Measuring, tracking, agreeing and banking procurement benefits
Procurement teams can play an important role in releasing savings to help to reduce budgets in higher education institutions or to bank and reinvest. But Jim Reed, who has held senior procurement roles in a number of sectors, argues that there is room for improvement in how universities measure the benefits they secure.
HEPA professional development courses: limited spaces are still available
The Higher Education Procurement Academy (HEPA) still has some limited spaces available on the following professional development courses:
Introduction to Procurement – 3 December, London
Practical...
Procurement revisited – selected case studies from higher education
The second phase of efficiency work in higher education led by Professor Sir Ian Diamond and coordinated by Universities UK is well under way and a report will be published next February. Watch this space for a forthcoming series of articles to highlight this work which we will be publishing over the coming weeks. In the meantime, we thought it would be interesting to re-share some of the best examples of good practice we've found - for those of you who might have missed them first time around. Today: a selection of case studies on procurement.
The Procurement Journey: a ‘how to’ guide from HEPA
The Procurement Journey gives procurement professionals and wider institutional buyers access to a comprehensive 'how to' guide to procurement, including a wealth of useful materials, standardised documentation, up-to-date legislation information, and references to appropriate external advice websites. It has been professionally reviewed, and is now available online for use across the sector.
Procurement as an institutional priority
Universities were encouraged by the Diamond report to see procurement as an institutional priority. But how can this be achieved in principle and what have universities done on the ground? Laura Watson, deputy director of procurement at Durham University, talks with John Lakin of Procurement UK about what has been achieved at her university.
Developing a global mobility framework for higher education
The global mobility of higher education staff is an area that has traditionally been difficult for universities with responsibility split between several departments. In this blogpost, Ian Ross of the North West Universities Purchasing Consortium’s (NWUPC) describes efforts to obtain better value for money in the procurement of global mobility services.
University procurement: ‘Never miss an opportunity to promote what you do’
Alison Holmes, director of procurement at Durham University, talks about the important role of procurement in a higher education institution and why it should be seen as a strategic function.
Procurement ‘health checks’ inspire high performance universities
Universities seeking ever higher standards in their procurement are benefiting from a comprehensive measuring tool. Susan Wright, head of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium, explains how the Procurement Maturity Assessment programme has inspired real changes in English HEIs.
Nick Petford: seismic shifts at Northampton
The University of Northampton is undergoing many changes ahead of the move to the Waterside campus in 2018. Vice chancellor, Professor Nick Petford, tells Efficiency Exchange about his role in the change and draws some surprising parallels between his academic specialism of volcanology and the higher education environment.
Latest data highlights transformation in higher education procurement
New research shows improvements in procurement across England's higher education sector over the last five years have resulted in a rise in savings and efficiencies of more than 50%. The findings come in the latest survey of Efficiency Measurement Model (EMM) data carried out by North Western Universities Purchasing Consortium (NWUPC) on behalf of Procurement England Ltd (PEL), a company that brings together the four English purchasing consortia.
