Tughans was delighted to sponsor the CBI Northern Ireland’s recent Breakfast Seminar focusing on Procurement.

Commenting on the event which was held at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, Nigel Smyth, CBI Northern Ireland Director, said:

The public procurement market in Northern Ireland is worth over £2.5bn and across the UK the government spends more than £200bn a year, so it is an important opportunity for local suppliers.

Procurement, even with the reforms of recent years, remains a major concern for CBI members across many business disciplines.

Over eighty people from the public and private sectors attended the event to hear detailed presentations on the reforms of recent years, current issues in Northern Ireland, as well as the way forward. This included a strategic review of the procurement processes for major infrastructure projects locally.

CBI Northern Ireland is very willing to play an important role on behalf of its members in that strategic review and is also working closely with government representatives to resolve key issues of concern in relation to procurement processes for goods and services.

More visibility and getting timely delivery of projects, reducing bidding costs and complexity, and enhancing confidence of suppliers are key priorities.

Patrick Brown, Partner and Head of Procurement at Tughans Solicitors, said:

The event was incredibly timely given the on-going significant interest the business community has in procurement, as well as the forthcoming Strategic Investment Board review of the commissioning and delivery system for major infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland.

Clearly there is a massive challenge for all of those engaged with procurement processes and projects in Northern Ireland to ensure that we have a system that enables successful public procurement.

Having this in place will play an important part in future economic growth and contracting authorities and tenderers alike would have found the event useful as a means to stay abreast of developments in this complicated and evolving area. We were also delighted to welcome Nigel Giffin QC to the event as he gave a detailed insight into current procurement issues across the UK.

Pictured above at the event are the speakers (L-R): Patrick Brown (Tughans), Paul Priestly (Strategic Investment Board), Nigel Giffin QC (KBW Chambers) with Nigel Smyth (CBI Northern Ireland).