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Our Suppliers

Our purpose is to provide energy needed today, while building a better world of energy for tomorrow. We welcome suppliers who support our vision of being a leading energy company in a net zero world.

With safety, sustainability and responsibility at the heart of all we do, we're keen to establish strong relationships with our suppliers because we know how critical they are to our business.

Below you’ll find information on our approach to procurement, including an update on our new Sourcing-to-Contract system.

SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT CODE

Our Sustainable Procurement Code outlines the expectations and requirements on SSE’s suppliers and contractors, and their supply chains.

To ensure that SSE’s business is conducted ethically, sustainably and within the law, SSE expects its suppliers to meet the principles outlined in the Code and Guidance. This means as a minimum complying with local laws and regulations and respecting internationally recognised human and labour rights, however the values of fairness and respect are equally important to SSE.

You can see the full Sustainable Procurement Code here and guidance for suppliers here.

Our procurement teams use the Jaggaer Source to Contract system across the SSE group. As one of the most widely trusted procurement platforms in the industry, Jaggaer helps to optimize our Source-to-Contract process by connecting our suppliers, sourcing events and contracts in one place.

Once invited onto the Jaggaer platform by an SSE buyer, potential suppliers are asked to complete some basic onboarding questions within their profile, which can then save time when completing PQQ and/or ITT submissions. Our portal will continue to be free to use for suppliers.

SSE Jaggaer Portal

The SSE portal homepage can be found here.

For security reasons, Jaggaer implements multi-factor authentication which can send a one-time passcode to the user’s email address for verification. For this reason, it is recommended that supplier accounts use the individual email address for each user, or that users have access to the registered email address to retrieve the passcode when needed.

Creating Additional Users

The first user registered for a supplier acts as the main user for that firm and can register additional users by following the guide below. New users can be granted permissions to view and/or respond to events as needed to suit each supplier.

Click here for information on how to create new supplier users.

Supplier Help and Support

Jaggaer provide dedicated supplier support for any technical or setup issues through free telephone numbers and an online ticket system. These support links are also on the portal homepage.

Telephone support numbers can be found here.

Submit a support ticket here.

SSE is a proud partner of EcoVadis, a global sustainability rating company based on international standards, to conduct individual sustainability performance assessments of our supply chain partners.

A critical step in the sustainability strategy is to gain insight and visibility on SSE’s partners’ and their suppliers’ Sustainability performance. During 2023/24 FY, SSE will be launching a supplier engagement strategy with key supply chain stakeholders. They will be asked to proactively engage with EcoVadis, where they will receive a sustainability scorecard with detailed insights into key strengths along with areas of improvement.

To proactively sign up to EcoVadis, please click on the link here.

Registering to become a supplier with SSE starts with an invitation to complete our Supplier Registration Form. This invitation is sent following an internal validation process undertaken by our Procurement and Commercial function.

Full instructions on completing the Supplier Registration form are included in the invitation email. Please note that depending on the works and/or services being provided to SSE, as part of the invitation email, will advise if further accreditation is required. For more information, please see ‘Further Accreditation’ and ‘Alternative Accreditation’ below.

If you have any questions when completing the ‘Supplier Application’ form, please contact the business representative in the invitation email.

Further Accreditation

If tendering for regulated contracts or high-risk works and/or services further accreditation may be required. Accreditation is completed through our accreditation provider Achilles Information Limited. Click the relevant link below for:

Accreditation information and supplier leaflets – go to section ‘Explore our Help and Support PDFs’
Pricing information - this can be found at the bottom of each page

Supplying SSE sites in the UK

Supply SSE sites in the Republic of Ireland

Alternative Accreditation

For non-regulated activities, SSE may accept alternatives, such as Achilles Building Confidence, CHAS, Constructionline, OHSAS 18001 or Safecontractor. If you would like an alternative scheme to be considered, please reply to the ‘Supplier Registration’ email providing certification details along with the application ID and Registered Company Name.

Our SHE team will assess the proposed alternative and advise if this is acceptable.

SSE is committed to the Prompt Payment Code and the fair treatment of all Suppliers ensuring they are paid on time PPC – Small Business Commissioner. The Accounts Payable team will answer queries within internally agreed timescales.

INVOICES, CREDIT NOTES & STATEMENTS

Invoices

Supplier invoices should be submitted electronically through our Tradex E-Invoicing portal, which is our preferred method, however depending on how many invoices you submit per year we have alternative options, consolidated billing, purchasing cards and self-billing – If you wish to explore these alternatives please contact [email protected].

Tradex

Using Tradex means that all invoices are received in a standard format, resulting in fewer errors and quicker payment times, only invoices with valid Purchase Orders are accepted.

If an Invalid invoice is submitted these will be rejected with a notification issued to the Supplier.

