About
The Procurement Office started life, in April 1995 as a small operational unit of the then Housing and Public Works Department; then called the Purchasing Unit. At the time this unit worked strictly to secure short term contracts exclusively for this department, via tendering, for the supply of Maintenance, Repair and Operating items (MROs).
In 1996, the unit was renamed and re-purposed into the Central Purchasing and Monitoring Unit; reporting their activities to the Treasury Tender Board headed by the Financial & Development Secretary and overseen, for administrative matters, by the Chief Secretary . The duties of the unit changed, from securing contracts for MROs for one Department, to being tasked with the above tender threshold supply needs of all departments and advising other Public Service Bodies; as well as monitoring Government’s departmental spend to ensure that Government purchasing policies were being upheld and identifying, through spend analysis, where HM Government could make savings.
During the early part of the 1998 the Central Purchasing and Monitoring Unit was renamed to the Procurement Office to reflect its new extended role.
Although successive changes in legislation have reshaped and dramatically altered the complexity of acquisition work undertaken the Procurement Office continues to strive for excellence and the implementation of best practice. All Procurement Office team members are encouraged and supported to undertake professional procurement studies with the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) being the internationally recognised qualification in Supply Chain Management; with a number of staff already in possession of recognised qualifications.