Safety product supplier Blackwoods NSW has been named approved contractor of the year by Local Government Procurement (LGP) for its PPE inventory solutions project during Covid.

In a social media post, Blackwoods described the accolade, announced at a ceremony in Sydney on October 18, as an honour and a major achievement that recognised the strategic sourcing support it gave to NSW Councils during fires, pandemics and floods.

The company said its Inventory Solutions project with the City of Canada Bay Council was a key initiative.

“Our partnership with the City of Canada Bay Council is a great example of what can be achieved when industry and local government work together,” Blackwoods said.

It said that in October 2020 Canada Bay City Council recognised the need for an inventory solution to manage PPE products for its staff.

“As part of our proposal, Blackwoods recommended the placement of an on-site industrial vending machine with 24/7 access to manage the council’s critical inventory.

“In addition to site approved PPE, the vending machine also became a distribution point for COVID related items such as hand sanitiser, antibacterial wipes and disposable respirators.”

The award was assessed using various criteria including sustainability initiatives, innovation and commercial growth via the LGP contract.

Streamlining procurement

LGP was established as a a business arm of LGNSW to help member councils acquire goods and services as efficiently and cost effectively.

 It is a ‘prescribed entity’ by legislation, meaning that councils don’t have to go to tender for values greater than the tendering threshold as they would normally have to.

Instead, they can get quotes and proposals from approved contractors who have been securely contracted to LGP.

LGP says that each year it saves NSW councils millions of dollars in the procurement of goods and services through negotiated pricing and bulk purchasing power and minimises procurement risks for councils by streamlining access to reputable suppliers.

LGP also provides member councils with free advice on probity, governance, auditing and legislation compliance as well as procurement management resources, and guidelines and benchmarking materials.

Customers include all NSW councils, regional organisation of councils, joint organisations, non-NSW councils, not-for-profit organisations, universities, state government agencies and departments.