Caerphilly County Borough Council saved more than £266,000 in the last financial year by buying in bulk with other Welsh councils.
The local authority is a member of the Welsh Purchasing Consortium, a project involving 15 other councils across South, Mid and West Wales.
Caerphilly councillor Colin Mann, who is the chairman of the consortium, said: “The Welsh Assembly Government is stressing the need for local authorities to work together. The reality is that there are numerous examples of councils where this is happening on a voluntary basis and major savings are already being made.
“Any savings such as these mean that there is somewhat less pressure on slimming down the workforce as a result of spending cuts.”
“The consortium is always mindful of its responsibilities to put cost effective and efficient procurement arrangements in place. We aim to help regeneration wherever possible by ensuring that our indigenous SME’s are not disadvantaged by our approach and that we adopt strategies to encourage bids from WPC-based suppliers. Sustainability is also very important.”
Rob Jones, Welsh Purchasing Consortium’s Procurement Manager, said: “The Welsh Purchasing Consortium is an example of successful co-operation and it has made significant progress over the last two years although we all accept that there is still much to do.”