Here you can find out about our approach to Public Procurement at OS and the range of goods and services we purchase.
As Britain’s mapping agency, OS is responsible for the surveying, collection, production, maintenance and marketing of a wide range of geographic information. Information that government, business and individuals rely on.
Ordnance Survey Limited procure goods and services on behalf of our Group companies in accordance with the requirements of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 (SI 2015/102) (2015 PCRs).
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Our approach
Our Public Procurement policy applies to all purchasing arrangements, including:
- Purchase of goods and services from an existing or new suppliers.
- Call off orders under existing OS or government frameworks.
- Renewals, variations and extensions to existing contracts.
- Proof of concept trials.
- Third party data supply arrangements.
- Contract tender and renegotiations.
When going to market for a requirement, our approach can range from going direct to an approved supplier on a government framework for small value goods through to a full EU procurement exercise.
It is essential that legislation and OS policy is complied with where applicable, particularly the 2015 Public Contracts Regulation (PCR). The current EU threshold for suppliers and service contracts is £177,897 (over the life of the contract).
This policy and the OS procurement processes ensures compliance with the 2015 PCRs, including the following statutory obligations:
- Advertising contracts over £25,000 on Contracts Finder within 24 hours of the OJEU notice;
- Publishing award notices;
- Compliance with rules on award criteria;
- Ensuring all tender docs are available for free and electronically at time of OJEU notice;
- Comply with guidance issued by procurement policy notes; and
- Reporting obligations and keeping records of all decisions.
Our approach to procurement aims to be cost effective so that we can secure the best value for money, with value being defined as the economic benefit over time, including:
- Reduce price;
- Reduce lifetime operating costs;
- Reduce working capital requirement;
- Improve services;
- Improve products;
- Enhance reputation;
- Legal compliance; and
- Risk mitigation.
OS is also committed to the government transparency agenda and the publication requirements of the 2015 PCRs. OS will publish the following information on its website:
- Active or pipeline opportunities;
- Archived contract information (where the contract value is over £25,000);
- Purchase order information (where the purchase order value is over £25,000); and
- All expenditure over £25,000, including costs, supplier and transaction information.
Our requirements
Our procurement requirements are much broader than you might think. We use category management and supplier segmentation to classify our suppliers and our requirements as such:
| Business services | Operations | Technology |
| Resourcing | Aerial imagery and aircraft hire | Hardware |
| Personal Protective Equipment | Geospatial data capture and software | Software (except geospatial software) |
| Marketing | Outsources warehouse | Enterprise software |
| Fleet and car hire | Outsources printing/encapsulation | Consumables |
| Insurance | Third party data | Network and telephony services |