The British government is to centralise the buying of goods and services across departments in a bid to save £3 billion.
The move follows a review by Sir Philip Green who said Whitehall was not making the most of its scale, buying power and credit rating.
Sir Philip found various departments had signed multiple contracts with major suppliers at different prices.
The plan is to create a central procurement team which would buy goods and services such as vehicles, stationery and office furniture at a single set price.
The BBC reports Sir Philip is one of Britain's most successful retailers. He owns the Arcadia Group.
He said the government's £2 billionn telecoms bill could be cut by up to 40% and pointed out that some departments had spent £73 on boxes of paper while others had got them for £8.
Other examples included different departments and agencies paying between £350 - £2000 for the same laptops and between £85 - £240 for the same printer cartridges.
Sir Philip said civil servants should treat the buying of goods and services as if they were spending their own money.
