Member Article

Coventry Building Society grows spending in local supply through help from business networking platform

Coventry Building Society has increased its spending with the local supply chain by a third after joining a business network.

The FinditinCW platform, which launched in 2020 to support small and medium sized businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire to access procurement opportunities, has over 5,000 members and has promoted £36.5 billion of opportunities to date. The site is funded by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) LEP Growth Hub in partnership with the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

CBS first created a diverse supplier approach in 2021 and began collaborating with the Finditin platform to support its ambitious sustainability agenda and its commitments to the Race at Work Charter. The FinditinCW team supported the Society’s goals by speaking at a local supplier event and invited its members, who were interested in working for Coventry Building Society, Jaguar Land Rover and Coventry University to attend the session.

Following the event’s supplier engagement, the Society started using the FinditinCW platform to increase visibility and access of tender opportunities to local firms. It received interest quickly and issued tenders to more small and local organisations in 2022. Between 2021 and 2022, the Society’s spend with local suppliers has increased by a third. Rebecca Howard, Head of Supplier Relationship Management at Coventry Building Society, said: “We are delighted with the FinditinCW platform and the exposure it brings to the Society’s support of diverse suppliers. “Our local vendors have brought much innovation and agility into the organisation, and we are pleased to receive interest from other organisations who are interested in working with us.” CBS will be entering the 2023 Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) Awards in the category of ‘Best Initiative to Build a Diverse Supply Base’ this month. Rebecca added: “Coventry Building Society has increased its spend with local suppliers, supported by the FinditinCW platform. This is a great boost for the West Midlands and shows the amount of high-quality services that are provided by organisations in the region.” Craig Humphrey, Managing Director at CWLEP Growth Hub, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and illustrates how commitment to sourcing local suppliers by Coventry and Warwickshire’s most influential organisations, such as Coventry Building Society, can result in real impact to SMEs and bring economic benefit to the region.

“Working with local supply chains not only helps businesses to meet sustainability goals, but can also result in achieving best value for money and building resilience. “The Growth Hub launched FinditinCW exactly three years ago and in that time, it has helped hundreds of businesses connect with buyers through the website and Meet the Buyer events. “The next three years promises to build an extensive network with even more opportunities, a website redesign with added features and benefits to help businesses win more work locally.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .