Who we are and what we do.
The procurement opportunities with us are unmatched and our projects impact every aspect of public life. With sector-leading development opportunities and exposure to varied projects across government, the scope to grow your career within the GCF is unparalleled.
Central Government spends £49 billion each year on external contracts. It’s a huge sum of money, and comes with the need to deliver impressive results. Every year, the scale and complexity of the challenges faced by the Government Commercial Function multiplies. As a world-class, cross-government network of commercial professionals, we are more than equipped to rise to the challenge.
With around 4,500 civil servants working in commercial roles across every central government department, our work extends from procurement and contract management to market analytics and commercial strategising. Whether securing warships for the military or technology for classrooms, we are tasked with the most unique projects on a scale that is unimaginable.
In the last year alone, we have made £2.6 billion of savings on our most complex deals. Our work is often life-enhancing and even life-saving, with our skills being called on by the Army, the NHS and the Police.
Our Vision
We are focused on being the best commercial function in the UK. It’s a bold ambition, but with responsibility for planning, developing and managing contracts that impact every member of the population, it’s something that we are passionate about achieving.
Aspiring to be the best: our strategy for the next three years (2020 – 2023)
- Pillar 1: Building world-class capability and teams
- Pillar 2: Engaging effectively with our markets and suppliers
- Pillar 3: Improving and simplifying how we work
- Pillar 4: Delivering outcomes through commercial policy
- Pillar 5: Improving decision making and the delivery of public services
As part of our efforts, we have developed the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO). Sitting within the GCF, the GCO is made up of the GCF’s 1,000 most senior commercial specialists. Taking ownership of the boldest purchasing and contracting responsibilities, we help government departments achieve their goals and in doing so, we define projects worth millions and even billions.
We get to grips with the type of challenges that other employers simply can’t match and, to attract and retain the best talent, we offer competitive benefits packages.
Our work environment is incomparable in terms of size, scale and opportunity. Where else could you take on projects affecting national security, global warming or childhood wellbeing? In what other organisation could you network with 1,000 of the UK’s most impressive commercial specialists? At the GCO, we offer this and more.
We offer the chance to develop new skills by moving around government departments, gaining exposure to the most challenging projects. We host a multitude of networking events and we have an online hub to share knowledge. We encourage our people to learn new skills in order to progress their careers too. Through ‘The Government Commercial College’ – our online home for visionary commercial training – we support every professional ambition. Immersive workshops, senior speaker events and peer-to-peer learning opportunities underpin our progressive culture. With ongoing access to Career Coaches who support the creation of bespoke development plans, every training need is met.
With all that we do being underpinned by the Civil Service values, this is a place where anything and everything is possible.
