5. Procurement Annual Activity Report 2024-25 FinalMB1
North Ayrshire Council · 2 December 2025
Back to Cabinet — 2 December 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 2 December 2025 Cabinet Title: Procurement Annual Activity Report (24-25) Purpose: To provide Cabinet with an update on procurement activity for the period 24/25 Recommendation: Cabinet notes the report 1. Executive Summary 1.1 It was agreed by Council in September 2020 that a procurement annual activity report would be produced for Cabinet. This is the sixth report, for the period 24-25. 1.2 Award Activity - During the year 137 different procurement exercises were awarded to 226 suppliers for a total value of £107.4m. 1.3 Governance - Procurement is governed by public sector procurement legislation and the Council’s Standing Orders Relating to Contracts. North Ayrshire Council have a legal obligation to publish a Contract Register, a Procurement Annual Report and a Procurement Strategy. 1.4 Spend Analysis - North Ayrshire Council spent a total of £300.5m with 3422 suppliers. The report contains information on spend by category, spend distribution, the top 20 suppliers by spend, the size, type, and location of suppliers. 1.5 Community Wealth Building - £80.5m was spent locally with 793 suppliers which was an increase of £9m from the previous year. The direct local spend percentage was 27%, which was in line with the Council Plan target for the year. Since 15-16, local spend has increased by £44.8m. This equates to a 125% increase. Local subcontracting spend of £15.4m in 24-25 was also reported and if this is included, the local spend percentage, in terms of local economic impact, would equate to 32%. The report also contains information on local spend and percentage fluctuation, local spend distribution, and local spend by category. 1.6 Community Benefits - Community benefits delivered are detailed including 3901 employment weeks, equating to 75 jobs and 39 wish list projects.
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1.7 Improvement Activity - The report also provides details of ongoing improvement activity including creating a local supplier database, introducing a local supplier sub- contracting process and refreshing the Contract & Supplier Management policy. 2. Background 2.1 At the Council meeting in September 2020, it was agreed Cabinet would receive a detailed annual report covering all procurement activity. This report covers 24-25 procurement activity. Award Activity 2.2 During the 24-25 period, 137 different procurement exercises were progressed by the Corporate Procurement Unit, resulting in contracts being awarded to 226 suppliers for a total value of £107,363,177.52. The different procurement types undertaken are listed below: Procurement Type Number of Procureme nts Awarded Total Value Awarded Quick Quotes Awarded 36 £ 7,081,903.08 Single Tender Actions Awarded 39 £ 3,727,658.26 Direct Awards Awarded 23 £ 9,954,062.53 GPA Tenders Awarded 9 £ 14,168,481.72 GPA Multi Supplier Awarded 7 £ 8,179,348.12 Non-GPA Tenders Awarded 6 £ 4,367,242.66 Mini Competitions Awarded 15 £ 59,884,481.15 Total 137 £ 107,363,177.52 Governance 2.3 Public sector procurement legislation regulates procurement activity for goods, services and works as detailed below: • Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 • Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 • Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2016 Each regulation has specific thresholds and compliance requirements, and failure to comply could lead to costly legal challenges and reputational damage. In addition to the external legislation the Council’s Standing Orders Relating to Contracts also has requirements on how officers are permitted to procure, detailed below:
