Encouraging more sophisticated procurement through PMAs
Procurement Maturity Assessments (PMAs) provide a comprehensive “health check” for institutions' procurement services. SUPC’s Susan Wright explains how over the past five years PMAs have shown how procurement within universities is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
North east universities to benefit from £750m construction agreement
Collaborative procurement on construction for universities in the north east of England has been made easier with a £750m framework agreement, the first of its scale in the UK. Greg Barnes, who worked on the agreement for the North Eastern Universities Procurement Consortium (NEUPC), describes its benefits and lessons learned while putting it together.
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.
Ensemble purchasing: mighty oaks from little acorns grow
Smaller institutions in London are joining forces to get bigger bang for their buck from procurement. Kat Humphries introduces Ensemble Purchasing, a new cost sharing group dedicated to procurement.
Sir Ian Diamond: ‘We can improve… by sharing best practice’.
In an interview with Efficiency Exchange, Professor Sir Ian Diamond reflects on how universities have adapted to become more efficient.
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.
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.
Getting to grips with procurement: the crucial role of governors
Nick Petford, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Northampton and Chair of Procurement UK, examines the role of governors in ensuring institutions manage resources effectively.
Five ways in which framework agreements are delivering efficiencies for higher education
Framework agreements are designed to maximise third party expenditure within the higher education sector. These case studies show how frameworks are being used in higher education to drive efficiency and ensure maximum value for money.
Universities should aim for social value in their procurement
New EU directives call upon public authorities to seek social value in their procurement activities. Universities, while not being public bodies, should nevertheless strive to achieve the same high societal value via their commissioning, Nick Petford Vice-Chancellor of the University of Northampton told the Inside Government Conference on 20 June.
