Office of Government Commerce

[1] A Review of Civil Procurement in Central Government was undertaken by Peter Gershon, then a company director, which had been requested in November 1998 by the Paymaster General and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office and was published in April 1999.

In December 2003 Sir Christopher Kelly wrote for the OGC a Report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer: Increasing Competition and Improving Long-Term Capacity Planning in the Government Market Place, with an accompanying Action Plan, which included several findings related to the government’s ability to approach the market as a unified, knowledgeable client.

An aim of the report was "to consider what further steps can be taken to increase competition and encourage better long-term capacity planning in markets where the Government possesses significant purchasing power".

[3] In response the OGC mandated its Government Marketplace Division to focus on implementing the report's recommendations by undertaking research on projected demand and supply to produce proposals for more strategic management of public sector procurement in specific markets; making improvements to two-way communication in the marketplace; and issuing guidance on market creation to stimulate competition.

The logo caused embarrassment to the organisation due to its unintended sexual suggestiveness (appearing to show a man masturbating) when rotated 90° clockwise.