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Procurements above £10k are progressed via the optimal compliant procurement route, which could be Quick Quote, Tender, Framework Call-off or Single Tender Action. Frameworks frequently utilised are mainly owned by Scotland Excel, Scottish Government, Crown Commercial Service and the 3 Ayrshire Councils. 2.4 North Ayrshire Council has a legal obligation to publish a Contract Register of all “live” contracts, and an Annual Procurement Report on its regulated procurements (over £50K for supplies and services and over £2M for works). This gives potential suppliers visibility of future tendering opportunities. A Procurement Strategy is also published and refreshed annually. Spend Analysis 2.5 During the report period North Ayrshire Council spent £300.5m with 3422 suppliers. 2.6 North Ayrshire Council buys a wide range of supplies, services and works and the table below details the top 10 categories by value, and the number of suppliers used within each category. Business Sector Total Spend Total Suppliers Construction £ 124,537,908.10 300 Social Care and Services £ 73,273,299.74 307 Facilities Management £ 27,666,306.59 141 Utilities & Energy £ 22,904,849.49 39 ICT £ 7,776,557.68 129 Arts, Sports & Leisure £ 6,266,870.27 90 Education £ 4,840,664.48 103 Waste & Environmental services £ 4,718,836.32 58 Food Beverage & Catering £ 4,075,011.07 52 Healthcare £ 4,056,273.01 77 Total £ 280,116,576.75 1296 2.7 An analysis of the spend by suppliers shows that 55 of the 3422 suppliers, received more than £1m (70%) and at the opposite end of the spend profile, 1505 suppliers received less than £1,000 (0.1%). The top 20 suppliers by spend (see appendix 1) account for £152.7m (51%). 2.8 This dataset shows that most suppliers are Scottish, and the chart below shows the amount spent per supplier size in each of the 4 nations. Up to £2,000 Single Quote £2,000 to £9,999 Minimum 3 Written Quotes > £10,000 approach Corporate Procurement Unit Quick Quote, Tender, Framework Call-off, Single Tender Action
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2.9 The data also shows, that where the size of the company is known, 80% are small or medium enterprises and the chart below confirms most companies fall in the small company definition i.e., less than 50 employees. 2.10 It is also recognised that Third Sector Organisations have a key role in delivering vital services for North Ayrshire citizens and strengthening community empowerment and during 24-25 £41.5 m was spent with 123 Thirds Sector Organisations.
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Community Wealth Building 2.11 From a Community Wealth Building perspective, buying from local companies is a strategic priority for North Ayrshire Council, however procurement legislation does not permit preferential treatment based on location. In the year covered by the report £80.5m (27%) was spent directly with 793 local suppliers which was an increase of £9m from the previous year and a 2.5% overall increase. This meant the Council Plan local spend target of 27% by 2025, was achieved. The Corporate Procurement Unit also approached non-local tier one and large contractors (see appendix 2), to determine the value of sub-contracts awarded to local sub-contractors and spend of £15.4 million was confirmed, and if this spend is included, in terms of local economic impact, the local spend percentage would have been 32%. There are many variables we need to consider that can cause future fluctuation in the local spend percentage including: • The existence of the local supply base (there are no tier one contractors), • The capacity of the local supply base, • The competitiveness of the local supply base, • Fluctuation in North Ayrshire Council’s requirements/ and budgets, • Providing services in-house rather than outsourcing, • The number of local suppliers awarded places on National Frameworks, • An increase in total spend (mainly due to large capital projects), without a corresponding increase in local spend. 2.12 The graphs below show both the local spend increase and local spend percentage increase over the last 10 years. Since 15-16, local spend has increased by £44.8m. This represents a 125% increase over this period. It is recognised that this will continue to have a positive impact on the local economy and across North Ayrshire.
