GO Excellence in Public Procurement Awards 2012/13 winners

The shortlisted entries for Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards 2012/13 will be publicly announced on 8 February.  But I have decided to break silence and pre-empt the official announcement of winners. Why? Because some things are worth saying, for example:

• Despite the bad press and some ministerial rhetoric, there are exemplary professionals in public procurement;
• There is exemplary practice in public procurement too; exemplary practice which other sectors could benefit from if they want to learn about innovation, cost reduction, stakeholder engagement and sustainability;
• Size doesn't matter - exemplary practice isn't constrained by the monetary value of the contract or the size of the team;
• Professional qualification isn't a constraint, there is some really good practice being delivered by those who are not MCIPS.

If only every public sector procurer made a commitment to match the best, in some way, then we'd all be winners.  Nevertheless, the winners are:

1. Users of public services who don't necessarily see public procurement activities but expect it to be efficient and effective;
2. SMEs and Third sector providers who sometimes feel they are not given due recognition - there are clear examples of public procurement professionals working to ensure those contributions are recognised and valued;
3. The sustainability agenda  - despite an emphasis on austerity, sustainable procurement 'hasn't gone away';
4. The procurement profession who, if they learn from the GO Awards lessons can accelerate their own improvement.
5. ...

Now all we have to do is wait until the evening of 13 March when the Awards will be presented as part of Procurex National .  Then we can hear the detail and join the celebration.

You didn't seriously expect me to risk being blacklisted from next year's judging panel, did you? If that happened, I'd be deprived the benefit of seeing the richness of entries from those not shortlisted - a high price to pay.