Procurement Policy

Details on our Procurement Policy

  • In procuring any products and services, Sheffield Chamber strives to achieve and demonstrate value for money.
  • Where appropriate, Sheffield Chamber will seek to procure any products and services from businesses within its existing membership. There may be a requirement for the successful bidder to have or achieve a minimum standard of legal or technical qualification which will be prescribed within the invitation to tender.
  • If a successful bidder is not a Sheffield Chamber member, they are expected to join as a Growth Member for at least the minimum of the contract term. However, from time to time as may be deemed necessary, Sheffield Chamber reserves the right to procure its products and/or services from outside the Sheffield Chamber membership.
  • Where the value of an individual contract for goods or services has a value (or annual value) in excess of £2,500 (excluding VAT) (according to the estimated value of the contract at pre-tender stage), procurement will be by submission of competitive tenders (see Appendix 1 for exceptions) and Sheffield Chamber will endeavour to obtain a minimum of at least three written tenders. Where less than three written tenders are received, Sheffield Chamber reserves the right to appoint a supplier from the one or two written tenders received or, at its sole discretion, to re-tender (including a focus outside the Sheffield Chamber membership). Where a re-tender process is carried out, any tenders received at the first stage will be carried over and automatically considered as part of the re-tender.
  • Where Sheffield Chamber seeks to procure goods and services, it will post an invitation to tender on its website for a minimum period of 28 days and will also publish the tender opportunity via LinkedIn and Twitter at the beginning of the 28 day period. It will be the responsibility of Sheffield Chamber members to check the website regularly. Any tenders submitted after the cut-off date may not be considered.
  • Invitations to tender will be tailored as required but will include scope of works, time scales, delivery process, price and payment terms, and a deadline for submission of the tender.
  • This policy will be published on Sheffield Chamber’s website and will operate in a transparent manner.
  • Information supplied by businesses tendering to supply Sheffield Chamber will remain confidential.
  • Sheffield Chamber expects successful bidders and suppliers to deliver their services in a fair and inclusive manner.
  • A decision to appoint any supplier and place an order for goods or services will be made on criteria such as:
    - Price/value for money.
    - Environmental impact.
    - Quality of product and/or service.
    - Speed of delivery.
    We also expect suppliers to be aware of and adhere to our policies on:
    - Forced or compulsory labour
    - Child labour
    - Support of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • Specific criteria will be specified in each invitation to tender. There is no appeal process following the outcome of any tender process.
  • This policy may be amended from time to time. It will be reviewed annually. Any variations will be published on Sheffield Chamber’s website.

Appendix 1: Legal Advice Services

Due to the range of services provided by the Chamber, we need to obtain legal advice on several different topics from time to time to ensure that the Chamber complies with all legal requirements and takes appropriate steps to protect the interests of its members.  On occasions this advice is required within timescales that could not be met within normal procurement timetables.

Our procurement policy applies equally to the sourcing of legal advice but with the proviso that it will apply to all individually charged pieces of advice with a value in excess of £4,000 or annual contracts in excess of that amount per annum.

This will ensure that we can:

  • source advice from solicitors with appropriate expertise
  • ensure that a range of qualified members are able to offer services to the Chamber

Commission work within appropriate timescales.

Updated: 30/08/23