Procurement

Supplying Cheshire East Council with goods and services

We have a statutory duty to ensure that any procurement represents the most cost effective, best value for money solution.

Our purpose is to ensure that contracts and commercial arrangements awarded by Cheshire East Council provide great value for money and that we use our procurement spend to provide the best possible social value for our residents.

The Council advertises contract opportunities via an e-Business portal The Chest portal. Suppliers can register online via the Suppliers’ area to receive email updates on opportunities that match their capabilities.

Register to use The Chest.

How to become a supplier

Where possible, contracts under £25,000 are ring-fenced for businesses in the Cheshire East borough and surrounding areas.

We have a portal to enable businesses to register their interest in bidding for future council contracts below £25,000.

Add your details to our supplier list by completing the below online form. The form will take 3 minutes to complete.

Add your details to the Business Procurement Portal

Procurement Act 2023

The Procurement Act, which will reform the existing Procurement Rules, received Royal Assent in October 2023.

In March 2024, the Procurement Regulations 2024 were laid in Parliament to bring some elements of the Bill and the wider regime into effect. 

On 12 September 2024, Cabinet Office announced that the Procurement Act 2023 will now commence on 24 February 2025 - a delay of four months from the original go-live date of 28 October 2024 to allow time for a new National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) to be produced.

The Transforming Public Procurement programme aims to improve the way public procurement is regulated in order to:

• create a simpler and more flexible, commercial system that better meets our country’s needs while remaining compliant with our international obligations
• open up public procurement to new entrants such as small businesses and social enterprises so that they can compete for and win more public contracts
• embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle so that the spending of taxpayers’ money can be properly scrutinised.

The Cabinet Office have updated their information leaflet for suppliers (PDF, 360KB), which includes a dedicated FAQ. As we get closer to go-live more guidance and information for suppliers will be published, including specific ‘how-to’ videos and step-by-step guides for registering and using the central digital platform

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Page last reviewed: 11 September 2024