Manchester focuses its spending power to lock wealth into local community

Over the course of ten years, and through the financial crisis, Manchester’s procurement policy has evolved to focus the city's spending power locally and sustainably. The city consolidated all its procurement into a single department, and then analysed its spend and the supply chain, reallocating it towards smaller businesses in the local community where possible and emphasising social value. In doing so, the city made $85 million in efficiency savings, created 1,500 jobs, and boosted the proportion of its procurement spend going to businesses in Manchester by over 20%.