Commercial and Procurement services supplier newsletters

June 2025 newsletter

Welcome to the summer edition of our quarterly Supplier Newsletter.

Our focus in this Newsletter is Community Wealth Building. As part of the City of Edinburgh Council’s commitment to Community Wealth Building, see our Sustainable Procurement Strategy 2025 to 2030, the City of Edinburgh Council is reshaping the way we work with suppliers to create a more inclusive, resilient local economy.

Community Wealth Building is an approach that puts local people, businesses, third sector and communities at the heart of economic development. It encourages wealth to stay locally, supporting jobs, businesses and community services.

A key pillar of this approach is progressive procurement. This means using the Council’s purchasing power to support

Local suppliers and SMEs
Social enterprises and the third sector
Fair Work and inclusive employment
Environmental sustainability

We’re actively working towards opening up more contracting opportunities for local and value-led businesses and supporting the supply chain. This includes breaking larger contracts into smaller lots where appropriate, and prioritising added social value in our decision making.

We share with you feedback on the recent Meet the Buyer event giving businesses an opportunity to meet in person with procurement colleagues. We also invite you to become an Accredited Living Wage employer, provide good news stories of community benefits delivered through contractors and highlight some upcoming Community Wealth Building Events. Finally, our usual update on upcoming tender opportunities and encourage you to register for alerts on the Public Contract Scotland website.

If you would like to receive our quarterly supplier newsletter direct to your inbox, please email us at supplierdevelopment@edinburgh.gov.uk.

We look forward to working with you.

Lynette Robertson

Head of Commercial and Procurement Services

National Meet the Buyer 2025

Colleagues from Commercial and Procurement Services represented The City of Edinburgh Council at Scotland’s National Meet the Buyer event which took place on Wednesday 4 June 2025, at Murrayfield Stadium. Hosted by the Supplier Development Programme, and partnered by Scottish Government and Scotland Excel, our team were on hand to meet suppliers, share key contacts, and promote future opportunities. Our aim was to make working with The Council as accessible as possible so we shared lots of useful information to support suppliers, including SMEs which you can access online in case you missed us on the day.

Over 1,350 suppliers from across Scotland and the rest of the UK attended. The event offered a great opportunity for Scottish SMEs to connect with procurement decision-makers and gain insights into upcoming contract and supply chain opportunities.

We’ve had some great feedback following the event, and here’s a quote from one of the SMEs who visited our stand: “Just a quick note to say thank you both so much for being so helpful and enlightening when we came to your stand at the Meet the Buyer event in Murrayfield on Wednesday. We were so impressed with how open you are to SME suppliers, and also to learn more about City of Edinburgh Council’s commitment to co-production.” Lucinda, Media co-op

Gillian Cameron, SDP’s Programme Manager, said:

“We are grateful to all exhibitors, speakers and attendees for helping make this year’s Meet the Buyer National such a success. This event demonstrates the Power of Procurement in action - connecting businesses with buyers and helping to unlock opportunities for growth.”

Become a Living Wage Accredited Employer – Join Us in Building a Fairer Edinburgh

The City of Edinburgh Council is proud to be a Living Wage accredited employer. We believe fair pay is vital for a thriving, inclusive economy. By ensuring all our staff are paid the real Living Wage, we are helping to reduce in-work poverty and support a better quality of life for our workforce.

Like feedback from other organisations, since becoming accredited, we’ve seen clear benefits — from improved staff morale and productivity to stronger retention and reduced recruitment costs. Paying the real Living Wage is not just the right thing to do; it also makes good business sense. This is in line with the recent research carried out by Cardiff Business School where 62% of businesses surveyed say becoming an accredited Living Wage employer improved recruitment of employees.

We encourage our suppliers to join the growing movement of over 3,000 accredited Living Wage employers in Scotland. Edinburgh is now home to 20% of Scotland’s Living Wage employers and we want to encourage as many Edinburgh based employers as possible to join us. Accreditation demonstrates your commitment to fair work and responsible business, which increasingly matters to purchasers such as the Council, clients, consumers and communities.

Thank you for the part you play in helping us make Edinburgh a fair work city. We invite you to explore Living Wage accreditation and help us champion dignity in work across the capital.

To find out more or to start your accreditation journey visit Living Wage Scotland.

Community Benefits in Council Contracts

Community Benefits allow Council suppliers to create lasting, positive impact beyond the contract – by supporting local jobs, skills and sustainability.

We were inspired by a recent event in the Scottish Parliament reception hosted by National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) to celebrate the progress being made to tackle construction skills shortages. There was cross-party recognition of the role roofing and wider construction trades play in meeting Scotland’s housing, heritage-repair and net-zero ambitions.

