Author: Connor

Torus, the North West’s largest affordable housing provider, reinvests its profits to generate meaningful social impact to grow stronger communities. With a portfolio of 40,000 homes and over 1,650 employees, Torus stands as one of the fastest-growing developers in the housing sector.

Carole Rabone, Torus’ Category Manager, who has extensive experience in the ICT category and a clear understanding of her organisation’s needs, registered on Crescent Services’ website to utilise our Corporate Software framework for procuring Financial Management Software.

After signing up, Carol was contacted by Sharia, a Crescent Services procurement advisor, who arranged an introductory Teams meeting as part of our induction process. During this meeting, Carol was guided through the framework’s user guide, and key documents were highlighted to ensure she had all the necessary information.

Carol had some questions which were answered during the meeting and a communication channel was established with Sharia to maintain ongoing support throughout tender process. Carol initially opted to use Torus’ internal e-procurement platform for pre-market engagement, but supplier interest was limited. Sharia then contacted suppliers on Carol’s behalf, speeding up their engagement with Torus.

Following a pre-market engagement, Carol communicated Torus’ requirements to the suppliers and initiated a competitive tender process. Once the bids were received, thorough evaluations were conducted, and a supplier was ultimately awarded the contract.

During the clarification stage, Crescent Services’ Contract Manager, Jane Edwards, provided additional support by assisting with discussions around the call-off terms, ensuring a smooth finalisation of the contract.

Carol successfully fulfilled Torus’ procurement needs through Crescent Services’ procurement support and compliant Corporate Software framework.

Are you looking for a compliant framework or would you like to find out more about our range of procurement services? Get in touch with the Crescent Services team today

Since 2022 CPC has provided Managed Procurement Services to Ongo Homes, a Registered Provider that currently owns and maintains nearly 11,000 homes across the North Lincolnshire Region and neighbouring areas. CPC’s procurement consultant, Pippa Ford, from her remote base in County Durham, has led numerous procurement projects which have delivered quality products and services across a broad range of spend categories for Ongo.

Initially, Ongo appointed CPC on a one day per week basis and increased that to two days after the relationship quickly proved successful as projects and positive outcomes were delivered. From the start CPC have been committed to delivering outstanding procurement support whilst producing outcomes that positively impact both Ongo and the communities it serves. The expansion of the contract and the effective working relationships Pippa has established across Ongo, despite her remote base, has further increased capacity for the relationship to deliver successful projects.

Previously CPC’s procurement consultancy services have predominantly been delivered to the Education Sector. Pippa’s successful placement within the Ongo Procurement Team has demonstrated that CPC procurement consultants can transfer their skills to design procurement and sourcing strategies to meet the needs of registered providers of social housing.

Areas of spend that have been addressed by CPC for Ongo include; occupational health services, out of hours business support services, grounds maintenance services, interpretation and translation services, fire risk assessment services, PPE and workwear, staff health benefits and estate agent & surveying services to name a few, delivering quality products and services.

John Baker, Procurement and Value for Money Manager, Ongo Homes Ltd.

“The appointment of CPC has been a real success story. During a period when my team have not had the capacity to fully meet Ongo’s procurement needs, and now with the extra work involved in meeting the requirements of the new Procurement Act, Pippa’s support has been invaluable. Her flexible approach and personable manner have helped Ongo colleagues to view Pippa as a trusted member of my team, something I have encouraged. Hybrid working is the norm at Ongo, so Pippa’s remote location is not an issue. In fact, the flexibility that remote working facilitates, has supported successful project outcomes. I would recommend other Procurement Managers in the social housing sector consider CPC’s Managed Procurement Services to help them deliver procurement projects for their organisation.”

Pippa Ford, Procurement Consultant, Crescent Services

“After working in a procurement role within the education sector for over 15 years I thought the move to the housing sector might be quite challenging. In fact, the transition was seamless, and my procurement experience has served me well since working with Ongo. While I had to get up to speed with the requirements of the Housing Act and some other aspects which are unique to a registered provider, there is a lot of cross over in terms of spend categories. The level of spend can be larger at Ongo, than some of my previous educational clients but the principles of good procurement remain the same in all areas of the public sector and indeed even in the private sector. I feel confident my CPC colleagues have the capacity to quickly learn and adapt as I have done and that their procurement expertise would benefit other organisations outside of the education sector.”

To find out how one of Crescent’s Procurement Consultants can help your organisation by delivering outstanding services contact us today.  

The objectives of both organisations are well aligned. Ongo and Crescent are charities placing social value at the heart of everything they do.

Ongo Homes is an exempt charitable Community Benefit Society and does not trade for profit. All the generated income is reinvested back into the organisation for the provision of homes maintenance, improvements in service and the financing of building new homes. Ongo is in business to create and sustain truly vibrant communities which is why they promise everything they do is put back into local communities.

Crescent Services is part of the registered charity Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) which has a commitment to ‘Giving Back to the ‘Education Sector‘, setting us apart from our peers.

Our funding has supported a wide range of educational projects fulfilling our charitable objectives of:
• Enhancing teaching and learning
• Improving a learner’s experience of education
• Helping disadvantaged children

Since 2019, CPC’s ‘Giving Back’ has committed £1.56 million of grant funding to schools, academies, colleges and universities, UK wide. It has funded 134 of projects all of which have been requested by educational establishments to assist them in enhancing teaching and learning within their organisation. This has seen a significant impact in a climate of economic decline across the sector.

As a registered charity, CPC works not for shareholders but for stakeholders, improving the quality of learning opportunities available to teachers, lecturers and learners of various ages and backgrounds.