Councils are under more pressure than they’ve been in a generation. Tighter budgets, statutory service demand, new Procurement Act requirements, devolution shake-ups, and rising expectations on social value and sustainability — all of it is reshaping what “a good supplier” looks like in 2026.
For suppliers, that’s both the opportunity and the risk. Councils are buying — but they’re buying differently. The bids that won three years ago won’t win today. The suppliers who understand what’s changed inside local government are the ones moving up shortlists, getting onto frameworks, and building long-term council revenue.
This session pulls back the curtain. John Coyne will walk through what councils genuinely look for in a supplier today, where bids most often fall down, and how the smartest suppliers are using market intelligence to get in front of the right buyer at the right time.
What you’ll take away:
- The 2026 council landscape — the pressures councils are under, and what that means for what gets bought
- What “good” looks like in a supplier — the patterns that separate consistent council winners from everyone else
- How the Procurement Act 2023 is actually changing buyer behaviour in practice (not in theory)
- Why social value, sustainability and community impact now decide close-call bids — including the incoming 10% minimum weighting on jobs and skills, and what credible looks like for an SME
- Pre-market engagement — myth vs reality, and the pre-tender signal most suppliers miss
- The most common reasons council bids get scored down, straight from the buyer side
- Frameworks vs DPS vs direct tenders — where to put your effort, and the frameworks worth walking away from
About the speaker:
John Coyne — Director of Commercial and Procurement, Birmingham City Council
There are very few people in the UK who can speak with John’s authority on what councils actually want from their suppliers, because very few people have shaped public sector commercial strategy at his scale.
As Director of Commercial and Procurement at Birmingham City Council, John leads procurement for one of the largest local authorities in Europe. Before Birmingham, he held the equivalent role for the Welsh Government, directing national-level commercial activity across an entire devolved administration. Earlier in his career, he was appointed the first-ever Commercial Director of Liverpool FC, bringing a sharp commercial lens that he has carried into the public sector ever since.
With over 30 years of leadership across public, private and third sector organisations, John is known for high-impact commercial transformations and is a vocal advocate for using procurement as a lever for social and economic change, making sure every pound of public spend delivers real value to the communities it serves.
For suppliers, that’s exactly the perspective you want in the room. John knows what good looks like, what gets shortlisted, and where most supplier bids quietly lose points before anyone reads the pricing.