Two Newport-based organisations have been recognised at a national awards ceremony celebrating the best in the public procurement sector in Wales.

The Office for National Statistics, which has its UK headquarters in Newport, was an award winner at this year’s Government Opportunities Excellence in Public Procurement Awards, which took place at the Mercure Holland House Hotel in Cardiff.

Part of Wales’ annual Festival of Procurement, the GO Awards Wales recognise and celebrate the success of public, private and third sector organisations which strive for procurement excellence and innovation in Wales; one of the leading countries in the world for best practice procurement.

ONS won the Infrastructure Project of the Year Award for its new modern collaborative Data Science Campus, which will act as a hub for the whole of the UK public and private sectors to gain practical advantage from the increased investment in data science research.

Created from the renovation of a 1970s building, the campus was designed so everyone could use it to analyse large amounts of data for the public good, and was finished three months early.

Housing 70 data scientists, the ONS Data Science Campus has already worked with Welsh charity Llamau, and also hosts regular ‘digital Friday’ events for the general public.

Scott Howell, of chief commercial officer National Statistics, said: “It feels fantastic to win the GO Infrastructure Project of the Year Award. This has topped off the year that we have had this year, it’s brilliant. This is the first one that we have entered, if you are thinking about applying next year – go for it."

Telford Street-based Newport Norse Ltd was also recognised on the night, being highly commended in the competitive Procurement Innovation / Initiative Award for Local Government, Welsh Government & Housing category. The first wholly publicly-owned local authority property services joint venture in Wales, Newport Norse has been lauded for its innovative approach to the delivery of Newport City Council’s property and asset management service.

The team at Newport Norse said: “We are looking forward to the future, growing our organisation after being recognised as highly commended.”

Speaking on behalf of the GO Awards Wales judging panel, chairman Grahame Steed said: “The panel were impressed by the innovation shown in this year’s submissions into the GO Awards Wales 2017/18. They reflect the increasingly complex world of public procurement, and the strong progress that Wales is making in this area. The awards are helping to create a new benchmark for standards and all the finalists – and especially the winners – should be commended for their work.”