29th October, 2015

Arun District Council  has created a pioneering new framework to allow 28 authorities to purchase financial management software from Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced). This is as part of a drive to foster collaborative procurement and efficiencies.

Following a formal tendering process involving ten software providers, Advanced has been selected as the framework’s single supplier. The first purchase made via the framework will see Arun implement the e5 solution to replace its in-house finance and debtor management systems. The software will go-live in April 2016.

Under the terms of the four-year agreement, 28 district and borough councils situated in East and West Sussex and Surrey may also use the framework to purchase e5 and associated maintenance up to £1.7 million. Councils can negotiate directly with Advanced and specify their finance system solution requirements, without needing to go through a lengthy tendering and evaluation process to determine the most suitable supplier.

Paul Symes, Programme Manager at Arun District Council comments, “We wanted to create a unique framework to reflect our ethos of working better together with neighbouring authorities and increase collaboration. As there are only seven councils located within West Sussex, we wanted to extend our invitation to other authorities in nearby regions to use the framework to drive economies of scale.”

Dean Dickinson, Managing Director, Advanced Business Solutions (Public Sector & Enterprise division), says, “We are delighted to have been chosen as the winning contractor on this unique single supplier framework. Arun’s forward-thinking vision enables other local authorities in the surrounding areas to replace their current, outdated accounting systems by implementing Advanced’s software within a much shorter timescale.

“The framework also offers an opportunity for councils to consider collaborating effectively within a shared services environment to maximise cost and efficiency savings.”

One in four local authorities use Advanced’s solutions, making it one of the largest suppliers of financial software in this sector.