LONDON: Balfour Beatty is merging its preferred supplier lists as part of restructure of its UK construction business.
The move to cut the number of Balfour Beatty brands will make it easier for suppliers to deal with the contractor and cut the amount of duplication in pre-qualification documents, it says.
Procurement and supply chain teams will be moved from 30 offices into four hubs in Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and London.
Balfour Beatty supply chain director Andrew Haworth told Supply Management that the company currently carries out around 150,000 transactions a year - 130,000 of which are for low-value items including building materials and plant equipment.
He said a transactional desk is being set up in addition to the regional hubs at the company's shared service centre in Newcastle where a team of around 40 will now manage all low-value procurement transactions.
The system will become automated for low-value goods.
Mr Haworth said: "Procurement teams no longer have to get involved in ordering low-cost supplies. The transactional desk means anyone can do it. Now we only have 20,000 procurement transactions that need attention."
A central procurement team - Supply Chain Solutions - has been set up and it will consist of 13 supply chain managers who will work alongside firms that supply sub contractors to Balfour Beatty.
