Working together…

As the UK’s leading building materials supplier, Jewson has many years’ experience working with a wide range of public sector customers. Jewson is committed to helping public sector customers, as well as contractors working on social housing projects, to achieve a more efficient and integrated supply chain, and to provide added value and cost savings in the delivery of decent homes projects.

With almost half of the initial two million non-decent homes still to be renovated to a modern standard, local authorities are under pressure to improve efficiencies to maximise available resources and ensure that public services deliver better value than ever before.

As a supply chain partner, Jewson is committed to developing sustainable solutions and flexible partnerships with those tasked with delivering decent homes. Each local authority is different, not only in terms of its objectives, budget and size, but also in its approach to providing social housing. Some councils have transferred ownership of their housing stock to a housing association or registered social landlord, some switched the management to an ALMO, while others were driven to retain housing stock within their complete control. At Jewson, we work closely with public sector customers to develop bespoke solutions.

Jewson continually explores ways to deliver customer savings and efficiency gains throughout the procurement process, from the tendering phase to the invoicing and payment of goods delivered.

As an accredited OGCbuying.solutions supplier, Jewson has an established Building Materials and Associated Products framework agreement. As such, Jewson has already gone through the rigorous OJEU process, which means public sector customers can bypass the lengthy competitor tender stage, saving an average 77 days and all associated administrative costs. Instead, organisations taking advantage of the framework agreement gain direct access to a range of competitively priced flexible procurement solutions with Jewson.

In addition, Jewson has developed a range of e-business services to help streamline business transactions. Orders can be placed electronically and customers receive instant electronic proof of order receipts and delivery confirmations. Used in conjunction with e-invoicing, which enables customers to view, download and archive invoices into their back office systems, this reduces the risk of clerical errors, improves invoice matching and generates significant time savings. In addition, Jewson’s recent partnership with Procurement for Housing (PfH), means social housing organisations can access PfH’s central billing system to generate savings by consolidating their invoicing of all suppliers, further reducing the amount of administration time spentd on invoicing.

Jewson undertakes a comprehensive materials audit at the outset of each project to ensure that we fully understand our customers’ needs. We then use the findings to identify our customers’ core stock requirements and assess the appropriate service level. For example, we have set up a dedicated counter and stock management service for Whitefriars Housing Group’s 103 repair and maintenance vans. Jewson handles Whitefriars’ collections, special orders, branch and imprest stock levels, and produces a bespoke stock catalogue for Whitefriars staff. The result is 95% stock availability on its core range and a 15-minute turnaround for van operatives when they visit the Jewson branch.

As part of a major supply contract with Golden Gates Housing (GGH), Jewson opened a dedicated on-site store, holding a bespoke stock range designed around GGH’s specific requirements. A comprehensive stock management and e-business system have generated time and cost savings. In addition, the relocation of two-thirds of GGH’s operational staff to the new shared Jewson store facility, the introduction of out of hours repairs and hand-held technology for operatives have led to increased productivity. To date the partnership has generated more than £130,000 worth of savings.

It is clear that there is significant scope for supply chain efficiencies, generating cost and time savings for customers, improving the quality of service being delivered to tenants, making stretched resources work harder and delivering added value. There is no denying that all organisations involved in social housing and the delivery of decent homes face a huge challenge and the only way to rise to this is to work together. This calls for new approaches, whole supply chain solutions and partnership agreements – all of which can only be built on a foundation of trust.