A spook-tacular night at the GO Awards Scotland 2023/24

There were no ‘Nightmares Before Bid Day’ but there was certainly enough food, wine and sparkle to raise everyone’s spirits as the great and good from Scotland’s public procurement community came together at the Crowne Plaza Glasgow on Halloween for this year’s GO Awards Scotland.

Organised by procurement experts BiP Solutions and supported by The Scottish Government , the Awards recognise the achievements and successes everyone involved in the delivery of Scottish public sector services, and after a record number of entries, everyone was looking forward to seeing who would go be going home with a glittering trophy in the face of ever-growing competition.

Once again, the Awards were honoured to be hosted by broadcaster Holly Hamilton .

“We’ve heard a lot about the future of procurement in Scotland, and the need to invest in the key principles of capability, collaboration, engagement and supplier development, in order to address these challenges, and promote inclusive economic growth, create fair opportunities for all, and accelerate Scotland’s just transition to a net zero economy,” Holly said in her welcome address.

“And that is what tonight is all about, recognising and celebrating those who are using procurement to drive positive change, learning from the innovations of others, and making new connections, as well as sharing a toast with our hard-working colleagues.”

As always, there was one big winner on the night, and so it was on this occasion for the Scottish Government, who took home the coveted GO Excellence Award for its provision of Tech Scalers, a scheme designed to support entrepreneurship in Scotland through the creation of a series of incubation hubs and education programmes for tech start-ups across Scotland.

Jenny Lochhead and Barry Graham , from the Scottish Government’s team, which had also won the Best Procurement Delivery Award earlier in the night, were delighted with the result:

“It was very unexpected, and we’d like to say thanks to the team that helped to deliver this project! It means an awful lot, as this was a project where we a lot of hard work was put into it.”

Another big winner on the night was Scotland Excel , who, after winning the Contractor of the Year Award in partnership with GavHas Services for their scheme to provide shared accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, also went home with the Collaborative Procurement Award for their procurement of Children’s Education and Residential Care to support Scotland’s most vulnerable youngsters.

There was also success for Supplier Development Programme Scotland and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde after they won the Developing Supplier Diversity Award, while the 英国斯特拉斯克莱德大学 picked up the Sustainable Procurement Award for the second year in a row.

East Ayrshire Council were crowned winners of the Social Value Award, while Police Scotland won the Procurement Team of the Year Award to add to their glittering GO Awards collection.

Finally, the first ever Procurement People of Tomorrow Award, which recognises the best young procurement talent in Scotland, was won by leigh syme , Portfolio Specialist at the Scottish Government.

Grahame Steed , chair of the GO Awards judging panel and Director of Public Policy and Research at BiP Solutions, was among the first to congratulate the night’s winners:

“Against a continuous backdrop of economic and political uncertainty, the work of those in public procurement is more vital than ever as organisations continue to evolve and innovate to deliver the goods and services that all of us rely on.

“Scotland remains at the forefront when it comes to delivering new and creative solutions to the many challenges facing the public sector, and its brilliant to see the best examples of this recognised at the GO Awards Scotland after a record number of entries. Congratulations to the Scottish Government, and to all the night’s winners, highly commended entries and finalists, and we can’t wait to see what next year will bring.”

As if that wasn't enough, over ￡3,900 was raised on the night in support of Street Soccer Scotland , which uses football-inspired training and personal development to empower people who are affected by social exclusion, while our guests were also treated to a truly spell-binding performance from soprano Elaine Gray .

All the winners from last night can now start counting down the days to the UK National GO Awards 2023/24, which will be held in Liverpool on 16 May 2024, and for which all the winners in Scotland will automatically qualify as finalists.

In the meantime, we look forward to the GO Awards Wales on Wednesday 8 November, which promises to be another glittering chapter in the third decade of the history of the Awards.