Our new 4-year Agency, Labour and Recruitment Framework is now live! Providing public sector organisations with a fully compliant, flexible route to market for temporary, interim, fixed term and permanent roles across 5 lots:

• Lot 1: Professional services staff (including, but not limited to, administration, contact centre, IT, finance, HR, legal, specialist consultant, housing services, asset management staff)
• Lot 2: Manual services staff (including, but not limited to, plumbers, joiners, electricians, labourers, ancillary, catering staff)
• Lot 3: Executive and management level staff (including, but not limited to, senior management, directors, board members, technical roles)
• Lot 4: Neutral vendor
• Lot 5: Master vendor

The framework includes direct award and mini-competition routes, flexible contract options and is free for public sector buyers to access.

To find out more about the suppliers awarded on the framework visit our Agency 4 page.

To access the framework or find our more, please get in touch with Lucy on 07983 532407 / ljackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk

We're pleased to invite you to a free webinar hosted in collaboration with our framework supplier, Integrated Solutions at City Plumbing, and their partner, Help me Fix, providers of innovative AI diagnostic and video triage solutions.

• Date: Tuesday, 7th October 2025
• Time: 11:00 AM
• Location: Online - Microsoft Teams

Come along to find out about how Help me Fix is transforming construction & trades. Their AI diagnostics and remote video triage aim to reduce costs, improve first-time fix rates, and support sustainability.

Help me Fix has integrated Fault Finder, a boiler diagnostic data-led software product into its AI Repairs Agent, Aidenn, so that clients can solve heating and hot water interruptions quickly and attend with the right parts first time. Fault Finder boiler diagnostics can be accessed directly by residents, contact-centre staff or by planners and technicians.

To register, email Lucy ljackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk and we'll send you a Microsoft Teams invitation with the full joining details.

We're excited to announce the launch of a new 4-year Kitchen Supply Framework, providing public sector organisations with a fully compliant, flexible route to market for kitchen equipment, fitted kitchens, appliances, and consumables.

Available to all GB contracting authorities, the framework is predominantly for the supply of kitchen materials for planned investment programmes, void replacement kitchen installations, new build and outright sale properties or kitchen repairs and maintenance.

• Fully compliant with UK Public Contracts Regulations 2015
• Flexible direct award & mini-competition options
• UK-wide access

Awarded suppliers under the framework include:

• Benchmarx Kitchens & Joinery
• Howden Joinery
• J T Ellis & Co
• JTC
• Magnet
• Moores
• Paula Rosa Manhattan
• Premiere Kitchens
• STARK Building Materials UK
• The Symphony Group
• Wren Contract Kitchens

The framework includes direct award and mini-competition routes, flexible contract options and is free for public sector buyers to access.

To access the framework or find out more, please get in touch with Lucy on 07983 532407 / ljackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk

We're excited to announce that our team will be exhibiting at Procurex on Wednesday 21st May - one of the most important events for public sector procurement.

You'll find us on Stand G on the exhibition floor, where we'll be on hand to talk all things public sector procurement, frameworks, and how we're helping organisations deliver better outcomes through procurement. Whether you're looking to explore partnership opportunities, gain insight into our frameworks, or simply have a quick chat, we'd love to meet you.

Want to make the most of your visit? You can book a meeting with us in advance to discuss your specific requirements in more detail.

We look forward to seeing you at Procurex 2025!

Date: 21st May 2025
Location: Exhibition Centre Liverpool

Book a meeting with us:
To discuss consultancy opportunities please contact Claire Paton on 07828 143935 / cpaton@cirruspurchasing.co.uk or Tashi Jackson on 07904 674499 / tjackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk

For frameworks please get in touch with Lucy on 07983 532407 / ljackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk

Today is a big day! The Procurement Act 2023 has now come into force. Our team have worked tirelessly over the last year, helping multiple clients with procurement policies, procedures, tools and training. We look forward to hearing and seeing how they put their new policies and training into practice.

