Early engagement is key to achieving value for money and best outcomes for residents
Engaging early with frameworks, suppliers and residents is crucial for housing providers looking to achieve real value for money, says Oliver Mooney, head of category at Fusion21
Engaging early with frameworks, suppliers and residents is crucial for housing providers looking to achieve real value for money, says Oliver Mooney, head of category at Fusion21 #UKhousingAdvertorial by:
The housing sector is facing unprecedented scrutiny and pressure when it comes to regulatory and legislative changes, which makes it all the more crucial to ensure the right suppliers are in place.
At Fusion21, we regularly talk to members and suppliers about these issues, and one of the key learnings we share with our members is the importance of early engagement as a way to achieve the best results.
The benefits of early engagement
Too often we hear that organisations are waiting until they have funding confirmed before starting to engage with residents and suppliers, but this is too late, according to Oliver Mooney.
“Starting those conversations with all relevant stakeholders now isn’t jumping the gun,” he says.
“It gives you a better chance of delivering a positive resident experience, because they are involved from the start and understand what needs to happen, which helps you to be clear about what is required.”
Early engagement with potential suppliers also helps to reduce risk and increase the chances of stronger mobilisation once the funding has been confirmed. Delaying means there’s a greater chance of being left with a smaller pool of available suppliers because the rest have already been in talks with competitors.
Strategic framework design
Fusion21’s frameworks are strategically designed to support this early engagement with suppliers to help achieve real value for money, rather than simply finding the lowest prices.
Our frameworks are built around principles like aggregating member demand and building clear and predictable pipelines of work for suppliers, which gives them the confidence to invest in their capacity and skills, and enables scalable, efficient delivery models.
Our Decarbonisation Framework, meanwhile, is aligned with the themes and principles of the Gold Standard, creating energy-efficient homes, warm, healthy and safe buildings, and reducing energy demand.
Mr Mooney says: “Alongside the Gold Standard principles, our frameworks have social value embedded within them. This ensures that projects deliver positive and measurable social and environmental outcomes.
“We also advise members to consider whole-life cost and long-term performance, instead of focusing on the short-term pricing, as this is how real savings are made.”
Achieving real value for money
“Our framework pricing mechanisms also provide cost certainty, enabling effective budgeting and long-term planning,” said Mr Mooney.
“So, the earlier the engagement with suppliers begins, the sooner these financial advantages can start to be utilised.
“Engaging with Fusion21 and our suppliers at the earliest opportunity helps take advantage of the active collaboration we have with them. This includes our ongoing management of standards, proactive risk management, supporting them to meet public sector expectations and problem-solving through supplier relationships.”
Competition and collaboration
Another reason to consider early engagement through Fusion21’s frameworks is that it can help encourage healthy competition between suppliers, improving value for money while maintaining quality against the specifics of your requirements.
Our frameworks also help incentivise performance through continuous feedback and performance measurement, which encourage and reward strong delivery.
Talking to suppliers as soon as possible also offers the chance to discuss an integrated delivery model, potentially co-ordinating programmes across areas like retrofit, compliance, building safety and planned maintenance, rather than tackling them separately.
The positives of this approach include reducing unnecessary duplication, minimising resident disruption, strengthening your control over your budget and supporting confidence in the delivery of these programmes.
For all of these reasons, engaging with Fusion21 and our frameworks is crucial for achieving value for money and social impact from your procurement.
It is free to become a member, and to date, we have helped create over 16,600 employment outcomes, generated more than £300m in social impact and saved our members £424m through the procurement process.
To find out more about Fusion21’s procurement solutions, which operate across the housing, local authority, education, NHS and blue light sectors, click here or call 0845 308 2321.
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