XMA office supplies to save government £10m

Centralised procurement contract appears to be paying off

Nottingham-based office supplies and services VAR XMA is on track to save central government £10m by the end of the year.

According to XMA, a Westcoast company, since signing a government office supplies contract in 2011 it has saved the government £8m on office supplies, and is betting it will achieve another £2m in savings by January.

Duncan Forsyth, group managing director of Westcoast Holdings, said the idea of centralising office supplies procurement is benefiting both government and taxpayer.

"We have been serving the public sector for over 30 years," Forsyth said. "[XMA] was awarded the contract because our commercial offering demonstrated experience in providing a high standard of service, combined with significant and sustainable cost savings."

XMA has been providing print consumables from the likes of HP, Brother, Lexmark and Xerox and electronics-related office supplies across central government with the goal of saving up to 25 per cent on costs.

Dave San, assistant director at HMRC, which leads the contract, said XMA had been easy to work with and performed well. The contract covers all central-government departments.