If you would like further information or advice on the changes to public procurement please contact our consultants:

Claire Paton on 07828 143935 or cpaton@cirruspurchasing.co.uk
Tashi Jackson on 07904 674499 or tjackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk

For our framework members - all of our current frameworks were procured via the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, and therefore all contracts under them (existing and future call-off contracts) are not affected by the new regulations. This means all of our framework contracts will be working on a "business as usual" basis. Please contact a member of our team if you would like to discuss this benefit further.

We are excited to announce that the Cirrus Consortium is currently tendering for our new agency, labour and recruitment framework.

The Cirrus Consortium Agency, Labour & Recruitment Framework 4 builds on the success of our 3 previous agency frameworks and offers members quick, flexible and compliant access to a range of agency services including (but not limited to) temporary staff placements, staff on a temporary to fixed term basis, staff on a temporary to permanent basis, recruitment of permanent staff positions, managed service provision (MSP) and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).

The new framework will cover the following lots:

• Lot 1: Professional services staff (including, but not limited to, administration, contact centre, IT, finance, HR, legal, specialist consultant, housing services, asset management staff)
a) Provision of temporary workers
b) Recruitment of permanent workers


• Lot 2: Manual services staff (including, but not limited to, plumbers, joiners, electricians, labourers, ancillary, catering staff)
a) Provision of temporary workers
b) Recruitment of permanent workers


• Lot 3: Executive and management level staff (including, but not limited to, senior management, directors, board members, technical roles)
a) Provision of temporary workers
b) Recruitment of permanent workers


• Lot 4: Neutral vendor (service providers that can manage a supply chain of agencies to deliver all roles required by a consortium member including those covered in lots 1-3)
• Lot 5: Master vendor (service providers that can deliver all roles required by a consortium member including those covered in lots 1-3)

Suppliers can express their interest in the opportunity and access the tender documents here.

The deadline for submissions is 12 noon, Friday 25th April 2025.

We are thrilled to announce that the tender for the 3rd edition of our hugely popular Cirrus Consortium Kitchens Framework is now live!

Cirrus Consortium frameworks have been an effective and compliant route to market for contracting authorities nationwide over the last 16 years. The Consortium currently consists of Registered Providers of Social Housing, Local Authorities, ALMOs and NHS Trusts. The new framework will be available for use by all contracting authorities across England, Wales and Scotland.

This Framework will cover the full range of kitchen and related materials required by Consortium members including, but not limited to, the following:

• Readymade (pre-assembled) kitchen units and accessories
• Flat pack kitchen units and accessories
• Kitchen unit doors and accessories
• Worktops and accessories
• Kitchen wall and floor tiles
• Kitchen appliances
• Adapted kitchen items and accessories

Our large-scale national frameworks have a wide range of top-quality suppliers, some of the lowest framework fees in the sector, maximum flexibility by design, bespoke social value offers and 100% compliance with procurement regulations.

Suppliers can express their interest in the opportunity and access the tender documents here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com.

The deadline for submissions is 12 noon, 24th March 2025.

Cirrus are pleased to announce that we have remained a completely carbon negative company for 14 consecutive years. We have once again offset more carbon than we have produced, and continued to limit our emissions. Last year, over 80% of all of our business travel was made via public transport, an increase on the previous 12 months.

Our clients are located across the length and breadth of Great Britain and, in recognition of our clients and consortium members continued support, we wanted to again support green charities across the 3 nations.

We are delighted to be able to support the work of Make it Wild who work across England, The North Wales Wildlife Trust and National Trust Scotland.

Make it Wild work to restore the natural environment by creating more wild space- more trees, meadows and ponds. They planted their 60,000th tree in March 2023 and have dug ponds, restored wildflower hay meadows and protected ancient woodland across England.

North Wales Wildlife Trust is a charity managing 35 nature reserves, over 750 hectares of land, across North Wales. The Trust is dedicated to the protection and restoration of the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife.

National Trust for Scotland s Wild Scotland campaign is focussed on rewilding the landscape and protecting peatlands which store vast amounts of carbon.

Want to be part of a successful small team with a large footprint in public sector procurement?

Well, we're taking on! Cirrus is looking for a Consortium Relationship Manager who can create and maintain strong customer relationships with our framework members, working collaboratively with the Cirrus team and our suppliers.

The right person must be a confident communicator with a proactive approach and a can-do attitude.

