Suppliers play a vital role in our success and we challenge them to be best in class for service, quality, delivery, cost and sustainability. This requires collaboration and innovation, so we have the right processes and tools in place to encourage and support our suppliers in meeting these requirements and look forward to achieving them together.
Our Mission
As a trusted partner for organisations at the forefront of the digital revolution, our mission is to maximise the whole-life value of our supply chain by deploying class-leading Procurement processes, techniques and resources to ensure Telent are the provider of choice for our current and future customers.
Our Approach
To support our diverse portfolio of projects and combine the very best technology and expertise, our Procurement team works with a broad range of suppliers, the vast majority of which are based in the UK and Ireland.
Our team
To deliver maximum value to our customers and bring together the best solutions, our approach to procurement is flexible, creative and responsive. This way, we partner with innovative, risk and performance managed suppliers, from local MSME’s to multi-national organisations.
How do I become a Telent supplier?
At Telent, we believe in collaboration and partnering. When sourcing goods and services, our Buyers first look to our approved supplier list but may also engage with others to find and evaluate suppliers for new requirements or to achieve the best value.
We do this through a category management approach based on whole-market consideration. Our suppliers are selected through fair and objective methods, which are managed by our Procurement team in-line with defined processes and policies.
Evaluation & Approval
Suppliers must complete an evaluation process to ensure they meet our criteria, which is driven by customer and industry standards. This process is also an important first step in managing our supplier relationships. Depending on the level of risk, the process itself varies to ensure that all requirements are proportionate based on the scope but is generally based on:
We only ask suppliers to undertake this process if they are being considered for a contract. If you would like to supply to Telent, please complete this short form to register your interest. This information is stored and may be used for tendering purposes when sourcing new products and services.
Awarding Business
Our Procurement team works in conjunction with Telent’s Commercial, Project, Quality, Health & Safety and Environmental Management teams to award contracts based on cost, quality, reliability, innovation and sustainability. Where an existing supplier is being considered, their performance history is also taken into account.
We are committed to working collaboratively with potential and existing suppliers to promote innovation and design the best solutions. Our Responsible Procurement and Supplier Assurance managers are also experienced in working collaboratively with our supply chain to ensure technical compliance, quality, sustainability and environmental targets are met.
Our Supply Chain Sustainability Strategy
The core aim of our supply chain sustainability strategy is to meet our needs for goods and services in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis. This is to provide added value not only for our organisation, but also for society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment. We do this by embedding sustainability and social value considerations into all our decision-making processes.
Working with MSME’s
Working with Micro, Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) is integral to our delivery strategies and we depend on their regional capabilities. We are proud that the sub-contracting opportunities we provide to local businesses promote employment, economic growth and regional development. We actively measure our engagement with MSMEs and have set KPIs as part of our Supply Chain Sustainability strategy.
Fair Payment
Telent are committed to fair and equitable business relationships. This includes paying all valid invoices from our supply partners on-time and in full, using appropriate terms and our standard terms are 30 days.
If are an existing supplier and would like more information, please see our How to Get Paid Guide.
Net-Zero Supply Chain
Telent has now committed to matching the UK’s climate target to deliver ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050 and the first important step in realising this ambition is reducing our overall carbon footprint by 50%, no later than 2035. Importantly, this isn’t just the carbon emissions that we create directly, we are also working to reduce the emissions created indirectly within our entire value chain.
90% of our business’s carbon emissions are embedded in the products and services that we purchase, so in 2023 we will begin working with our suppliers to implement various carbon reduction programmes to reduce the carbon footprint of our supply chain.
Through our current supply chain sustainability strategy, we work in collaboration with our suppliers to:
Creating Social Value for the communities we serve
We recognise the significance of MSMEs in realising Telent’s Social Value agenda, in terms of their potential for socio-economic development through local job creation, market growth and innovation. Our MSME Action Plan focusses on providing comprehensive resources and information to:
To enable this, not only do we contract local social value objectives, but have dedicated a minimum of 100 hours per year of our Procurement team’s resources to deliver a range of supplier development opportunities including training materials, guidance, practical support and the opportunity to share best practice. We hold interactive supplier webinars to facilitate peer collaboration on topics such as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Strategic Labour Needs & Training (SLNT), GDPR, Modern Slavery prevention, STEM Education, Carbon Reduction and Quality & Environmental Management Systems.