The UK in 2012 was facing unprecedented changes to Local Government, much of it driven by the global financial crisis which is being firmly felt in the public sector. To adapt, Shropshire Council sought to quickly become more streamlined and cost-effective.

The first step was to develop a web-based e-procurement system to increase market competition and reduce resources by tendering on-line rather than the previous resource hungry paper-based process.

Shropshire Council’s Integrated Passenger Transport Services team had previously outsourced the running of its e-auctions to a consultancy firm. Having seen the benefits of this type of procurement and armed with the knowledge of how it works, they were keen to run the events independently. After visiting our website and studying the comprehensive guides we have freely available, they felt confident in their ability to run a successful auction alone and therefore selected the Sourcing Dojo solution.

Shropshire chose to initially run a series of 5 auctions, which with our licensing terms and on-demand service meant this could be done quickly and at a very low cost. The auctions were mini-competitions within the existing framework of bus and taxi operators and ensured that the best value was sought.

In our first e-procurement event using Sourcing Dojo as our e-Auction software, we saved over 8% on our contract prices, which was a great success, especially considering the current pressure affecting the transport industry. The 12-month licence that Sourcing Dojo offers significantly reduces our costs associated with holding e-Auction events and is comparable to the cost of running a single event with an e-Auction facilitator. The licence also gives us the option to run an e-auction 365 days a year, should we wish. Sourcing Dojo has also linked in well with our successful in-house e-procurement system and we look forward to future developments with the company.

– James Willocks, Shropshire Council.