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The actual spend data shows a steady increase throughout the 10-year period, with the local spend more than doubling from £35.7m in 15-16 to £80.5m in 24-25 and the local spend percentage increasing to 27% in 24-25 from 18% in 15-16. 2.13 The top 24 local suppliers by value all received more than £1m, with a total value of £53.8m (69%) and at the opposite end of the spend spectrum 280 local suppliers received less than £1,000, with a total value of £85k (0.1%). 2.14 An analysis of the spend with local suppliers shows that over 69% was spent within the Social Care and Construction sectors. Category Value Percentage Social Care & Services £42,655,934.43 53% Construction £12,682,536.41 16% Arts, Sport & Leisure £5,806,999.00 7% Human Resources £4,456,737.48 6% Facilities Management £4,131,141.72 5% Travel & Accommodation £2,907,105.17 4% Education £2,362,914.91 3% Healthcare £2,069,423.16 2% Waste & Environmental Services £969,820.98 1% Other £2,468,395.67 3% 2.15 North Ayrshire Council’s Corporate Procurement Unit and service teams work together to maintain a tender waveplan of all future tendering opportunities and they also issue Prior Information Notices and participate in bidder’s days and meet the buyer events to raise awareness of opportunities for local suppliers, where appropriate. 2.16 The Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 20 March 2025 and is currently progressing through parliamentary scrutiny. The Bill aims to address economic and wealth inequality by supporting the retention of more wealth in local and regional economies. It proposes a CWB Duty on specified public sector organisations with the purpose of ensuring consistent implementation of the Community Wealth
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Building model of economic development across Scotland. A final vote on the outcome of the CWB Bill is expected in Spring 2026. 2.17 North Ayrshire supplier spend with South and East Ayrshire Councils are noted below. This shows an additional spend of £25.5m with North Ayrshire suppliers that brings additional economic impact to the North Ayrshire area. Spend with North Ayrshire Suppliers Total Value South Ayrshire Council £14,757,261.78 East Ayrshire Council £10,831,185.41 The total Pan-Ayrshire spend was £706.1 with a combined Pan-Ayrshire spend of £188.9m (27%). Total Spend Local Spend Local Spend % North Ayrshire Council £300,410,340.09 £80,511,008.93 27% South Ayrshire Council £239,972,948.22 £65,218,456.74 27% East Ayrshire Council £165,717,341.70 £43,160,329.22 26% Total £706,100,630.01 £188,889,794.89 27% Community Benefits 2.18 As part of the procurement process, community benefits are requested either on a voluntary or mandatory basis, dependant on the value of the proposed contract. The community benefits requested during 24-25 focused on employment and training, with a focus on priority groups, supply chain support, education support and community support. Further work will be progressed with the Communities and Housing Directorate to integrate this work into the core activities of the Directorate. The table below shows what was delivered during 24-25. Improvement Activity 2.19 Additional improvement activities were carried out throughout the year to improve procurement services. A local supplier database was created and rolled out to all service teams to encourage easier selection of suitable local suppliers and more local spend. The database details the goods and services the supplier provides, turnover levels, insurance levels and types held, and accreditations and qualifications held. 75 Jobs 3901 Employment Weeks 4 Work Placements 4 SME/TSO Workshops 5 School Projects 7 Community Projects 39 Wish List Projects 22 Employability Sessions 27 Job/Career Fairs
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A local sub-contracting process was also introduced to encourage non-local larger contractors and tier one contractors to subcontract to smaller local contractors. Questionnaires are completed at the contract and supplier management start up meeting to determine what elements of the contract can be sub-contracted and local suppliers with the relevant capability and capacity are then recommended to progress these contracts. The Contract and Supplier Management (CSM) Policy was also refreshed after benchmarking North Ayrshire Council’s CSM Policy against other council’s CSM policies. The refreshed policy now includes: • A CSM framework to determine the level of CSM required for each contract, • Procurement Journey balanced scorecards, • A CSM flowchart, • CSM roles and responsibilities, • Risk management monitoring, • Business continuity monitoring, • Key policy renewal dates monitoring, • A new mobilisation/implementation agenda and meeting minute template. • A high-level PowerBI multi-supplier performance report accessible by all North Ayrshire Council’s senior managers. A CSM training course was also created to encourage all service teams to actively manage suppliers and contracts and drive maximum economic, social and environmental value from CSM. Quarterly operation workshops were also carried out to share and implement new ideas for improvement, and as result numerous templates, guidance documents and processes were amended to support continuous improvement. 3. Proposals 3.1 Cabinet notes the contents of the report. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 No direct financial implications within this report, however, all progress in growing the level of local spend will continue to be set within the context of North Ayrshire Council’s duty to secure Best Value. Human Resources 4.2 None. Legal 4.3 North Ayrshire Council’s procurement activities comply with all relevant public procurement legislation and the Council’s Standing Orders.
