Firm’s £20k pledge to help tackle food poverty
Alison Rennie
A Paisley-based procurement company has been given an investment which will help families and children facing food poverty.
Scotland Excel is the centre of procurement expertise for local governments across Scotland.
It is a non-profit making shared service which is funded by all 32 Scottish councils.
It aims to include a range of social and community benefits into all its contracts.
This means whenever it receives an investment from an outside source, money is then reinvested back into the local community.
Rexel, formerly known as Glasgowbased Ross Electrical, is a supplier on the national Electrical Materials Framework – a contract to help Scottish councils and other Scotland Excel members source materials.
As part of being appointed as a supplier on the contract, Rexel pledged to invest £20,000 into a dedicated fund to give back to communities. The money will be spent on food banks and free school meals given out during holidays.
Drew Mcllroy, regional business manager at Rexel, said: “We’re delighted to become a supplier on Scotland Excel’s Electrical Materials Framework, and are looking forward to working closely with Scottish councils to ensure they are able to access the materials they need when they need them.
“As a business, it’s always been essential that we are also able to give back to the local community too.
“So to be able to contribute to a number of local projects as part of our role with Scotland Excel, is incredibly important to us.” Scottish councils and associate members that have used the contract can now access the fund to benefit their communities.
Councillor John Shaw, convener of Scotland Excel, said: “As with all our contracts, when the Electrical Materials framework was set up, we were keen to achieve as much additional value for our communities as possible.
“So we were delighted when Rexel made the commitment to give council and Scotland Excel associate members £20,000 to be used for local community benefits.”