Uniform Retender Project moves to the next phase of the procurement process

The Uniform Retender Project continues to track to its milestones, with the next major step vendor presentations and a wearer assessment.

In July we went to market with a Request for Proposal (RFP).  We had great engagement with interested suppliers, bringing them into NHQ to see some of our current uniform pieces and helping them understand what services we’re looking for. 
 
The RFP stage of the procurement process has now closed, and a panel has evaluated the bids we received.  In total, each evaluation panel member reviewed over 1,000 pages of information, making their own assessments of each bid before getting together to moderate and progress the agreed bids. 
 
With the first round of moderation complete, we now move to wearer assessments and vendor presentations. During this phase, selected stations will try uniform pieces from the suppliers we’re moving forward with during the procurement process. Feedback from these assessments will help the evaluation panel make a more robust final decision. 
 
Getting to this step is another great step for the project, which remains on track for contract negotiations to take place in the next few months.   
 
While we’re still in this procurement process, some elements of the project cannot be communicated due to commercial sensitivity, but we will keep updating you as we can.