Audio: Harnessing innovation across the public sector: 3. A practical guide to pre-market engagement

How do we gain access to innovative suppliers, take their expertise on board and start to inform our procurement decisions? 

The Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC) worked with procurement specialists Gardiner & Theobald LLP to create a pragmatic, practical guide to ‘pre-market engagement’ for the public sector.

“I think one of the big takeaways, which I hope that the guide, as well as the Procurement Act will do, is try to ensure that the buyers market themselves as best as they possibly can to the supply market, in such a manner whereby they are seen as the informed client,” says Marut Gohil, Senior Associate - Procurement and Supply Chain, Gardiner & Theobald LLP.

“Pre-market engagement is the foundation of the commercial life cycle. We need to ensure that suppliers are bought in to this whole process right at the beginning, and, that they want to work with the client.”

The UKA Live Podcast asked IPEC head, Rikesh Shah, and Gardiner & Theobold’s Marut Gohil, how the guide can help make the public sector - and local government in particular - the informed client: the customer of choice.

1. What is the problem with using current / traditional approaches when procuring innovation?
2. What opportunities does the Procurement Act bring?
3. What is preliminary Market Engagement – and what does ‘good’ look like?
4. How do public sector organisations become the informed client… of choice

 

Coming up next:

• Westminster’s journey with IPEC – The council joined last year’s Cohort to explore how they could harness procurement to procure and deliver an innovative solution to help improve air quality from the numerous commercial cooking operations in its area.  

 

Further info:

• Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
• Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
• Sentiment Analysis: 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
• Sentiment Analysis: 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/