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Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 North Ayrshire Council’s procurement activities encourage fair work practices and payment of the real living wage and delivery of community benefits relating to employment and training. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 North Ayrshire Council’s procurement activities comply with the Procurement Reform Act (Scotland) 2014 sustainable procurement duty. Key Priorities 4.6 To drive economic, environmental and social value from all procurements. Community Wealth Building 4.7 Procurement Local suppliers are identified and invited to quick quotes and supported through tendering and framework opportunities wherever possible. Employment Community Benefits for employment and training are requested within relevant procurement exercises. As a Living Wage Accredited Employer, North Ayrshire Council strongly believes that all employees should be paid the real living wage. North Ayrshire Council also encourages all bidders to pay the real living wage and ask for information on their payment practices. This will include the number of staff who are paid and those that are not paid the living wage, with reasons for non-payment. The Corporate Procurement Unit and The Fair Work Ayrshire Team will use this information to work with suppliers to help them achieve payment of the living wage to all employees on future contracts. Land and Assets – Not applicable Financial Power – Not applicable Democratic Ownership – Not applicable Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9 All contracts contain a clause stating suppliers shall for the duration of the contract act compatibly with UNCRC Act 2024. Consumer Duty
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4.10 None 5. Consultation 5.1 Throughout all procurement exercises there is direct involvement with all relevant Directorate teams. Mark Boyd Head of Service (Finance) For further information please contact Suzanne Bignell, Senior Manager (Corporate Procurement), on 01294 324039. Background Papers None Appendix 1 – Top 20 Suppliers by Spend Supplier Name Aggregate Spend R J MCLEOD (CONTRACTORS) LTD £29,470,974.64 HUB SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND LTD £20,892,946.19 PPP SERVICES (NORTH AYRSHIRE) £17,933,062.13 AMERESCO LIMITED £9,666,374.38 ASHLEIGH (SCOTLAND) LTD £9,176,079.63 VAN OORD UK LTD £8,889,070.75 EDF ENERGY CUSTOMERS LIMITED £7,835,423.44 MARLEY ETERNIT LTD T/A MARLEY CONTRACTS £7,350,209.05 NORTH AYRSHIRE LEISURE LIMITED £5,453,289.69 HUB SW LARGS DBFM CO LIMITED £4,350,520.99 CORNERSTONE £4,101,456.11 HANSEL ALLIANCE £4,019,134.81 BUCKREDDAN P/SHIP TA BUCKREDDAN CARE £3,311,634.49 D MCLAUGHLIN & SONS £3,099,733.54 MCTEAR CONTRACTS LIMITED £3,066,335.53 KEY HOUSING ASSOCIATION LTD £3,023,815.28 THE RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP SCOTLAND £2,976,644.07 HAMILTON TARMAC £2,801,811.20 KIBBLE EDUCATION & CARE CENTRE £2,793,739.91 CALEDONIA CARE HOME £2,539,907.90 Total £152,752,163.73
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Appendix 2 – Local Subcontracting Company Local Subcontracted Spend R J McLeod (Contractors) Ltd £4,454,000.00 Hub South West Scotland Ltd £4,774,349.23 Ameresco Ltd £109,920.00 Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd £396,427.97 Van Oord UK Ltd £1,529,226.51 Marley Eternit Ltd t/a Marley Contracts £2,614,185.39 Groundsource Drilling and Contracting Ltd £15,280.00 Muir Construction Ltd £643,000.00 Redpath Construction Ltd £790,000.00 AMP Clean Energy Services Ltd £41,006.44 Clark Contracts Ltd £4,072.40 Cairn Construction Ltd £23,000.00 MGM Timber (Scotland) Ltd £28,421.55 Faskin Group £1,800.00 Total £15,424,689.49