OXFORD, England, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Commerce Decisions, a leading provider of software and services to support through-life procurement and delivery processes is working with South Tyneside and Gateshead Councils (STaG) to support the procurement process behind their multi-million pound investment in schools. This investment is part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, which is the UK Government's biggest investment in improving schools for over 50 years.

South Tyneside and Gateshead Councils vision is to transform academic and vocational achievements across the region. The STaG BSF project has ambitious plans for the schools in their area, aiming at high achievement for all. The two councils have been successfully working together as a BSF partners for over three years.

"Through our use of Commerce Decision's AWARD software, we found a tool that can significantly help local authorities to reach robust and auditable procurement decisions and to manage any risk of challenge effectively. Its inherent flexibility allowed us to tailor it easily to match the BSF Programme processes. With the support of Commerce Decisions we have configured AWARD to support our programme needs in a comprehensive and powerful way," commented Pramod Nayak, Deputy Project Director, South Tyneside and Gateshead Building Schools for the Future. "This project is now the fastest closing BSF project having taken only 17 months and we have spent circa 1.5% capex in terms of procurement costs. This is a great result for both Local Authorities but there is no doubt that this would not have been possible without AWARD."

The AWARD software is a collaborative web-based software solution designed specifically to support the strategic procurement process from Request for Information preparation, through proposal evaluation to negotiation, delivery and post contract review. AWARD is proven to reduce time to contract, improve value for money and reduce risk. It has been used to support strategic procurements in a range of commercial and public sectors including utilities, transport, local government, healthcare, aerospace and defence. These procurements cover a broad range of activities including the provision of schools, hospitals, transport and defence systems across Europe and the US.

"The success and ease with which the South Tyneside and Gateshead BSF project team have been able to tailor AWARD to meet the process and documentation laid down by Partnerships for Schools, which is responsible for delivering the BSF programme, has had a very significant impact on the success of the project. The STaG project adds to the long list of BSF projects we have been involved in, giving us a powerful and unique insight into how best to support councils in their ambitious and challenging BSF programmes," observed John Thompson, CEO, Commerce Decisions.

Web: http://www.commercedecisions.com

For further information contact: Guy Tarring Tel: +44-1865-781350 Email: guy.tarring@commercedecisions.com