New figures released by Nottinghamshire County Council have revealed that over 200 local businesses are providing services for the authority in contracts worth millions of pounds.
The council currently has contracts with 273 suppliers based in Nottinghamshire worth £135m.
Services provided by local suppliers for the council include catering, plumbing, and gardening.
Suppliers in Nottinghamshire make up 57% of the council’s total procurement contracts, with 39% from a local small or medium-sized business.
Councillor Richard Jackson, the county council’s cabinet member for finance, said: “It is great news we’ve been able to reach out to hundreds of quality local businesses to provide a range of services and tasks for our council.
“We always expect value for money, and the excellent services provided are a credit to the entrepreneurial spirit in our county.
“I’m especially pleased we have been able to engage so many local small businesses after a pandemic which caused countless challenges for our sole traders and entrepreneurs.”
The success at getting more local businesses onto the council’s supply chain comes from its 2019-2023 procurement strategy.
The strategy had called for 50% of contracts to be provided by local businesses.
The council’s Cabinet has now approved a new sustainable procurement policy to build on the work of its procurement strategy.
The new policy commits the county council to support thriving businesses and deliver environmental, social and economic benefits from its procurement choices.
Councillor Jackson added: “Our new sustainable procurement policy is crucial to our already existing procurement strategy and emphasises the social value of our contracts.
“When considering who will work for us in future, we’ll measure the environmental, social and economic impact of the procured goods and services.
“It will help build on the work we are doing with local businesses, for example, how we can use our procurement choices to get more young people out of work into a job.
“Of course, we will continue to spend taxpayers’ money wisely and support local communities through this new and exciting policy.”
