Winners celebrated at the USW Supplier Awards 2022

The University of South Wales (USW) has celebrated the work of their external suppliers at the 2022 USW Supplier Awards.

The virtual awards ceremony, held on Wednesday 8 February, showed an appreciation for the difference USW suppliers have made to colleagues, students, and the wider community over the past twelve months.

Led by USW’s procurement team, the awards were split into six categories, with nominations going through a two-stage panel shortlisting process. The winners of this year’s awards are:

Service award winner - Lloyds Electrical Services

This award recognises suppliers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

The judging panel commented that local supplier Lloyd Electrical Services had provided an excellent service to USW over the past year, providing value well beyond their contract. They felt that their reliability, responsiveness, and flexibility had stood out, and that they had interacted well with both students and colleagues.

Innovation award winner – Enroly

The Innovation award is designed to recognise suppliers who have proactively delivered ideas and opportunities for continuous improvement and innovation at USW.

Enroly have created a platform that will help international recruitment requirements at USW to be achieved in a compliant and effective way. The judges said that this innovation had helped improve data security as well as customer experience at USW through the provision of a more streamlined service, and the solution has helped reduce enrolment attrition.

Social Value award winner – Collecteco

The social value award is designed to recognise suppliers who proactively create specific initiatives which USW has implemented to support colleagues, students, and the local community.

Collecteco have provided USW with a structured, strategic approach to recycling furniture. They have helped the University support eighteen good causes, recognising USW’s commitment to sustainability and providing innovative ideas and solutions. The panel commented that this nomination was impressive, showing the breadth of added social value available through USW’s supply chain.

Collaboration award winner – Enroly

The Collaboration award is designed to recognise suppliers who have demonstrated a proactive and cooperative approach to supplier relationships and their partnership with USW as a customer. The award also seeks to recognise those suppliers who demonstrate the same approach with other USW suppliers or the wider community, with mutual goals and benefits.

The partnership with Enroly is said to have been key to USW achieving continued sustainable and immigration-compliant international growth. They have worked with USW to understand their international recruitment footprint, proactively delivering and implementing ideas and opportunities for continuous improvement which have resulted in significant improvement in the quality of service offered. The judging panel felt that this nomination demonstrated the tangible benefits of this collaborative relationship.

Health and Safety award winner – Kingdom Security

The Health and Safety award is for suppliers who have introduced new ways of working to USW, and recognises suppliers who foster a positive health and safety culture.

The judging panel felt that Kingdom, who provide security services to the University, had acted superbly in putting the health and safety of USW students at the heart of their service response. The nomination noted that the team are focused on being the best they can be, maintaining their skills and fitness through ongoing personal development programmes. They commented that they are able to respond quickly to identify and resolve issues and maintain the safety of students, staff and the wider community.

USW STAR (Supplier Thank You and Recognition) award winner – Enroly

The USW Star award is designed to recognise a supplier who has gone above and beyond expectations or who has proactively delivered ideas and opportunities to drive value and improvements for USW’s staff, students or the wider community. It also recognises suppliers who consistently exemplify and demonstrate the five USW values; collaborative, professional, creative, inspiring, and responsive.

The judges felt that Enroly, who have also been recognised for innovation and collaboration in this year’s awards, truly embodied the full breath of the USW STAR award criteria. They were struck by how the supplier worked to meet the finer detail of what was needed to be compliant in a complex marketplace. The nomination noted that the service provided by Enroly benefits the strategic needs of the University.

Catherine Lund, Procurement Director at USW, said: “After the success of the inaugural USW Supplier Awards last year, we are very excited to again have the opportunity to recognise the brilliant performances of our external suppliers over the past 12 months.

“We were struck by the diversity of nominations this year and are proud to acknowledge several suppliers from the local area who have stood out in their performance for USW. Congratulations to all this year’s winners.”

Mark Milton, Chief Operating Officer at USW, said: “These awards are a great opportunity to celebrate the work of the suppliers that have helped USW operate successfully over the past 12 months.

“The winning organisations are shining examples of what effective partnerships can achieve. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you for making such a difference to our colleagues, students, and the wider community.”