As a Supplier, there are two options available on the Tradex Portal:

Tradex Active – you can submit invoices, free of charge, via an online form on the Tradex portal. This solution is recommended for those Suppliers who typically submit small volumes of invoices (typically less than 300 invoices per annum)

Tradex Integrated – allows you to integrate your systems with Tradex. It is recommended for Suppliers with larger invoicing volumes. There is a one-off cost associated with this method.

To access Tradex please use the following link, Tradex Login.
If you require further information on Tradex and how to process your invoice through Tradex, please visit their Microsite Processing an Invoice, where you can find FAQ’s and a video on how to process an Invoice.
If you require further support in the setup please contact [email protected] who will help.

Credit Notes

Credit Notes will be accepted for processing via the email address found in the Contact Us section please ensure these are submitted as PDFs this will ensure that these can be matched appropriately and avoid unnecessary delays. (1 credit note per individual PDF)

Statements

SSE’s Accounts Payable team will reconcile your monthly statement. Statements can be submitted via email found within the Contact Us section and should only be sent once a month.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS

Our commitment to our Suppliers when a dispute arises is to resolve the issues, fairly, transparently, and efficiently. The key principles in this process are:

Disputed invoices are identified by internal business stakeholders and raised directly with the Supplier
Disputed invoices can be queried with Accounts Payable and relevant business stakeholders for resolution
Accounts Payable have dedicated Business Relationship Managers who can offer support during dispute resolution between the business stakeholder and supplier
Where it is not possible to reach an agreement, we acknowledge several potential dispute resolution methods for example mediation, adjudication, expert determination, litigation and /or arbitration, may be used

For Accounts Payable contact information please refer to the Contact Us section

FAQ’s

I require Tradex Support

Please see the invoices section

My Invoice was rejected

Invoices may be rejected for several reasons.

Some rejection examples are:

Incorrectly Billed – Wrong Billing Entity used – this is detailed on your PO
Purchase Order – Missing, Invalid or Over Billed
Duplicate Invoice
Incorrect Currency
Incorrect VAT - Doesn’t meet HMRC and ROI Tax Regulations
Inaccurate or missing description of goods or services provided.

Can I send you my invoice by email?

If no Tradex relationship exists, and you have an agreement in place with Accounts Payable, Invoices may be submitted in PDF format by email (1 invoice per individual PDF).

To prevent rejection of your invoice please ensure:

The word “Invoice” is included in the email title
You have checked the invoice displays the relevant valid PO number, billing entity etc.
You have attached the correct invoice.

How quickly will I be paid?

Validated and approved invoices will be processed and paid in line with your defined due dates, these are the contractually agreed terms as agreed initially with Procurement colleagues or as defined on your PO.

Where invoices have been received late, are disputed or where the business has a query this may result in delayed payment.

Accounts Payable will endeavour to pay all invoices in a timely manner with proactive query management and regularly scheduled payment runs.

Where a nominated contact email exists a remittance advice will also be issued. If remittances are not being received please contact us.

I need to refund/return a payment

If you are returning funds it’s important to let us know straight away, it’s vital that you quote the relevant invoice, cheque, or reference number to allow us to identify the returned transaction.

Please contact us for our bank account & payment reference details.

I need to change my details

It is important that you let us know straight away if your details change, for example, Company Name, Bank Account details, and nominated email contacts - this will allow us to accurately process your invoices, prevent rework and allow us to contact you quickly.

Any changes must be submitted in the correct format via email on company letter headed paper please use the correct contact details found below.

Invoices/Statements/Credit Notes or Queries	Email address	PO Prefix
SSE Plc	[email protected]	12
SSE - Renewables Ltd	[email protected]	13
SSE - Generation Ltd	[email protected]	17
SSE - ROI based entities	[email protected]	14

Contact reason	Supplier query email address
Payment queries	[email protected]
Update existing Bank Details	[email protected]
Company Updates incl Name	[email protected]
Alternative Billing	[email protected]

SSE aim to prevent environmental damage and at all times comply with legislative and regulatory requirements. Furthermore, SSE will actively seek to develop positive environmental impacts as a responsible energy operator, developer and supplier.

We expect our suppliers and encourage their supply chain to measure, manage and reduce their carbon footprint. Furthermore, we expect our suppliers to report greenhouse gas emissions performance using internationally recognised greenhouse gas reporting frameworks (such as GHG Protocol and the UK Government’s environmental reporting guidelines) and standards in mainstream company reports and get data externally verified to standards (such as ISO14064 and ISAE2000) by credible accredited third parties.

More information is available in the sustainability section of sse.com.

1277 FW Non Operated Plant Hire PQQ Guidance Document (DOCX)
1277 FW Non Operated Plant Hire PQQ (PDF)
FO-PRS-64 ITT PQQ Attachment - System Guidance (DOCX)
1277 Evaluation Criteria (PDF)
1277 Scoring Criteria (PDF)
Distribution South Network Regions (PDF)
Distribution North Network Regions (PDF)