Transforming schools commercial operations for a major government department

The Department for Education sought to improve procurement effectiveness across schools, focusing on technology, utilities, cleaning, and facilities management. Existing frameworks were underused, and the central commercial team lacked consistent category strategies, data insight, and capability to drive improvements at scale.

Key issues included: 

• Fragmented commercial activity and underutilised frameworks 
• Inconsistent category strategies and limited data insight 
• Capability gaps across the central Schools Commercial Team 
• Need for hands-on delivery, not just high-level consultancy 

IGS delivered a fully managed transformation programme via: 

• Diagnostic Review: Analysed category strategies, processes, data maturity, and capability gaps 
• Transformation Roadmap: Prioritised savings opportunities and action plans 
• Embedded Delivery Team: Included Commercial Transformation Lead and Category Management Specialists 
• New Processes & Tools: Data-led reporting, performance tracking, and decision-making templates 
• Upskilling Internal Staff: Introduced category methodologies and tools 
• Strategic Communications Support: Structured SRO updates and reporting 

The programme achieved: 

• Adoption of new category strategies across high-spend areas 
• Eight internal team members upskilled or onboarded 
• Delivery of two outline business cases with clear benefits and ROI 
• Enhanced governance, reporting, and cross-departmental efficiency 
• Tangible commercial savings and improved operational performance 

Find out more about how IGS can transform public sector commercial operations.