Small, but perfectly formed
Alison Brownjohn, head of procurement at the University for the Creative Arts, tells Rosie Niven about working at a small, specialist institution and her transition from the private sector to a university.
Making sense of spend
Examining how money is spent is a vital activity for universities and much of this work is carried out on their behalf by the six consortia that make up Procurement England Ltd (PEL). Andy Wojciechowski of PEL explains how this work is helping the sector.
The promises programme – becoming a ‘no hidden extras’ university
Coventry University has sought to become a “no hidden extras” university by providing core textbooks to undergraduates. Michael Duffy explains how the university’s procurement team rose to the challenge of giving students more for their investment.
Queen Mary University of London: why taking responsibility is good for business
An institution with its origins in Victorian philanthropy values the contributions of all its workers and makes a positive impact on its local community.
SUPC takes steps to protect supply chain workers
SUPC has joined with the world-wide monitoring organisation Electronics Watch which assists public sector buyers to meet their responsibility to protect the labour rights of workers in their global electronics supply chains more effectively, and less expensively, than any single public sector buyer could accomplish on its own.
Strategic sourcing in UK universities: becoming ‘intelligent customers’
Universities are beginning to discover the benefits of new business models in their dealings with suppliers, say researchers at the University of the West of England. They argue that institutions should become ‘intelligent customers’, which will involve investment in new skills, changes in culture and raising the profile of procurement and supply professionals.
Assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of porters and cleaners
Benchmarking is increasingly used in the quest for efficiency and most universities have used the Procurement Maturity Assessment, developed by SUMS Consulting and the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortia. SUMS has now developed another maturity model that allows easy self assessment and indicates a way forward and has applied it to portering and cleaning services.
Introduction to HE procurement: the first of five new e-learning courses from HEPA
The Higher Education Procurement Academy (HEPA) will launch 5 new procurement e-learning courses on 30 July. They offer a cost effective way to develop the skills of a central procurement team and staff who are not part of the central team, but who have procurement in their role. Each course is delivered in an interactive way, with a combination of slides, audio, video, interactive quizzes and links to valuable resources.
Hefce survey reveals bigger procurement savings
English universities’ procurement efficiencies have saved tens of millions of pounds in a year, according to a survey by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce).
New chief for SUPC as it explores collaboration options
Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) has appointed Simon Hill to the role of interim head in advance of a review that will examine how SUPC and London Universities Purchasing Consortium (LUPC) can work more closely together. Hill, who has experience of change management in the private and not for profit sectors, starts in September at SUPC, which has agreed a collaboration project brief with LUPC outlining background and objectives for the review.
