Here are links to three videos by those involved in the Treasury review of the Green Book, as published alongside the Spending Review in November 2020.
Video: Tom Aldred, HMT Green Book Review team lead
Video: Mark Williams, training workstream lead for the Green Book Review
Video: Heads of Professions from across government endorsing the Green Book
In Summer 2020, the BSA and Polar Insight partnered on a survey of members to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector and to explore key factors relating to procurement across the private and public sectors.
Download the survey report here:
https://www.polarinsight.com/bsaprocurementsurvey
Or click here.
Adapted from a keynote speech delivered by Sean Haley, Regional Chairman, Sodexo UK & Ireland, at the BSA’s seminar on Business Values: Learning from Lock Down, 24 July 2020
This year, the world has been thrown into turmoil, but it has also shone a light onto what really matters to people. As governments, businesses and households start to emerge from the crisis phase of the pandemic, we start to build an economic recovery.
Continue reading “Keynote speech – Seminar on Business Values: Learning from Lockdown”
BSA Member CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP has produced the following briefing note – setting out the key implications of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.
Read the full post here: https://www.cms-lawnow.com/ealerts/2020/07/corporate-insolvency-and-governance-act-2020
Since the Covid-19 lockdown was introduced, we have witnessed an incredible industry-wide response, writes Sean Haley, Sodexo Regional Chair.
FM and food providers have repeatedly demonstrated the value of our sector by collectively responding quickly and efficiently. Sodexo and its competitors have played a vital role to set up and operate Covid-19 testing centres and Nightingale hospitals around the country. It has been a Herculean effort that no one foresaw would be needed, but one which was achieved through partnerships that formed within just days.
We have been able to do this because we are an agile, flexible, diverse, caring industry with experts in catering, cleaning through to fire safety, energy, event management and much more. We have shown that we are more than just service providers. We are strategic partners who can adapt, innovate and work in partnership to get things done.
Our people have met the challenge of providing core services safely into hospitals, barracks, schools, factories, test centres and prisons, to name a few. They are often working in extremely difficult conditions, on the front line, adapting to meet new demands and challenges – and they are laying the foundations for our national recovery from this crisis.
4 examples from BSA Member Corndel of Apprenticeship Levy best practice:
Adecco have started 30 of their furloughed staff on apprenticeship training programmes to prepare them for their return to work post-Covid-19. These apprenticeship programmes have been specifically adapted and personalised to support furloughed Adecco staff at this difficult time. [Read More].
80 apprentices from 36 organisations attended the online webinar last week: Building Connectivity and Trust in a Virtual World. This webinar had been built specifically to help apprentices to adapt to the new circumstances that learners find themselves in. Apprentices were able to submit questions which were answered live by an expert panel. The next webinar in the series has already had 120 apprentices sign up. [Read More]
All UK employers and apprentices are now able to access a dedicated bank of resources on home working, remote management, workplace well-being and resilience. They are available publicly here.
Employers and apprentices are now able to undertake the new Dev Ops Apprenticeships remotely. Dev Ops will be a critical skill set in the post-Corona economy. Corndel has adapted our Dev Ops apprenticeship so that it can be entirely delivered remotely during this health crisis. [Read More]
Mike Penrose, Founder and Chief Executive of the Sustainability Group, draws on his extensive experience in this blog on crisis management.
During periods of uncertainty and crisis it is all too easy to focus on the immediate needs of your organisation and its employees. To deal with the overwhelming amount of work that comes with the necessity to rapid adapt your ways of working, the sheer volume of day to day stuff that needs doing, and most importantly staff welfare and support.
Clients push back work, cashflow gets squeezed and order books get thinner. Some of the measures announced by the chancellor will help organisations through this difficult period, it is an unprecedented bail out, proportionate to these difficult times, and to be widely applauded (unless you are self-employed, but that is another article). Continue reading “Crisis management in uncertain times”
Adapted from a keynote speech delivered by Sean Haley, Regional Chairman, Sodexo UK & Ireland, at the National Social Value Conference 2020
In November last year, the British Academy set out the changes they believe companies need to make to become “purposeful businesses” – changes that they say lie “at the heart of the future of capitalism, the future of humanity and the future of our planet”.
This is not new to Sodexo. We were one of the first few companies in the world to place social value at the core of its mission when it was founded in France in 1966 – and we have always sought to do good business in a good way.
Ten years ago, we published our global corporate responsibility roadmap – Better Tomorrow 2025.
We have plans in place across our business to reduce our impact on climate change, to cut waste, to recruit people from marginalised groups like ex-offenders, to cut plastic from our supply chain, to spend more money with local suppliers and SMEs and promote more women into leadership roles.
This is all well and good but we know that this isn’t enough to meet the challenges we face, because it is not over-dramatic to say that we are living in a time of crisis.
Boris Johnson’s huge General Election victory is good news for the political stability and support business needs to succeed. Government will now continue to be a strong support for innovation and enterprise. The principles of the free market and free flowing trade will be re-affirmed in the corridors of power across Whitehall. The fundamental threat posed by Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party, with the crushing threat to jobs and wealth creation that it represented, has been resoundingly seen off. For those running and employed by businesses of all shapes and sizes – which is the vast majority of us – the Conservative victory is very welcome indeed.
