The print procurement platform was developed by CCS in partnership with public sector procurement consortium Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation. APS’s contract to manage the platform runs until June 2024.

Dubbed Print Marketplace, the platform is now open to for printers to register for approval and supply pricing frameworks to pre-defined templates for a range of common or garden services such as brochures, stationery, posters and leaflets.

Described as “game changing” and as being open to printers of all sizes by APS, a supplier can update their prices at any time once they’re an approved supplier.

According to the CCS, the platform will then enable public bodies to enter the details of their project and see instant quotes from multiple suppliers.

However, according to the original tender requirements the platform will be dynamic and not “a catalogue of fixed prices for products but a system that produces quotes in real time based on customer specifications.”

CCS head of document management and logistics Dave Duncan said Print Marketplace would allow public bodies “to purchase quality print products and, in doing so, save time and money while meeting their social value obligations”.

“This solution will also support SMEs in the wake of Covid-19, allowing them to win new business and access customers they may have previously struggled to reach,” he added.

Kim Naylor, executive director of APS Group, added: “By connecting supply and demand, we are helping to remove many of the obstacles that have previously prevented the public sector accessing smaller, local suppliers. We welcome the opportunities this will bring to our existing and new roster of print suppliers.”

Cheshire-based APS Group Global's offering spans marketing services, print management, creative and agency services, and print. It had sales of nearly £161m in its most recent results.