Monthly Archives: August 2014

Here we go, alphabetical order: Acquisition The process of requirement setting, procure, support management and disposal, implying a whole-life approach to acquiring defence capability. (Also see Cost of Ownership.) Agreement in Principle This is another qualifying comment. It means that it is not formally accepted, thus leaving the door open to the seller to withdraw […]

It’s all over and I’m more energised than tired.  Yesterday was the first event in our International Festival programme.  It was a breakfast event focussed on 60 Minute Business Boost: Energise, Fortify and Flourish 2 July @theHub  We’re quietly pleased at the positive response. It was a real kick meeting so many clients and contacts, and having the […]

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are a positive means of illustrating that the value of your procurement operations is beyond “just” cost reduction and administration of orders. I will take it for granted that the trinity of delivery, quality and cost will already be included. Right?  RIGHT!? :) Measurement of parameters in a vacuum can be […]

This area is a minefield and, if you get it wrong, you will undermine your contract. If worded badly, a “force majeure” clause can provide a huge loophole to legally excuse contract performance. The parties in a contract must know the precise definition, scope of its usage and limitation of the clause. A brief definition […]

Public procurement is legally accountable for its decisions. Depending on the value of the specific purchase it will be subject to EU Procurement Directives. The existing Directives, harking back to 2006, could not be deemed to be a robust solution to effective procurement. The new Directives are complex, unproven and laden with potential bureaucracy. There […]

Here at Brian Farrington (one of the world’s first procurement consultancies :) ) we’ve been thinking about the International Festival for Business and how to make it truly a valuable event for visitors and buyers. Our focus is buying, and we thought asking the following three questions would be helpful to you when meeting potential suppliers, vendors contractors […]

No doubt you’ll have had a zillion notifications that the International Festival for Business kicks off next month and we’ve put a programme together for a what IFB2014 are calling “a different type of business trip” – hope you can save the dates? In developing our programme we gave a lot of thought about *who* exactly would be interested in our […]