SUCCESS STORY

£300M+ in savings and cost avoidance

Delivering Vital Efficiencies in Tackling the Pandemic

  • Supporting the UK Government's efforts to stop the virus and return to everyday life

at a glance

A major UK public health programme partnered with FourCentric to strengthen commercial governance, procurement, and supply chain performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through automated reporting, strategic sourcing, and agile supplier management, the programme improved operational efficiency, secured critical testing materials, and delivered significant cost savings and cost avoidance under extreme market pressure.

Outcomes

£300M+ in savings & cost avoidance

Through contract renegotiation, smarter sourcing, and stronger supplier performance

increased speed & efficiency

Automated reporting suite reduced production time from two days to two hours, boosting testing efficiency

Procured under pressure

Secured critical testing materials in a market with 50x normal demand

BACKGROUND

The Test and Trace programme, launched at pace in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was one of the most ambitious public health initiatives in UK history.

With a budget of £37Bn, the scale and speed of the operation created significant commercial challenges, including supplier management, contract visibility, and assurance.

the challenge

The mission of the Test and Trace programme was to build and scale infrastructure capable of testing the population to break chains of transmission. The Commercial Function played a central role in this mission, ensuring the supply chain and infrastructure could support the rapid collection, transport, and analysis of test samples; the procurement of all consumables required to perform up to 800,000 tests per day; and the transparent, compliant use of public funds across a £37 billion programme.

SOLUTION

4C Associates’Consumables, Reagents and Equipment (CR&E) specialists worked closely with a team of civil servants, interim contractors and consultants to bring structure, innovation, and commercial discipline to a fast-moving and unprecedented public health programme.
    • Established early governance and problem-solving protocols to stabilise operations in the absence of mature processes
    • Adapted to constantly shifting priorities and demand forecasts, developing new commercial strategies and operational approaches in real time
    • Led the creation of a fully automated reporting suite, cutting production time from two days to two hours, increasing team efficiency and enabling higher testing volumes to help contain the spread of the virus
    • Secured critical consumables in a hyper-competitive market, with the CR&E team delivering over £300M in cost savings and cost avoidance
    • Worked as part of a high-functioning, collaborative team focused on national recovery and saving lives

    4C’s ability to flex, lead and deliver under pressure helped drive better outcomes for the public while supporting the safe reopening of society.

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