Growing public sector / private sector interaction 

Time and time again when we as KPMG are sitting on the public side of a transaction and looking at the bids that come in from the private side, we’re astonished at the level to which many private companies don’t quite understand what it is that the public sector’s trying to achieve. And ultimately that that loses you business. That loses a lot of business. What we’ve got is an insight into, whether it’s in Germany or Spain or Russia or here in the UK, we’ve got an insight into how the public sector is thinking, what they’re trying to achieve, because even in this fiscally constrained world, this isn’t simply about saving money, it’s about delivering public services.

The key message for our private sector clients is don’t wait until the tender notice arrives on your doormat because then you’re too late. Take a look at the parts of the public sector which are involved in things where your business has expertise and ask yourself ‘how could I run that and how could I run that better?’ And work with KPMG to develop those propositions and take them into the public sector because this is a time of change and this is a time when the public sector are actively seeking input about how they can do what they’re doing and do it better.

Looking in terms of the of what we can offer on the private side, bear in mind this isn’t all about infrastructure it’s also about services and operating concessions and so on. And to give an example we’ve had a hugely dominant position in terms of advice in the rail franchising sector for many, many years now.

This is an indication of the presence that KPMG has in this market and indeed the quality of the advice that we can bring to bear.

I think the outlook for private companies over the next twelve months is good if they can seize the opportunities that are being thrown out by a public sector which frankly is in some turmoil. This is a period of huge change in the public sector.

Change always means opportunity. Those that try to continue doing what they were doing before are going to find life very difficult. But those that recognise that the public sector is crying out for solutions from the private sector, to help drive that efficiency, to help offer better solutions for citizens of the services that the public sector needs to provide. Any private sector company that can engage with that, I think they will thrive and they can do that with our help.

- Richard Threlfall, March 2011