The Association of Women in Property works to create opportunities, expand knowledge and inspire change for women within the property and construction industry, in order to maximise opportunities to actively engage with influential media outlets and be seen and heard at key industry events.
The sold-out event featured a panel of industry experts discussing the state of procurement within the public sector with an audience of 100 delegates.
The panel featured:
• Zoe Price – Group Director of Public Sector Frameworks, ISG
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• Simon Toplass – CEO, Pagabo
• Ann Bentley – Global Board Director, Rider Levett Bucknall (also a member of the UK Government's Construction Leadership Council)
• Helen Baker – Director of Procurement, UWE
• Laura Wisdom – Senior Associate, Burgess Salmon
• Deborah Vogwell – Senior Manager, Homes England.
Pierre Wassenaar, director at Stride Treglown, hosted the discussion, prompting debate around the benefits of the framework route, the role of SMEs and how they can compete, transparency, relationships and the future of public sector procurement, before the panel took questions from the audience.
Zoe shared her thoughts on the role that frameworks play in developing client and contractor relationships: "In the last 18 months we've developed a new strategy on how to target and position ourselves on frameworks and it is really important to us as a business.
"It is a strategy that I'm very passionate about and we can evidence the added value and development of long term relationships.
"The best frameworks are mutually beneficial to both client and contractor, helping bring projects to site quicker and more efficiently, whilst enabling all delivery partners to share best practice and improve productivity."
Zoe continued: "This was a great event with a lot of audience engagement, and it certainly showed that there is a lot of uncertainty around public sector procurement, which I believe could be supported by the use of frameworks to provide transparency and add value to the process."
