IPEC is offering fully-funded and tailored innovation procurement support for up to five local authorities. The selected cohort will also benefit from the opportunity to network with and learn from each other as they progress along their innovation procurement journeys together. 

The support package will provide expertise from design thinking, market scouting and shaping to running trials, managing change and designing the right procurement processes to help take innovative ideas from the market, successfully scale them and add value.

In addition, the support will consider: how to improve stakeholder relations; SME engagement approaches; ways to overcome organisational and strategic problems; how to discover and shape challenges; attracting innovation; trial support; and risk management techniques.

IPEC is headed by newly appointed Rikesh Shah who was previously Head of Open Innovation at Transport for London for many years where his award-winning Innovation Hub applied different procurement routes to bring in innovation at scale from the market. 

Rikesh Shah, Head of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre, said:  

“UK local government procurement accounts for £60bn of spending each year. Local authorities have a huge opportunity to use this purchasing power to support new and innovative ideas in their regions. By bringing in new ideas from the diverse range of innovators from start-ups, SMEs, scale-ups, academia, corporates and others, it will enable local authorities to deliver faster, better and cheaper outcomes and create new value.  

IPEC will help raise local authorities’ confidence and abilities, providing proactive support throughout a live end-to-end procurement process. If you have a desire to procure innovation, resources or sponsorship to speed up a culture shift in your council, and a buying budget to address an innovation challenge – then we would like to hear from you!”  

Local authorities have until 15 December to register their interest.