One of our fathers had just been watching the UK news . The UK transport minister had just seen a £33 million out of court settlement to Euro Star because a tender process had gone a tad wrong. The penny had dropped; a career in procurement was suddenly vindicated as the consequences of not doing […]
One of our fathers had just been watching the UK news . The UK transport minister had just seen a £33 million out of court settlement to Euro Star because a tender process had gone a tad wrong.
The penny had dropped; a career in procurement was suddenly vindicated as the consequences of not doing a proper job was being broadcast to the nation.
It is actually quite difficult to present the issues which led to the pay out seem true rather than made up, as they are so farcical. It was a near £14 million pound contract awarded to Seabourne Freight to move medical supplies, by sea, that had a couple of snags;
- The firm had no real trading history
- And had not ran a ferry service before
- Its terms and conditions referred to website food orders
- And they had no ships
And so they found legal action on their door step from Euro Star over the was the contract was awarded.
Now we are sure that there were reasons why the 4 points above were ignored/overlooked (there must be right?) but the point remains that even on lesser oversights, running a procurement process properly is actually quite important.
Even our dads know this now.
Running a procurement project? Have a look here
