Public sector procurement body OGCbuying.solutions is withdrawing its Catalist and Managed Services sub-brands to coincide with its change in name.

The body has switched its name to Buying Solutions and has withdrawn the sub-brands in order to focus on developing the firm as a single, unified brand.

Taking effect immediately, the name change aims to clarify the difference in roles between Buying Solutions and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

Despite the change in strategy, Buying Solutions will remain an Executive Agency of the OGC.

Alison Littley, chief executive of Buying Solutions, said: “Our relationship with OGC is in many ways closer than ever before, particularly, for example, in supporting the Government’s collaborative procurement agenda by which aggregated demand across the public sector translates into far greater savings in price, process and resource.

“While we shared the OGC acronym, there was ambiguity among customers and suppliers over our respective roles. OGC is about policy, best practice, assurance and coordination of cross-Governmental delivery - we are the largest delivery agent.”

The firm claims the change in strategy underpins Buying Solutions’ aim to achieve savings for the taxpayer of £1bn a year by 2010/11.