Bloom Procurement Services hails record year after increased demand

A procurement firm is celebrating a record year.

Bloom Procurement Services says increased work has pushed turnover and profit higher.

According to the Gateshead-headquartered firm’s latest figures, turnover has rocketed to £212 million, with net profits more than doubling.

Bosses say its progress has been fuelled by a significant increase to its public sector customer base.

They also say it has benefited from a rise in the number and scale of procurement projects, and its previous appointment as exclusive delivery partner to the multi-billion-pound NEPRO³ public sector procurement solution.

Today, Bloom is the trusted partner to more than 370 public sector organisations, including 49 per cent of all UK councils.

Managing director Adam Crampsie [pictured] said: “It’s amazing to look back at how we have grown over the past year.

“We’ve gone from strength-to-strength in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and are incredibly proud of what we have been able to achieve through such an unprecedented period of time.”

Despite the economic and employment challenges of COVID-19, Adam says Bloom has remained committed to North East job creation, increasing its headcount by 18 since March alone.

The introduction of lockdown also saw Bloom adapt to a fully remote working model across the organisation, ensuring it could protect the wellbeing of staff while continuing to expand as a business.

Furthermore, he says such work was delivered alongside its unwavering commitment to social value.

The past year has seen the business generate more than £28 million in social value activity, with more than £2.6 million given back to the public sector for local job creation and support to community-based projects.

In December 2019, Adam says Bloom was the first procurement specialist to achieve level two of the Social Value Certificate – awarded by Social Value International – revealing it is now working towards achieving level three.

Over the past year, Bloom’s supply chain has continued to grow with 88.9 per cent of accredited suppliers being of SME status and £97 million worth of projects awarded to local suppliers.

Recently, the business has stepped up in support of its SME suppliers to act as a representative for the Kickstart scheme, a £2 billion Government initiative that provides all UK businesses with funding to create new six-month work placements for young, unemployed people.

By bringing together its marketplace of suppliers, Adam says Bloom is helping SMEs meet the Government’s minimum criteria of 30 job placements per application.