Reflections on the Making Spend Matter Transfer Network

So how do you sum up the last three years’ in a nutshell? With real difficulty!

We have shared the joys – the Transfer itself has been a real success. All our partners have taken the transfer methodology and successfully adapted it to their own city and place-based contexts.

We have shared the tears – there have been a number of personal moments to navigate but what has been so evident is the support from each and every partner that has made it possible to cope with them and keep going.

We have shared the trials – the pandemic abruptly brought a stop to face-to-face meetings and everything had to move online for the remainder of the project. This meant getting used to different ways of working – including looking at our own faces on camera and the ubiquitous “You’re on mute!” when we have forgotten to turn our mic on or “we’ve lost you!” when our internet connection has wobbled.

Despite the fact that we all agree face-to-face is better – it allows for the formal and the informal networking that technology still doesn’t really enable (it’s getting there) – I think the plus to it has been that we have met more frequently as a result, and the rapport and friendships that we built pre-pandemic are still there and can be seen in our meetings.

So what’s next for Making Spend Matter and procurement in general?

Whilst the network itself is coming to end, it is my belief that Making Spend Matter will continue, albeit in different guises. Our partners are committed to continuing the work and have already begun to transfer what they have learned to other cities, which is fantastic.

We have produced the Making Spend Matter Toolkit which is available to anyone or city who is interested in undertaking their own strategic procurement journey.

Procurement itself is now a hot topic. URBACT have produced a strategic procurement MOOC or multi open online course drawing on not only Making Spend Matter but also Procure, the Action Planning Network which preceded this one. And they have successfully rolled it out with over 500 participants enrolling on the first course live online in March this year.

Preston, together with Matthew Baqueriza-Jackson, our Lead Expert and URBACT expert, have had the privilege of being involved in the EU Urban Agenda Partnership for Public Procurement, and linked the work of Making Spend Matter into its Action Plan, with a specific action dedicated to Measuring Spend and Wider Impact. There are also training modules for each of the actions for anyone interested in exploring further.

None of this would have been possible without the commitment of our partners, the project team in Preston, and the dedication of our three experts, Matthew, Emma Clarence and John Watt who gave us such great support and kept us on the straight and narrow, so to speak! Nor would it have been possible without the support of the URBACT programme which had the belief in what we could do in the first place and funded our Network.

To everyone who has taken part and made the Network the success it has been, I am truly grateful. It has been an honour and a privilege to lead Making Spend Matter these past three years and I wish all our partners good luck on the next phase of their procurement journeys.

Article written by Making Spend Matter Project Lead: Tamar Reay