Gwynedd Council and xchangewales eTrading for Schools Service are Highly Commended for Procurement at the LGC Awards 2010

29th MARCH 2010, LONDON, UK - ProcServe, a leading provider of strategic collaborative procurement and electronic trading solutions, are pleased to announce that their customer, Gwynedd Council, a Welsh Local Authority, and their service, xchangewales eTrading for Schools were highly commended in the Procurement category at this year's Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards. Gwynedd Council was the only council in Wales to be short listed and commended at the Awards.

The xchangewales programme has been introduced to create efficiencies in procurement and stimulate greater collaboration between Welsh public sector customers and their suppliers. The programme provides an online service that allows buyers to manage catalogue content and order goods and services, through a wide range of approved framework and privately held electronic catalogues. The xchangewales hub solution is available to all public sector bodies including local and central government agencies as well as the NHS and schools across Wales.

Gwynedd Council, embarked on a major long-term programme to increase the use of electronic procurement throughout the Authority in 2009, by implementing xchangewales eTrading for Schools, sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government, with software and services delivered by ProcServe.

One of the cornerstones of the project for Gwynedd Council is introducing eProcurement into the county's 120 schools, who currently buy goods in a variety of ways - including manual paper ordering. Gwynedd schools are responsible for over 20% of the Authority's transactions which equates to around 10% of the Council's manageable spend. The Council expects that this will have a positive impact on their current focus, which is to modernise processes and release valuable resources to schools. This, along with other key benefits including improved management information and increased contract compliance, will support a reduction in their schools' education purchasing bill.

For these reasons, Gwynedd was pleased to be able to lead the xchangewales eTrading for Schools trial. A 7-month pilot at two secondary and six primary schools was completed in March 2009 and demonstrated an opportunity to transform the paper based purchase-to-pay process by focusing on value adding activities. The system has since been rolled out to the Council's 14 secondary schools in July 2009 and 103 primary schools since September 2009.

Gwynedd Council Leader, Councillor Dyfed Edwards said: "As a Council, Gwynedd is committed to finding new and more efficient ways of working. We are confident that using the electronic and web-based tools available as part of the xchangewales programme will help to improve efficiency, reduce costs and make sure that we get better value for money."

"We are delighted to be recognised by LGC. The team have worked hard to deliver this groundbreaking project, and it's fantastic to be acknowledged for all the hard work," he continued.

Mike Melville, xchangewales Programme Manager said, "This is a fantastic achievement for Gwynedd Council - a well deserved acknowledgment of their successful implementation of eTrading for Schools. Gwynedd Council and those involved in the xchangewales eTrading for Schools project have shown a truly pioneering spirit and are an exemplar for others who are embarking on the process. Working collaboratively with Gwynedd and ProcServe, we have been able to provide schools with 21st century eProcurement tools & processes to support them in getting best value for money and the potential to maximise their budgets. We are delighted for them."

Veera Johnson, CEO, ProcServe said "The LGC's commendation of the quality and value of xchangewales eTrading for Schools and its use throughout Gwynedd Council's schools is enormously important to ProcServe. This is testimony that xchangewales eTrading for Schools is a world-class procurement programme, well on the way to becoming a benchmark for other governments, and to the partnership working of Gwynedd, ProcServe and the xchangewales team."

Media Contact:
Cora Byrne, ProcServe
T: +44(0)7889 996 345
E: cora.byrne@procserve.com

Notes to Editors

About The LGC Awards
Now in their 15th year the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards reward all aspects of Local Government. With new categories added this year to ensure the awards recognise all the area's vital to Local Government today the 17 awards open for entry include Procurement, Innovation, Regeneration, Efficiency and Transformational Government. For more information, please visit www.lgcawards.com.

About Gwynedd Council
Gwynedd Council is the governing body for the principal area of Gwynedd, one of the subdivisions of Wales within the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.gwynedd.gov.uk.

About xchangewales
xchangewales is a ground breaking programme that aims to deliver the use of electronic procurement products and services across to all Public Sector organisations in Wales, enabling them to source, tender, evaluate, order and pay for goods and services at a click of a button. The electronic tools and web-based services help to improve efficiency, increase productivity and lower the cost of doing business. For more information, please visit www.xchangewales.co.uk.

About ProcServe
ProcServe provides fast, flexible and secure electronic marketplaces and trading connectivity solutions. ProcServe's hosted, custom-branded solutions provide customers with the unique ability to leverage a software-as-a-service solution and maintain their own uniquely branded and configured marketplace. Customers enjoy a faster solution set up, lower cost of maintenance, and a secure environment. ProcServe delivers Zanzibar, OPEN and xchangewales on behalf of the UK Public Sector. For more information, please visit www.procserve.com.