• Durham County Council Services

    Durham County Council Services

    Durham County Council provides a number of services for businesses, including statutory services, such as licensing and planning. If your business needs to access a county council service and you’re not sure who to talk to, we can help you find the right contact quickly.

    It may sometimes seem difficult to do business with such a large organisation, but the corporate procurement team is keen to make it as easy as possible while complying with regulations covering the use of public money. The council is committed to engaging with the local supply base in an open, transparent and fair way, promoting a competitive market across sectors to deliver value for money for local people.

    Proactive and responsive supplier engagement is key and Durham County Council offers:

    • Supplier engagement workshops to help potential bidders understand documents and processes.
    • Market engagement events for specific procurements, particularly those for the provision of new and/or innovative services.

    The council uses the online ProContract e-tendering system, for all quotations and tenders. This is a shared facility which is managed on behalf of all North East councils by the North East Procurement Organisations (NEPO). To register your business as a supplier on the NEPO portal all you need to do is go to the website www.nepo.org and following the instructions.

    NEPO has set up a separate solution called NEPRO to help Durham County Council and other public sector bodies engage consultants, professional services and interim support. The NEPRO delivery partner, Bloom, manage a range of suppliers, from SMEs to publicly listed companies. To register your business as a supplier visit http://nepro.org.uk/

    The council also offers a business continuity service as it has a responsibility to provide advice and support to local businesses and voluntary organisations about business continuity management. To find out more visit www.durham.gov.uk/businesscontinuity

    Business Energy Efficiency Project
    The Business Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) is an EU funded initiative supported by Durham County Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to help SMEs reduce carbon emissions and make financial savings, by reducing the energy they consume. The project runs to the end of March 2023. The BEEP project provides fully funded energy audits, which identify energy efficiencies across the business, from behavioural change, upgrading lighting and heating, through to installation of renewable technologies. Where capital expenditure is required to achieve energy savings, BEEP also offers a grant fund which can be accessed by participating SMEs which can further reduce the payback period. For more information please contact the team at beep@durham.gov.uk or visit the website www.beep.uk.net to fill in a short online application.

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