Deadline for applications is midnight Sunday 8th December 2024.

We are very pleased to announce that our Operations & Consortium Lead, Lucy Jackson, is now back from maternity leave and beginning a phased return to work.

Lucy is looking forward to catching up with our Consortium members and suppliers and will be available on Fridays.

If you would like to catch up with Lucy, please get in touch: 07983 532407 / ljackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk.

We have moved our registered office on the 18th October 2024.

Our new registered address is:

Cirrus Purchasing Ltd
3 Seabank Court
178 Banks Road
West Kirby
Wirral
CH48 0RH

All other company details, including company registration number, VAT number, bank details, head office address and team contact details, remain unchanged.

The Cabinet Office has today announced that the go-live date for the Procurement Act 2023 has been postponed to 24th February 2025. The statement issued explains that this delay is to better align with the new Government s manifesto and policy priorities, including a new National Procurement Policy Statement.

We understand that the Central Digital Platform may now be available for buyer/supplier registration prior to the new February go-live date.

The full statement can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-09-12/hcws90.

What does this mean for clients? The new date offers an extended window for public sector organisations to:

• Refine procurement strategies in line with new policy directions
• Ensure internal teams are fully trained on the upcoming changes
• Additional time to publish tenders under the PCR2015
• Take full advantage of the earlier availability of the Central Digital Platform for smoother registration

If you would like further information or advice on the changes to public procurement please contact our consultants:

Claire Paton on 07828 143935 or cpaton@cirruspurchasing.co.uk
Tashi Jackson on 07904 674499 or tjackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk

As we approach the Procurement Act go-live date of 28th October, the Cabinet Office has continued to release a series of guidance documents for public sector buyers to understand the new act in greater detail. While not all the key guidance documents have been released, those that have been published provide important insights into the new procedures and rules.

Today a further 8 have been released:

• Guidance: Exclusions
• Guidance: Debarment
• Guidance: Procurement Termination Notices
• Guidance: Contract Award Notices and Standstill
• Guidance: Assessment Summaries
• Guidance: Remedies
• Guidance: Procurement Oversight
• Guidance: Contract Termination

The publication of these latest documents takes us to 37 of the 48 planned guidance documents due to be issued prior to the go live date. You can view the documents here:

Procurement Act 2023 - Guidance documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Cirrus will continue to monitor the release of new Guidance and examine the impact on our clients. Please keep your eye out for further updates in the coming weeks and months.

The Cabinet Office has released a new National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) setting out strategic priorities for public procurement and how contracting authorities can support their delivery .
This will replace the current NPPS and come into effect on 28th October 2024, in line with the new Procurement Act.

In addition to the existing focus on social value, commercial and procurement delivery and skills and capability for procurement, the new NPPS adds value for money and small and medium-sized enterprises as specific national priorities.

The new statement, applicable from 28/10/2024, is available here. The existing NPPS, published in June 2021, can be found here.

If you would like further advice on the NPPS please contact Claire Paton on 07828 143935 or cpaton@cirruspurchasing.co.uk.

After 3 years of consultations, speculation, discussion and plenty of draft legislation, the Cabinet Office have officially announced the go-live date for the new procurement regime as Monday 28th October 2024. This announcement marks the beginning of the six-month preparation period. The go-live date will be formalised in Commencement Regulations which are likely to be made in May.

Today also marked the launch of the official Procurement Act 2023 e-learning, comprising 9 learning modules and a final certification module aimed at operational procurement staff. Modules cover details such as the general procurement principles, procedures, supplier selection and remedies. The modules are available via the Government Commercial College, click here to register: www.govcommercialcollege.co.uk. Procurement staff successfully completing the course receive certification evidencing the completion of the e-learning and then have access to the deep dive training sessions.

Finally, on what has been another busy day for procurement practitioners, another guidance document has been published to cover transitional arrangements. The full suite of guidance documents can be found here: Procurement Act 2023 guidance documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you would like further information or advice on the changes please contact Claire Paton on 07828 143935 or cpaton@cirruspurchasing.co.uk.

