Transforming Public Procurement: Unleashing the Potential for Innovation

The government recently conducted a consultation on their Green Paper for ‘Transforming Public Procurement’. Connected Places Catapult have compiled a response in partnership with our academic collaborators at the University of Birmingham (City REDI) and the University of Manchester (Manchester Institute of Innovation Research), bringing together our expertise on public procurement of innovation and regional development.

We welcome the promotion of strategic procurement as a powerful demand-side tool to promote investment into innovation and are enthused to see the Green Paper highlight the creation of “opportunities for innovative companies to win business and improve public services” as a central objective of these reforms. However, despite these ambitious goals the current proposals do not offer an integrated strategic vision to grasp these opportunities. We discuss the gaps in the proposed reforms and suggest some tangible actions to address these concerns.

“Unleashing the power of public procurement to drive the growth of innovative businesses is crucial for a flourishing UK economy in the years ahead. We recognise the role of procurement in fostering vibrant innovation ecosystems and believe it is central Connected Places Catapult’s mission to support businesses to transform exciting ideas into valuable products and services. The proposed reforms offer tantalising new opportunities to leverage demand for improved public services to stimulate these outcomes, along with the social and economic benefits that arise from them. This joint response represents a collective ambition to drive positive change for public bodies and pioneering suppliers alike, and we look forward to continued evolution in this area.“

Nicola Yates OBE, CEO, Connected Places Catapult

For more information on our Challenging Procurement programme or regarding the detail of this response to the Green Paper, please contact Dr. Oliver Kirsch (oliver.kirsch@cp.catapult.org.uk).

Find out more about our Challenging Procurement programme.