The crowd management and security contractor Showsec report that they were ranked number one in a tendering process for event and festival equipment and services with the Eastern Shires Purchasing Association (ESPO) and were awarded an ESPO contract for the next two years.
As one of the United Kingdom’s largest public sector professional buying organisations, Showsec says ESPO provides a platform to develop new opportunities in the eastern region. The award of the contract comes on top of new agreements which have extended the company’s working relationships with Nottingham and (pictured, outside the Nottingham Guildhall) and Derby city councils.
Joe Milner, Showsec’s East Midlands Area Manager, said: “This is an exciting development for the company as we look to expand our operation across this region of the country. We have been ranked right at the top of this section, having scored highly in all aspects of the tendering process conducted by ESPO, most notably the price and quality of our services.
“This puts us in a strong position to increase our presence across this region, particularly among local authorities who are members of ESPO, but also the education sector, Central Government Agencies and Ministries and blue light operations such as the NHS and other Emergency Services. What should also work in our favour is our strong working relationships with the City Councils of Nottingham and Derby, resulting in new contracts being awarded recently.
“Like other organisations, local authorities tend to consult each other when they are sourcing services such as the ones we offer, so we would hope that would improve our prospects.”
ESPO, which like Showsec has its head office in Leicester, was established 33 years ago to provide a procurement service to member authorities. These were initially the county councils of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, but since then Norfolk and Warwickshire are further county authorities to have joined the consortium along with the City Councils of Peterborough and Leicester. As well as its presence in the region, ESPO have been the lead authority on a number of national procurement projects more recently.
