Local businesses encouraged to “meet the buyer” this Thursday

Orkney Islands Council are reminding local businesses that they can get involved in their “Meet the Buyer day” event, this Thursday at Orkney Library and Archive, Kirkwall.

The event, being run by the OIC and Business Gateway Orkney will give businesses a chance to find out more about working with the public sector and give public sector organisations a chance to network with potential suppliers.

With the final programme for the event now announced, two additional workshops have been added to the programme will provide information about opportunities in social care and childcare provision.

The social care provision workshop is being led by Orkney Health and Care. According to OIC, the recent introduction of self-directed support means that service users now demand more choice and control over how their support packages and services are delivered. This provides a great opportunity for potential service suppliers from amongst the third and private sectors to develop ground-breaking services that people will want to buy and use.

The workshop, hosted by Des McCart from Health Improvement Scotland, will look to investigate how the Council and potential service suppliers can work together to develop services that the statutory authorities and service users wish to use.

The childminding and early years workshop is for anyone who is considering becoming a childminder, or for existing childminders. Early Learning and Childcare is undergoing a significant expansion, with the aim of developing high quality, flexible, accessible and affordable provision by 2020. The workshop will provide a discussion on possible partnership opportunities and useful resources for prospective childminders.

Other topics to be covered at the event include details of future contract opportunities and the launch of a consultation on the Council’s Sustainable Procurement Policy.

To find out more about the event, you can contact Business Gateway Orkney on (01856) 886666.