Each year we spend around £1.4 billion with over 5,000 local, national and international suppliers. We manage most of this spend through long-term, competitively let contracts and framework agreements.
Our objective in supply chain management is to support the United Utilities vision of being the leading water company in the UK. Developing strategic relationships with our key partners and suppliers, based on common values and corporate objectives, is critical to achieving this goal.
We approach supply chain activity using category management, which takes a long-term holistic view of our demand, our specifications and the supplier market to deliver the appropriate contract strategy. We consolidate our third-party spend into categories that reflect similar commercial considerations and supply markets. Each category has a dedicated supply chain manager.
We regularly prioritise our efforts to concentrate where we can make most positive impact. We are proud that we are making great progress in improving the sustainability of our supply chain.We use our own internal assessments and the external / independent assessments of credible organisations to verify our acheivements.
Internal:
We have assessed all our annual £1.4 billion spend (130 categories) against our 12 definitions of sustainability and each sub-category has action plans to reduce our impacts. We have set challenging targets for all our 12 definitions year on year – and we are ahead of progress.
Examples include:-
- over 400 of our suppliers have joined the BitC MayDay network
- over 25 suppliers have joined CEMARS and are actively managing and reducing our supply chain’s CO2 emissions.
- workshops with our tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers
External:
- World class status in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index – increased performance to 90% score (best in water sector)
- Re-accreditation by Business in the Community in their “Big Tick” accreditations, approved to be a signatory to their Business Principles
- Member of Prompt payment Code – meaning that we take paying our suppliers seriously (this accreditation requires supplier validation)
- Member of Envirolink NW’s Buy Recycled Code and writing the foreword for Envirolink NW’s sustainable supply chain directory
- Regular guest speaker / role model for other organisations including Network Rail, Envirolink NW, NW Responsible Procurement Forum, St Helens Council
One key focus for us – particularly during these difficult economic times – is to ensure we pay our suppliers on time to agreed terms. Our performance has been steadily increasing over the last few years, and last year’s performance improved from 77% to over 90%. This improvement has allowed us to gain accreditation for The Prompt Payment Code.
Our approach to business describes how we treat suppliers and business associates.
Our Supply Chain website details what we buy, how we select suppliers, how to win new business and get paid on time, as well as useful information and links to support.