SUCCESS STORY
£300M+ savings & cost avoidance
Public Health:
Efficiency & Value Improvement
Supporting the UK Government’s Test & Trace Programme
Outcomes
£300M+ in Savings
Cost savings & avoidances secured in high-demand procurement
Significantly Faster Reporting
Cycle time reduced from two days to two hours
Transparent, Compliant Delivery
Governance and reporting built into high-pressure operations
BACKGROUND
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK’s Test & Trace programme had to scale infrastructure quickly, procuring lab consumables, reagents, logistics, and equipment to meet demand of ~800,000 tests per day.
The Commercial Function played a crucial enabling role in managing these supply chain and procurement challenges with speed and transparency.
the challenge
With demand soaring (50× normal levels) for key consumables, the programme needed to secure stable supply, maintain compliance under public scrutiny, and speed up reporting in a rapidly shifting logistics and forecasting environment.
SOLUTION
To meet these pressures, 4C embedded governance, adaptive strategy design, stakeholder collaboration, and digital reporting systems.
- Established governance and problem solving over rapidly formed processes
- Adapted procurement strategy as forecasts and demands shifted
- Built an automated reporting suite to enable quick, accurate decision support
- Worked collaboratively with civil servants, interim contractors, and consultants for unified delivery