Durham County Council partnered with Bloom to replace a segmented professional-services procurement model with an end-to-end managed service covering 20 strategic categories. The previous approach provided limited management information and could contribute to cost variation and scope creep. Through the NEPRO³ framework, Bloom provided personalised engagement, supplier sourcing, direct awards and mini-competitions, payment and contract support, savings initiatives, and monthly management information. The partnership has spanned nine years and expanded significantly since its first project in 2013. Bloom contributed to overall project savings of 7.5%, while 89.1% of suppliers engaged during the period were SMEs. Average procurement times were 14 days for direct awards and 24 days for mini-c

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