The Mersey Partnership Award for Supply Chain Solutions

The winner was;

Groundwork- Birkenhead, Merseyside

Groundwork is a sustainable development charity working with the public, private and voluntary sector. A specialised team has developed the 'Northwest NHS Suppliers Bureau', a project funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency. This enables North West SMEs to access the massive NHS supply opportunities across the region, promoting and supporting economic and social regeneration.

Part of this work has involved supporting a number of local producers/ distributors of food and drink, providing them with an understanding of NHS contracts and identifying opportunities and key contacts of decisions makers within the NHS. Groundwork has carried out an analysis of the £2m food budget for Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust to understand the impact of this on the local economy in Merseyside and wider North West. Further plans for Groundwork this year, include a Merseyside NHS sustainable hospital food project, linking local providers and NHS purchasers.