Supplier Update | June 2018

Last week we held our National Supplier Conference in Birmingham, which attracted over 300 attendees from across our supply chain. It was the first of our supplier conferences to combine Infrastructure Projects and Route Services, so we hope that you found it valuable.

The Rail Partnership Awards took place at the same venue in the evening and it was great to see so many of you recognised for really innovative and collaborative work. Congratulations to all of the winners, highly commended and runners up - you can find the full list of the winners here.

We have also re-launched our supply chain webpage on the Network Rail website to make it easier for suppliers to find the information they need. There is now a dedicated 'Supplying IP' page, with quick links to our procurement system and upcoming project information in our pipeline document. You can also see upcoming events and the latest news on the page too - simply search online for 'Supplying IP'.

Finally, I would like to touch on the incident that happened last week in Scotland, where a young man sadly lost his life in a fatal accident. I know you will join me in expressing our deepest sympathies to his family and friends, and our thoughts are with his colleagues and everyone affected at this tragic time.

It is too early to draw any conclusions as to how the accident occurred, but in the meantime, please can we ask you to remain focused on driving a safety culture that ensures incidents like this never happen to any of us, our friends, or colleagues again. We will of course be proactive in sharing the learning with you in due course.

Matthew Steele
Commercial and Development Director

National Supplier Conference

The recent National Supplier Conference looked to build on the launch of our CP6 procurement strategy, providing further detail on some of the ways we will be looking to improve the way we work in the next control period.

You can find a copy of the slides delivered at the conference here.

As ever, we would welcome your feedback on the event, so please do get in touch at contactIP@networkrail.co.uk.

Changes to our T&Cs

At last week's conference, we announced some key changes to the terms and conditions of our contracts which aim to build on the progress that has already been made with the Fair Payment Charter.

The most substantial changes to contract terms will commit suppliers to pay subcontractors within 28 days and remove the use of retentions on those payments. In recent weeks, we have consulted with our key suppliers to ensure this approach is supported and that they understand that it is the next step to driving industry change.

These changes are part of a number of improvements being made to help create a healthier environment for suppliers at all levels and will result in the rail industry becoming the first sector within the wider UK construction industry to enforce these payment measures, which is really positive. We will issue further communications on this topic in due course.

Modern slavery

Latest figures indicate that more than 40 million people across the world are victims of modern slavery and is particularly wide spread within the construction industry.

At Network Rail, we have taken a number of steps to raise awareness of this; launching modern slavery training that's mandatory for all of our employees, creating a Modern Slavery policy and updating our Code of Business Ethics and Supplier Code of Conduct. We also wrote to 10,000 suppliers last year to make them aware of our approach and provided an update at the conference.

But there's more to do - we're now focussed on reducing the risk of modern slavery in our supply chains and further embedding it as a consideration in all stages of our procurement process.
We need your help to do this and would encourage you to take a look at our latest modern slavery statement on our website.

If you have any questions, you can contact our dedicated team at ethics@networkrail.co.uk.

Sharing best practice

Southern Shield, a safety forum made up of suppliers working in the Southern region, have created a new Lifesaving Rules animation.

The video has been created to help people remember our Lifesaving Rules and can be used during team meetings, briefings and stand-downs to discuss the importance of knowing these rules. You may also like to consider using it as part of your site inductions.

Take a look at the video on the Southern Shield website.

If you would like to request a copy of the video, contact Shield@Networkrail.co.uk

Dates for your diaries

12 July
WW&C - Supplier Engagement Event
The Western, Wales & Crossrail commercial team are hosting a supplier engagement day to provide information on how the region's CP6 frameworks will be tendered and operate. If you are interested in attending, please contact Chris James.

31 August
Institute for Collaborative Working Awards
Nominations are now open for the Institute for Collaborative Working Awards - last year, Wessex Capacity Alliance won the Chairman's special recognition award.

Submit nominations online by 31 August. If you would like to discuss potential nominations, contact Kevin Tozer, Head of Collaborative Working at Network Rail.