The Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC) helps public sector organisations and high-potential businesses use procurement to solve challenges, improve services, and support economic growth. It’s the UK’s competency centre for the procurement of innovation.
We provide practical support, expert guidance, and shared learning to help organisations achieve better, cheaper, and faster results by adopting innovative solutions and unlocking the opportunities of the Procurement Act 2023.
We also help innovative SMEs access public sector markets, creating new opportunities for businesses to grow, while delivering better outcomes for communities across the UK at local and regional levels, as well as supporting central government. Working with leading experts, we provide evidence-based guidance to shape current and future policy for the procurement of innovation.
Find out more in our FAQs, or get in touch at contact@ipec.org.uk.
The Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC) helps councils and local authorities use procurement as a tool to unlock better, faster, greener and more cost-effective outcomes.
Empowering the public sector to drive better outcomes through innovation in procurement.
Through our support programmes, research, and stakeholder engagement, we help organisations overcome barriers to innovation and create lasting impact.
Public procurement is one of the UK’s most powerful, and underused – tools for growth. Each year, the UK public sector spends over £400 billion on procurement, making it one of the largest drivers of economic activity in the country. Yet too often, this spend is focused on buying existing solutions rather than shaping markets or enabling innovation.
At the same time, innovative businesses struggle to access early customers and secure the contracts they need to scale.
IPEC bridges that gap, turning procurement into a strategic lever for growth.
We focus on sectors where progress is hardest, including transport, construction and data infrastructure and markets shaped by complexity, regulation and risk.
IPEC helps public sector organisations adopt innovation with confidence by:
For high-potential businesses, the journey from innovation to growth is often unclear and fragmented. IPEC provides a structured pathway to help SMEs:
By reshaping procurement and helping public bodies make better use of existing powers, evidence and proven practice, IPEC drives growth at every level.
Our ambition is to deepen understanding of the effectiveness of innovation procurement in driving innovation for better public services while boosting economic growth. Working with regional and local authorities we can disseminate best practice and empower local decision makers.
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Find out more
Find out more in our FAQs, or get in touch at contact@ipec.org.uk.
