Selling to the council

The council is a major buyer in the district, spending some £9m on bought in goods and services annually.

The council is dependent on a small number of key suppliers to deliver safe, value for money, quality services to our community. This is particularly the case with regards to the collection of domestic waste and recyclables, the operation of our leisure centres, the maintenance of parks and gardens and delivery of financial services.

Our suppliers are key stakeholders and we aim to manage our supplier relationships professionally and ethically in order to ensure that both parties and, most importantly, our community derive value from the relationship.

What we buy

Although we outsource a high proportion of our services, we still purchase a wide range of goods and services. Obtaining best value is an essential requirement, one that cannot be achieved without the support of our suppliers, both large and small. Examples include:

• Office equipment
• Cleaning materials
• Furniture
• ICT hardware and consumables
• Stationery
• Buildings maintenance
• Catering
• Occupational health
• Security services
• Temporary accommodation
• Construction

Existing contracts

The council stores its existing contract information on the South East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership's portal. For further information, please see existing contracts

Contract opportunities

We advertise specific contract opportunities for this council and contracts relating to the area on our website. For further information, please see contract opportunities

How to sell to the council

The council has a procurement process and principles that it must follow when it undertakes any procurement activity.  Please see the procurement principles and procurement process guide pages for further details.  We have detailed the process in the 'selling to the council' document which you can download on the right.