Procurement

Senior managers involved in strategic sourcing decisions within UK higher education institutions are invited to participate in a HEFCE and Leadership Foundation funded research project....

Procurement UK, formed to drive forward the procurement agenda in higher education, publishes its initial Discussion Paper for review and comment.

We know that procurement makes a key contribution to the savings agenda in higher education, yet the strategic value of procurement within institutions is...

Higher education institutions should develop their own approach to becoming ‘intelligent customers’ of suppliers, which will involve investment in new skills, changes in culture...

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)

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.

Procurement - why no mention of it in HEFCE's latest report on the financial health of the higher education sector? asks Andy Davies, Director of London...

With the sector spending around £10bn a year on goods and services, universities are looking to reorganise – through outsourcing or collaborative procurement –...