Cardiff Council and the Vale of Glamorgan Council, working together through the Ardal Procurement Partnership, have held their first joint Meet the Buyer event, bringing local suppliers together with public sector buyers and main contractors to strengthen the region's supply chain.
The event forms part of the councils' commitment to socially responsible procurement, with a core objective of supporting the local economy by opening up public sector and construction supply chain opportunities to businesses across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
The initiative began life as a smaller roundtable event, which identified strong demand among local suppliers for direct access to buyers and contractors. This led to the decision to scale up into a full Meet the Buyer event, giving a far wider range of businesses the chance to engage directly with decision-makers.
The event brought together public sector buyers, and main contractors from the regional collaborative frameworks including Knox & Wells, Willmott Dixon, Bouygues, R&M Williams, Knights Brown, Walters, Centregreat and Matrix Milestone and over 150 local businesses looking to grow their presence in the public sector and construction supply chain. Attendees also heard from a range of expert speakers, including Business Wales on the support available to local businesses, Professor Jane Lynch on the benefits and practicalities of joint bidding, and Rob Basini from the Federation of Small Businesses on strengthening SME involvement in procurement.
Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with many highlighting the quality of connections made and the value of direct access to buyers and contractors:
“Getting the chance to meet representatives from the council and find out about opportunities.”
“The ability to have conversations with suppliers I've been struggling to get contacts for.”
“That buyers from the public sector wish to work hand in hand with us and want to actively learn more from what we can offer, in order to make informed choices.”
“Good quality conversations with both the Council representatives and main contractors.”
“Well managed event and well attended with opportunity to meet with supply chain partners and potential clients – excellent venue for the scale and attendance.”
Cllr Leonora Thomson, Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance at Cardiff Council, said:
“Events like this are exactly what socially responsible procurement should look like in practice – opening doors for local businesses and making sure the opportunities we create as public bodies stay close to home. It's very encouraging to see such strong engagement, and we're looking forward to building on this.”
Following the success of this joint event, Cardiff Council and the Vale of Glamorgan Council anticipate further Meet the Buyer events, continuing to build on the relationships formed and supporting local businesses to access public sector and construction opportunities.
