Crown Commercial Service
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New natural gas services framework will supply significant savings

New natural gas services framework will supply significant savings

OGCBUYING.SOLUTIONS News Release (NAT24/02) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 17 March 2009

OGCbuying.solutions has today announced the award of a framework agreement for Natural Gas and Associated services.

The specification and contract of these renewed arrangements sets a new standard for utilities supply contracts across the public sector. The new framework agreement allows for maximum flexibility for the future risk and purchasing strategies, the majority of which are cutting-edge in both public and private sectors. The arrangements will also provide customers with the capacity to secure the best prices for the long-term and will deliver significant savings on administration charges.

The framework agreement, awarded to Corona Energy, is available from 1 April 2009, with the first supply period commencing on 1 October 2009.

The new arrangements will provide an excellent opportunity for those involved in procuring gas for the public sector to take advantage of this deal and join the significant numbers of organisations who already benefit from the arrangements.

Mark Robinson, Category Director - Utilities at Buying Solutions commented today: "We have utilised a category management approach to procurement to deliver a framework which will enable Buying Solutions to continue to actively risk manage the gas spend of our customers and continually produce significantly increased cashable savings."

Paul Bonello, the Category Manager for Utilities and Energy at Suffolk County Council will be taking advantage of Buying Solutions' services. He explained: "We needed to minimise the risks created by volatile energy markets and to do this we decided to move from conventional energy procurement to flexible contracts. The Buying Solutions' Natural Gas and Associated Services framework agreement provides us with access to a very high volume gas contract with the added benefit of having a professional energy trader looking after our procurement and a supplier who has a proven track record managing a large multi site electronically billed portfolio".

Neil Mitchell of Corona Energy concluded: "The Invitation To Tender delivered by Buying Solutions was the most thorough and wide reaching specification we have ever responded to either in the public or private sector. We are delighted to have retained this significant contract and look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Buying Solutions."

For more information, or to register an interest in Buying Solutions' Natural Gas and Associated Services framework agreement, please contact the Buying Solutions' Customer Service Desk on 0845 410 2222.

ENDS

About OGCbuying.solutions

OGCbuying.solutions is an Executive Agency of the Office of Government Commerce, which is itself an office of HM Treasury.

It provides public sector procurement professionals with a route to the products and services they need to maximise procurement efficiency and value for money. Its contracts and framework agreements offer substantial savings through significant buying power, economies of scale and strategic partnerships.

Rigorous tendering and evaluation processes ensure that products and services are checked for quality, price competitiveness, fitness for purpose and compliance with statutory requirements. These products and services are available through Buying Solutions' framework agreements, managed services and other procurement arrangements.

More details are available on the website: http://www.ogcbuyingsolutions.gov.uk

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