The second set of Procurement Act 2023 Guidance was published today covering:

• Guidance: National Procurement Policy Statement
• Guidance: Pipeline Notice
• Guidance: Technical Specifications
• Guidance: Planned Procurement Notice
• Guidance: Preliminary Market Engagement

The documentation can be found at: Procurement Act 2023 guidance documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Cabinet Office has today issued the first set of guidance documents for the Procurement Act 2023 covering:

• Guidance: Contracting Authority definition
• Guidance: Covered Procurement definition
• Guidance: Valuation of Contracts
• Guidance: Mixed Procurement
• Guidance: Exempted Contracts
• Guidance: Thresholds

The documentation can be found here: Procurement Act 2023 guidance documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The guidance documents will be published in separate batches with an aim to conclude by June 2024.

The 6th succession of our highly regarded Building Materials Framework provides quick and flexible access to the full range of materials required by consortium members in full compliance with the relevant public procurement legislation.

Jewson Partnership Solutions (JPS), part of The STARK Group, are ranked 1st on:

• Lot 1: Managed services
• Lot 2: General building materials
• Lot 3: Plumbing and heating materials
• Lot 5: Highways & civil materials,

and are also available to trade through:

• Lot 4: Electrical materials
• Lot 6: Painting and decorating
• Lot 7: Tool and plant hire.

JPS offered the following insight:

'We support the Social Housing sector by partnering with Registered Providers and Public Sector organisations to create bespoke solutions for materials supply that helps them to efficiently maintain and develop their housing stock.

Relationships are one of the fundamental building blocks of any business. Healthy and long-lasting relationships deliver for you and deliver for us, that s why our strategy is built around creating relationships that deliver people who are unequivocally focused on delivering efficiency, innovation and value to your organisation. Each of our customers have different pressures, priorities and objectives. Key to the success of our partnership is getting to know you and understanding your vision and strategy. We then align our solutions in a way that will help you. Communication is key after all.'

Scott Cooper, Managing Director at JPS, said:
It s amazing to have this framework recognise the strength of our offering in this way. This is a fantastic win for the whole JPS team and I want to extend my thanks to all the team who continue to make awards like this possible.

For more information on JPS please contact the JPS Team or visit their website here.

The Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) has now been launched by the UK Government. Under the scheme, boiler manufacturers are required to meet quotas for the proportion of heat pumps sold in comparison to fossil fuel boilers, with the introduction of penalties for boiler manufacturers who do not meet their quota of heat pump sales.

The aim of the mechanism is to increase the installation of heat pumps and reduce the dependency on traditional heating systems.

The Government has said manufacturers must hold low-carbon heat pump credits corresponding to 4% of their relevant gas boiler sales above 20,000 units and 4% of their relevant oil boiler sales above 1,000 units in the first year of the scheme. This quota will then rise to 6% in year 2 of the scheme. A 3,000 fine will be charged for every missed heat pump sale.

As a direct result, manufacturers have implemented price increases applicable on boilers purchased from 1st January 2024, typically referring to this as the 'CHMM Levy', (or similar).

You can read the Clean Heat Market Mechanism Consultation in full here. However if you would like to discuss this further with a member of our team please contact Claire Paton on 07828 143935 or cpaton@cirruspurchasing.co.uk or Tashi Jackson on 07904 674499 or tjackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk.

The Cabinet Office has announced the updated financial thresholds under the various UK procurement regulations. The new thresholds will apply to contracts advertised from 1st January 2024.

The change will see all of the thresholds increase slightly, except for the Light Touch Regime which will stay the same. The new procurement values will continue to be calculated inclusive of VAT.

It s worth noting that the increases in the thresholds are below the level of inflation since the last update in Jan-22. This makes it likely that more contracts will be covered and must therefore follow the above-threshold procedures.

Contracting authorities will need to:

• Ensure the new values are circulated to staff
• Review expenditure for any contracts that will now fall under the new thresholds
• Update company policy documentation

If you would like further information or advice on the Public Procurement (Agreement on Government Procurement) (Thresholds) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 please contact Claire Paton on 07828 143935 / cpaton@cirruspurchasing.co.uk or Tashi Jackson on 07904 674499 / tjackson@cirruspurchasing.co.uk.