Students and teachers from six schools across Scotland— including Portobello High and Wester Hailes High — shared their experiences of NFRC Skills Demonstrations in the schools and new National 5 courses in roofing, stonemasonry and creative industries being piloted in the schools. We heard first hand from the pupils some of whom have changed their career paths as a result of these opportunities and have secured modern apprenticeships in stonemasonry and roofing. The NFRC said ‘their enthusiasm provided a reminder of why early, hands-on exposure to the trades matters’.

Community benefits are helping to deliver these opportunities in schools by encouraging suppliers to come and give much needed skills demonstrations, work experience or even sponsor some of the schemes that organisations like Historic Environment Scotland can deliver to address the skills shortage in areas like stonemasonry. If you think you would be able to help and would like to be involved, please contact supplierdevelopment@edinburgh.gov.uk.

NFRC hosts Scottish Parliament reception to mark skills progress | Project Scotland

Community Wealth Building Events and Consultation

The Council is currently holding a number of events and a survey consultation to help developing a plan to set out its priority Community Wealth Building actions

If you’d like to give your views in person views, then please come along to one of the following sessions –

Community and Third Sector Engagement Event - 26 June 2025 10am-12pm at Capital Credit Union’s Boardroom. Bookings via the Eventbrite website
Public Sector Engagement Event - 26 June 2025 2.30pm-4.30pm at Capital Credit Union’s Boardroom. Bookings via the Eventbrite website
Edinburgh Businesses and Private Sector Event – 17 July 2025 1pm-3pm at Capital Credit Union’s Boardroom. Bookings via the Eventbrite website

Supplier drop-in sessions

Commercial and Procurement Services team runs monthly virtual 1-2-1 engagement sessions. These are an excellent opportunity to ask any burning questions you may have if you’re interested in working in, or becoming part of, the supply chain that delivers goods, services or works to the Council. If you’d like to drop-in, please email procurement.delivery@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Tender opportunities

You can find details of contract opportunities with the Council on the Public Contract Scotland website. You will also find future opportunities for noting interest and engaging in the development where appropriate, we expect these will include the following.

Current opportunities

CT1578 - Housing Capital Multi-Trade Works Framework Agreement, deadline 30 June 2025 Multi Contractor Framework Agreement for the delivery of multi-trade works including, however not limited to, the delivery of area based programmed works, housing repairs, maintenance as well as ad-hoc multi-trade works typically covering energy efficiency improvements, whole house retrofit, refurbishment and improvement works.
CT1569 - Residential Intermediate Care for people with complex needs including physical healthcare needs & homelessness/ risk of homelessness, deadline 09 July 2025 Provision of residential intermediate care for people with complex needs including physical healthcare needs and homelessness/ risk of homelessness at Milestone House, Edinburgh, EH14 1EB.
CT1528 Assembly Rooms Festival Operator – deadline 2 Jul 2025. Concession Contract for an experienced Festival Operator who will develop and manage a programme of performances on the full first floor of The Assembly Rooms during a five-week summer period in August of each year starting in 2026.
CT1385 Public and Civic Clocks, deadline 10 July 2025. Provision of a Multi Contractor Framework Agreement to provide clock winding and maintenance services for two distinct groups of clocks
Public Clocks within the City of Edinburgh (27 clocks), and
City Chambers Clocks (15 clocks)

The Council is acting for itself and additional Councils in Scotland listed below will be able to access and call from the Framework Agreement: Angus Council; North Ayrshire Council; Falkirk Council; Scottish Borders Council; Fife Council and East Dunbartonshire Council.

Prior Information Notices

CT1650 Audit of Corporate Property Drainage Charges - Full Audit of property drainage (Surface Water) throughout properties in City of Edinburgh Council. The overall objective is to secure cost reduction and recovery of drainage charges. Estimated Contract Notice – August 2025
CT1621 Traffic Equipment Maintenance and Ancillary Support Services. Contract for the routine planned maintenance of traffic equipment including electrical and mechanical inspection and replacement of consumables. Estimated Contract Notice – August 2025

Future opportunities

Whistleblowing Service, estimated publishing date, June 2025
Former Castlebrae High School site -Residential, estimated publishing date, June 2025
Loss Adjuster Services, estimated publishing date, June 2025
Operational Property Insurance Tender, estimated publishing date, June 2025
Mortonhall Crematorium Memorialisation Provider, estimated publishing date, June 2025
Provision of Sheriff Officer Services and Debt Collection Services, estimated publishing date, June 2025
Letter Distribution and Installation, estimated publishing date, July 2025
Contractor Works, estimated publishing date, July 2025
Contractor Works - Accessibility Works, Ramps and Platform Lifts, estimated publishing date August 2025
Dowie’s Mill Weir (Rock Ramp) Improvements to migratory fish passage, River Almond, estimated publishing date, September 2025