Discover and share good practice for smarter working universities

Consorting with the consortia – the 30% target

You might think there is nothing new about collaborative procurement in higher education. After all, there are six main procurement consortia based in England that have been working with institutions for some years. They help with collaborative procurement among institutions and between HE and other sectors. What is new is that there’s a target to hit, as set by the Diamond Report on Efficiency and Modernisation. By 2016, it is expected that 30% of non-pay spend should be through effective collaborative arrangements. That’s a tough target, and it raises a number of questions.
Image provided by Teesside University

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.
Nick Petford

Three lessons from efficient spending in higher education

Collaborating, upskilling buyers and factoring in social impact are three key ways in which the higher education sector is achieving efficiencies via smarter procurement practices, says Nick Petford, vice-chancellor of the University of Northampton and chair of Procurement UK. Read more of his guest post on ProcurementLeaders.com.
HEPA procurment e-learning

Raising the status of procurement in higher education

Procurement has the potential to play a major role for universities by maximising investment and supporting the strategic objectives of institutional leaders. Emma Keenan describes how the Higher Education Procurement Academy (HEPA) is helping to raise the status of procurement within universities.

Understanding PEL’s role in supporting procurement in the HE sector

In an already crowded HE sector, can another sector body, Procurement England Limited (PEL), really add value? In an interview, Rex Knight, chair of the PEL Board, says yes and explains how.

Engaging In Radical Work: Students As Partners In Academic Publishing

Students as partners is the radical antithesis of the consumerist mind-set in higher education. Yet students have traditionally been absent from one key arena of academia: publishing. Ruth Healey, from University of Chester with co-authors Mick Healey, from University of Gloucestershire and Anthony Cliffe from Liverpool John Moores University, discuss The International Journal for Students as Partners which seeks to address this absence through pairing academic and student co-editors for all its sections.
Smart procurement can save thousands of pounds

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.
Managing outsourced contracts

10 tips for managing outsourced contracts

Outsourcing is an increasingly popular way for universities to keep costs down and to focus their activities on their core business, but there are risks involved. London Universities Purchasing Consortium's Andy Davies gives his top 10 tips for managing big-ticket outsourced contracts.

Smarter procurement is needed for sustainability

Improved procurement could be the secret to balancing the sector’s books in tough times, Nick Petford and Andy Davies suggest. With income falling for the first time and predictions of mounting pressure on surpluses, smarter procurement could be the key to a more sustainable form of higher education in England. Read the full post on THE (subscription required)
Participants in the first NEUPC CIPS induction (pic credit: NEUPC)

How can we tackle procurement skills shortages in higher education?

The higher education sector is facing difficulties in finding and recruiting procurement professionals with the right skills. NEUPC’s CEO Frank Rowell talks about how the consortium is addressing the issue.