Our Vision
The vision of the NFCC is to improve safety in communities by working collaboratively with fire and rescue services, promoting national approaches where they work best. Procurement is a vital part of this collaborative intent.
As NFCC Chair, I am fully committed and very passionate about the Fire and Rescue Sector achieving our vision. This means always being innovative, forward thinking and staying true to this vision. Everything we do must be shaped by what communities need and expect from fire and rescue services, building trust and acting with positive intent.
Collaboration can take many forms, including some which are not always obvious in our day to day work. Procurement is one such growing area of collaboration with increasing awareness of the benefits that working together can realise.
The National Procurement Hub has launched this website to provide a portfolio of evidence and information to show how we have worked together as a Sector to buy the products and services we need to help us deliver against our NFCC vision.
It shows us what the future can look like in terms of potential collaborative procurement projects. I encourage you to take the time to explore the website and see just how much collaboration has happened and how you can get involved in the pipeline of future work that will undoubtedly deliver benefits for communities and those in fire and rescue services. The people working in the Procurement Hub appreciate that a big part of being successful is by being clear and straight forward in the language used and how they do things. I hope you agree with me when I say that this website does exactly that.
Once you’ve spent some time clicking through the pages, please pass on the link to your colleagues and why not click to get involved and help the Procurement Hub continue to support our vision.
Thanks once again for your continued support.
What is the NFCC Procurement Hub?
The team that forms the National NFCC Fire Commercial Transformation Programme was originally established in 2016 in response to The Fire Ministers reform agenda and is chaired by Chief Sponsor Ann Millington (Chief Executive Officer of Kent Fire and Rescue Service – KFRS) and consists of six Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive Officer category sponsors and six category leads from across the sector. They each lead a specific category.
The team worked tirelessly together to support the Sector in response to the Pandemic, it emerged as the now more commonly known ‘NFCC Procurement Hub’, a brand that stands strong today.
What we have achieved so far
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£ 65.5 m
saved to date
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£ 12.4 m
collaborative savings which equates to 350 firefighters
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£ 350 m
24-36 month estimated pipeline spend
Congratulations to Ann Millington, who has been awarded an OBE in the NY honours list.
The National Procurement Hub of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) are delighted at the recognition of Ann Millington in the King’s New Year Honours 2023.
In addition to her role since 2011 as Chief Executive of Kent Fire and Rescue, Ann has been instrumental to the work of the National Procurement Hub, overseeing various projects to drive professionalism, inclusion and efficiency across the fire sector as our Chief Chair.
Without her vision and commitment, the Hub may not have launched at all or been as successful as it is today and deserves every congratulation on being awarded an OBE by His Majesty King Charles III.
Speaking of the award, Ann said: “I’ve worked within the fire and rescue sector for about 15 years now, so this award certainly feels like a nice moment of being thanked but it’s also recognition for lots of other people. Everything we do, we do together – it’s always a team effort.” To read more about Ann’s achievement, visit the news section of the KFRS website.
A welcome from Ann Millington, Chair of the NFCC Procurement Hub
Commercial Reform
The NFCC Procurement Hub’s Programme Lead, Tina Butler (Head of Commercial and Procurement at KFRS), has led the team since 2019, in its quest to deliver commercial reform. This is being achieved through extensive engagement across the sector, with Home Office and supplier representative groups, such as the Fire Industry Association (FIA) and the Fire and Rescue Equipment Suppliers Association (FIRESA); the emphasis focusing not only on being a better customer but also on important drivers, such as equality, diversity and inclusion, modern slavery and socio-economic and environmental impacts and initiatives.
Our work
PPE and Clothing
The scope of the clothing category is broad, covering a range of items from gas tight suits, to uniforms and ceremonial wear.
FM and Construction
This strategy covers all construction works, utilities, hard and soft facilities management services, land disposal and acquisition and directly related professional services.
Fleet
Incorporating all vehicles owned, leased or hired by FRS including the goods and services required to maintain, repair, modify and the vehicles.
Information and Communications Technology
The ICT category has four key subcategory areas, these being Hardware, Software, Communications and Services.
Operational Equipment
Covering all equipment that is carried on incident response vehicles as well as foam, medical equipment, specialist team equipment (e.g. Technical Rescue/Hazmat), and welfare.
Professional Services
Services provided by a certified member of a professional body or consultancy which may not be available internally.
Knowledge Hub
One of the main aims of the national procurement hub is the sharing and learning of best practice, this document store will help broaden the knowledge base and ensure we all have access to the same information that will aid decision making going forward.