Vijay Nanmaran, General Manager, The Soaltee Kathmandu

How has the approach to purchasing products and sourcing products for hotels changed over the years? How has the pandemic affected and changed it?

The Soaltee Kathmandu is owned by a public limited company “Soaltee Hotel Limited” hence the procurement process is defined by the existing rules for the public limited companies to adhere by. Yearly a tender is published in the national newspaper and the selection of vendors for the contract is done based on the documents submitted and the quality match for the requirement of the hotel.

During the pandemic the Tender process was compromised due to the lockdown period, however the company continued to work with the existing suppliers and vendors. A lot of goods and supplies of the hotel are depended on imports and this posed many restrictions and difficulty in obtaining the goods and to maintain the hotel standard as per the quality requirements. However, we were able to procure the best available in the market to ensure no compromise in quality which in turn lead to added expenses for the hotel due to high price of these readily goods available.

How do you look for new vendors and are you open to changing vendors for the regular requirements?

Most of the vendors are on yearly contractual terms and this is selected through the opening of annual tender. A notice is published in the national daily for all eligible and interested parties to submit a sealed quotation for the supply of delivery of the required goods which are classified intro various groups.

The Sealed quotations along with the prescribed form available in the purchase manager’s office is submitted at the office of General Manager which is stored in a securely locked dedicated drop box. Management of the hotel upon review of these documents and verifying the requirements met and submitted by these vendors will only be selected for the annual contract with the Hotel.

The vendors once contracted will supply the required goods throughout the year, however management reserves the right to revoke the contract if there is discrepancy in delivery and compromise on the quality of goods & products.

What protocol (method of vendor search, registration etc) do you follow for purchasing?

We follow a very transparent and sincere practice of selecting vendors for annual contract. The vendors are called for submission of their interest to work with the hotel through the Annual Tender. Requests for quotations is published in the national daily along with the detailed requirements.

Interested vendors must be registered with the Inland Revenue Department of Nepal. The bidders are allowed to depute their representative to take part in the quotation opening, while contracting is also announced of the selected vendors.

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