ESPO (Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation) is a public sector-owned buying organisation, which sets up approved public sector frameworks across the UK. ESPO is a well-known and used organisation, with many Councils, Universities and Schools engaging with their frameworks.
The ESPO Building Supplies National Framework covers all sorts of building supplies from general building materials, paint, kitchens and bathrooms, through to plumbing, fencing and electrical items.
Current contracts run until March 2023, with expected procurement activity to start again in November 2022, ready for April 2023. We would estimate the contract value to be approximately £100,000,000 over 24 months.
The current framework consists of 8 lots:
Lot 1 One-Stop Shop
This lot covers the majority of the other lots but offers discounted prices for those public sector organisations who prefer to work with a single supplier for their building materials.
Current Suppliers:
Amble Electrical Distributors Ltd
Travis Perkins
Wolseley UK Ltd
Lot 2 Building Materials
This lot covers a wide array of building materials from timber and aggregates through to roofing, door and windows, screws and plugs.
Current Suppliers:
Grafton Merchanting GB Ltd
Travis Perkins
Lot 3 Plumbing and Bathrooms
This lot includes products such as boilers, gas spares, radiators, piping, valves, connections, boilers, radiators, bathroom suites and spares. There is a non-exhaustive pricing schedule, and items not included in this can also be purchased under the framework.
Current Suppliers:
BSS Group t/a City Plumbing Supplies (Holdings) Ltd
James Hargreaves PM Ltd
The Beck Company Ltd
Travis Perkins
Wolseley UK Ltd
Lot 4 Kitchens
This lot includes the supply of kitchens and associated products such as units, worktops, taps etc.
Current Suppliers:
JTC Furniture Group Ltd
The Premiere Kitchen Company
Lot 5 Electrical
This competitive lot with the most awarded suppliers covers electrical products such as lighting, consumer units, switches and smoke alarms.
Current Suppliers:
Amble Electrical Distributors Ltd
City Electrical Factors Ltd
Edmundson Electrical Ltd
Grafton Merchanting GB Ltd
RS Components Ltd
Smith Bros (Caer Conan) Wholesale Ltd
Stearn Electric Co Ltd
Travis Perkins
Lot 6 Paint and Associate Products
This lot covers the Supply of paint and associated products, including various paint types, varnish, primers, brushes and filler.
Current Suppliers:
Not awarded at the time. We are not sure why suppliers were not awarded but we expect this to remain a lot within the new framework.
Lot 7 Fencing
This lot covers fencing products such as metal, timber fencing and gates for security fencing and playground fencing, for example.
Current Suppliers:
H.S Jacksons (Fencing) Ltd
J Hill & Co
Lot 8 Decorators Scheme
This lot covers the supply of decorating cards or vouchers, which would typically cover items such as paints, cleaning materials and sundries. Often provided to social housing tenants, for example.
Current Suppliers:
J.P. McDougall and Co. Ltd t/a Dulux Decorator Centre
PPG Architectural Coatings UK Ltd
Wilko Retail Ltd
ESPO Building Supplies Framework – what can you do now to prepare?
In the previous framework for Building Supplies, ESPO used a 40% quality / 60% price weighting system to evaluate tenders. Your quality method statements and responses can make all the difference in making sure your bid is accepted.
On the last framework, 28 tenders were received for each lot, including 8 from SME bidders. Between 2 and 8 suppliers were awarded on each lot.
Ensuring you have a detailed and compelling proposal can be the difference between success and failure. As a result, ensuring effective preparation is essential.
Here are our key bid writing tips for ESPO Building Supplies Framework:
- Collate your CVs, accreditations, policies, procedures, case studies and references, service levels and KPIs (your templates and evidence of your performance on other similar contracts)
- Draft your delivery process, including your contingency measures
- Consider what customer service/ support you can offer. Technical support, after-sales, pre and post-order stage
- Social Value and Sustainability – buyers will want to know what you have done and what you propose for their specific framework, relating to the products you are supplying. What can you offer, what improvements can you make?
Thornton & Lowe are experts in bid writing and public sector tenders. We have successfully worked on this framework as well as many other ESPO frameworks.
To monitor other building supplies tenders and frameworks check out our Tender Pipeline software, which is totally free of charge.
