Corporate Procurement is part of the Performance Improvement Directorate, and sits within the Legal, Support and Democratic Services' Business Unit . It acts as a "centre of excellence" to bring expertise and best practice in the field of  Procurement .

The Corporate Procurement Team promotes Procurement Best Practice to enable the Council to purchase goods and services ; ensuring Best Value and adherence to the principles of M.E.A.T (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) for all the procurement processes undertaken .

To facilitate this the team is looking to establish Council-wide contracts for goods and services, aggregating our purchases, standardising our products, introducing e-Procurement initiatives and working collaboratively with other Authorities to increase buying power and share the costs of procurement.

The Corporate Procurement Team aims to ensure that the Council complies with EU Directives and UK legislation.

The Corporate Procurement Manager ensures the Council is progressing on the milestones and targets laid out within the National Procurement Strategy, which was developed by the DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government ), formerly ODPM.

The Government has launched an on-line procurement course 'Winning the Contract '.This is a FREE resource to help businesses (and in particular SMEs) learn about public procurement and how to bid for public sector contracts.