• BT's Primary Requirements
• Contractors Health & Safety
• Delivery To BT
• Environmental Policy
• eProcurement
• General Conditions Of Contract
• Generic Standards
• How To Register Your Interest In Becoming a Supplier To BT
• Procure To Pay
• Regulatory Obligations
• Sourcing With Human Dignity
• Supplier Access To BT's Sites
• Supplier Diversity
• Supplier Engagement Policy
• What BT Buys

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Working With BT
Supplier Engagement Policy

BT Procurement's role is to help BT achieve its goals by awarding and managing contracts that deliver world class prices, terms and conditions, service and supply chain performance. We are committed to the Buy Once principle, meaning that all of BT's requirements for related products and services will be managed and bought through a single procurement strategy, working in partnership to ensure that the BT Group maximises its global leverage thereby getting the best deal for BT. Our aim is simple - to create competitive advantage for our customers and the BT Group.

 

BT has a clear policy governing how existing and prospective suppliers should engage with BT people. Detailed below are the BT Procurement engagement policies relating to all suppliers and how they apply to interactions with BT people. The policies cover two main areas:

 

1. Ethics & Conduct

Where suppliers represent BT (or third parties may reasonable believe that the supplier represents BT) the supplier must ensure that they and their employees comply with BT's business principles detailed in  'The Way We Work'. In addition:

• All of BT's dealings with suppliers will be conducted with integrity and the award of business will be based on merit.

• Hospitality or other inducements which encourage or reward a decision must not be offered to BT people.

• Any Hospitality offered by a supplier within the course of normal business practice must be kept to a level where the frequency and scale of the hospitality is not greater than that which may be reciprocated by BT.

• All discussions of a confidential nature with BT must be subject to a pre-agreed Non-Disclosure Agreement and the confidentiality provisions in any tender or resultant contract must be adhered to.

• Suppliers will be required to support BT's Corporate Social Responsibility activities and meet the requirements outlined on this site and in any contractual documents.

• Suppliers must ensure that their offers to BT and 'in contract' activity are compliant with the applicable in country law and regulatory requirements.

 

2. Authority to Commit Expenditure

Suppliers need to be aware that although they may have dealings with many people across BT, the commercial interface with all suppliers is owned by BT Procurement. In addition:

• All commitments to spend money with a supplier can only be made by a licensed buyer within the BT buying community. If in doubt please ask your contact to confirm in writing that they are authorised to make this commitment.

• Suppliers must first obtain a Purchase Order prior to undertaking any work for BT. Specifically, personal email, faxes and telephone calls do not constitute commitments from BT to authorise spend with a supplier. Any supplier who acts on requests that have not been properly authorised may not be paid for that work by BT.

• Suppliers must only agree terms and conditions of trade (including agreement of prices and or payment terms) with a BT buyer.

• Suppliers need to ensure that all procurement transactions are conducted through a recognised ordering and payment channel such as iProcurement. Suppliers are responsible for ensuring a correct invoice is submitted to the appropriate accounts payable unit within BT. Incorrectly submitted invoices may be returned to suppliers for correction and resubmission.