Leading electronic procurement services provider Millstream is set for a business boost after being awarded a place on the UK Government framework G-Cloud, as new public sector regulations come into force.
Millstream already operates Scotland’s national e-procurement database, Public Contracts Scotland, and the Welsh equivalent, Sell2Wales, and the agreement with the Government’s framework for public sector IT services means official accreditation for its myTenders service.
myTenders is a tender publication and management solution used by hundreds of public organisations to submit fully compliant contract notices to the Official Journal of the European Union and Contracts Finder.
G-Cloud is open to all UK public sector bodies, which are advised to use the G-Cloud marketplace when buying cloud-based IT services.
Millstream is a supplier of cloud software as a service, which accounted for £4.38million spent via the G-Cloud in December 2014.
Recent figures issued by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) show G-Cloud spending reached a total of £431.2million by the end of 2014.
Tim Williams, managing director of Millstream, said: “The Government launched G-Cloud to allow public sector bodies to buy cost-effective, cloud-based digital services off the shelf, and being accepted on to this framework opens up myTenders to a whole range of potential new customers.
“Our myTenders service is a simple, one-stop solution for buyers, allowing them to publish both low and high value tenders. The online tendering tools allow documents to be shared and submissions received through the portal, through to contract award and debriefing.
“We have an interface to both the Official Journal (OJEU) and Contracts Finder which means that public sector buyers can fulfil their statutory publication obligations in one place without having to enter the information multiple times.”
Mr Williams said the new procurement regulations would mean changes for the public sector in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with Scotland set to follow later this year.
“The new Public Contracts Regulations 2015 came into effect in most of the UK, with the exception of Scotland, at the end of February,” he said.
“As well as implementing the European public contracts directive, these new regulations introduce a number of measures, known as the Lord Young Reforms, which aim to help small firms win more government contracts.
“This means that all public sector procurement processes must be handled electronically and it’s no longer enough to simply just post tender documents online, so we expect this to open up new opportunities for myTenders.”
As well as operating myTenders and national portals, Millstream also runs the Tenders Direct website, which provides private companies with comprehensive information on new business opportunities from the public sector, such as the government, local authorities, emergency services, NHS trusts and the armed forces.