' Mr Hind explained.
