Walkgrove (UK), October 2013 - Premier Partnership, a national training company specialising in supplying the public sector, has won a contract though ESPO that enables all public-sector bodies to call off training without the need to tender. The contract was offered competitively through OJEU and involved a rigorous selection process, thus complying with all relevant procurement standards.

ESPO, a local government purchasing and distribution consortium based in Leicester, provides its member and other client bodies with a comprehensive, cost-effective contracting and procurement service. 

The nature of this contract means all public sector bodies are free to use the service without any further public procurement exercises. The service will provide organisations with all elements of their learning need through the managed-supplier model.  Premier Partnership will manage the quality of the service and provide a proportion of the training, with the remainder being provided by a rich mix of training organisations with a track record in supplying learning to the public sector. 

Walkgrove has been selected as the preferred supplier for all bespoke eLearning requests because of their extensive experience in the public sector. The service incorporates a secure web-based learning portal where learners, their managers, or learning leads can quickly search, identify, and book on to a range of public and organisation-specific courses, or request a bespoke event or eLearning course.

David Pearson, Marketing Director at Premier Partnership said, "Hopefully this contract will enable local authorities and the wider public sector to save substantial sums from their training budgets as a result of lower-cost training through economies of scale, better use of public courses open to multiple organisations, and reduced procurement costs."  David went on to say "Where organisations have preferred suppliers, we are more than willing to use them - providing quality standards are met."

Whilst initially for use by local authorities within the UK, the Framework Agreement will be open to all eligible public bodies in the UK, such as Public health, Police, Fire and Rescue Services, Registered Charities, and any Central Government Departments and their agencies wishing to access the Framework.

Premier Partnership has a long history of providing learning to the public sector through a strong supply chain of over 200 partner organisations including the Chartered Management Institute, Walkgrove, The Working Manager and QA.

The Framework will be effective for a period of two years, with the option to extend for up to a further two years thereafter.