Not only businesses of course compete in the market place. Social enterprises and, although they frequently bridle at the suggestion, so do charities. Charities compete for donations, for public sector contracts to deliver government services at home and overseas, and for our attention and support.
Martin Traynor OBE was appointed Small Business Crown Representative at the start of 2019. In this blog he explains what he has discovered in his first six months in the role and his priorities for the future.
What is the role of the Small Business Crown Representative?
In my role as Small Business Crown Representative I have been asked to lead on the overall relationship between the government and small and medium sized businesses (SMEs), advise ministers on the government’s engagement with them, and to identify the barriers they face when working with government.
The UK government buys a wide range of goods and services from businesses right across the country. This ranges from major rail and road projects, through to fresh food and specialised services to help people find work. Of course it is a big buyer of many of the services that BSA members provide.
Continue reading “Guest post from Martin Traynor OBE, Small Business Crown Representative”
John Hanratty, Head of Pensions North at CMS CMNO, and Chair of the BSA Pensions Group facilitated an insightful and constructive roundtable on the Future of Pensions in July 2019.
The BSA invited two guest speakers, Fiona Frobisher, Head of Policy, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and Richard Giles, Head of Strategic Partnerships, The Pensions Trust (TPT) to provide more detail on the obligations of pension schemes for independent providers.
From Star Trek’s ray guns and Princess Leia’s hologram messages to AI character HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, not to mention video calling, mobile phones, smart watches and tablets, there are numerous examples of sci-fi technologies becoming reality. Defence has long been at the forefront of digital and technological transformation – a driving force for innovation behind everything from the Internet to GPS, inspired by the imagination and ingenuity of science fiction. Continue reading “Digital in Defence: The age of Iron Man technology and sci-fi becoming reality”
By Asif Ghafoor, MD Investments, Amey
In last year’s Autumn Statement, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced the official death of PFI. He said that the UK government would abolish the use of PFI (along with its successor PF2) for future projects, noting that “I have never signed off a PFI contract as Chancellor and I can confirm today that I never will”.
Continue reading “How do we fix the public-private partnership?”
Until a couple of years ago, the facilities management (FM) industry appeared to be steering a fairly steady course. True, the rising maturity of the FM outsourcing market was starting to create pressure on providers’ growth and costs. But they could count on a ready supply of existing and new customers—both public and private sector—who felt they could buy their services with confidence.
Continue reading “Living wills are coming in FM – embrace them now to get ahead of the game”
John Clements, Management Consultant at The Gap Partnership, details the importance of preparation and planning in the negotiation process for successful tender bids.
Continue reading “Negotiating for success in public sector negotiations”
By Philip Craig, Government Sector Strategy Director at Sopra Steria
One of the often-quoted benefits of digital transformation is the improvement in the way departments interact with citizens and business by sharing systems and data to streamline services. But the reality often falls short of expectations.
Written by Sylvia Metayer, CEO, Worldwide Corporate Services segment, Sodexo
Today is World FM Day, a chance for the FM industry to raise awareness of how we can help our clients ‘enable positive experiences’. Continue reading “Trends shaping the future of the workplace”
Since the increase in tuition fees in 2010, universities have had to adapt to a rapidly changing funding environment. Greater reliance on fees, which account for over two-thirds of total income at 42% of universities, has left their finances vulnerable to sudden changes in student numbers. Concerns over value for money, along with long-term spending commitments on pensions and infrastructure, also weigh heavily.
To be sustainable after Brexit, universities must prioritise the student experience whilst also finding new ways to maximise efficiencies and diversify revenue. Continue reading “Universities must commercialise to thrive after Brexit”
By Rob Price, Chief Operating Officer, Worldline (Atos e-payment Services), UK and Ireland
When I drive to my local railway station, the station car park recognises my arrival through number plate recognition. I drive straight in, with digital signage telling me how many spaces are free. I walk through the station and get straight on the train. When I return, the car park transaction is quick and easy – contactless card or mobile wallet payment at the kiosk, and the exit barrier lifts as it recognises my number plate.
I like this digitalised experience because it makes things quicker and easier for me.
This is a common theme of the global digital inclusion survey we’ve just completed, which revealed how people feel about digital technologies – including how they pay for things. It’s clear that where the consumer is motivated or incentivised through personal benefit, then there is better adoption. Other than cost savings, the two benefits that stand out for consumers are time saved and improvements to their health. Continue reading “What’s ahead for the digital wallet?”
By Philip Craig, Government Sector Strategy Director at Sopra Steria
In March 2018 the government reached a significant economic milestone. It eliminated the deficit on its day-to-day budget. Tax revenues will exceed public spending. Public sector net debt will fall for the first time since 2001-02. It took eight years rather than five. But the primary target set by government in 2010, as the UK struggled to recover from the financial crisis, had finally been met. Continue reading “Light at the end of the financial tunnel?”