Survey reveals school suppliers “need to step up” and help schools embrace collaborative purchasing
Education suppliers should play a greater role in encouraging schools to collaborate more when it comes to buying goods and services.
That’s the view of school business managers, finance directors, bursars, heads and governors who shared their views in the third annual National School Procurement Survey (NSPS15), carried out over the summer by Incensu.co.uk, the national register of education suppliers.
School procurement professionals were asked which factors would encourage them to start working collaboratively with other schools. Suppliers permitting collaborative purchasing by groups of schools was one of the top factors, identified in 46 per cent of responses, along with more time, legal frameworks and more training.
There’s no lack of desire amongst schools to investigate joint purchasing: 74 per cent of respondents said they had considered purchasing in bulk for the benefit of other schools but 52 per cent said there were currently no incentives for them to purchase jointly with other schools.
Lack of time remains the chief barrier – this was identified as the key limiter on collaborative purchasing in 72 per cent of responses. There’s also a problem with a lack of expertise within schools and the perception that this money saving approach is still struggling to be regarded as a priority within schools.
The need for more collaborative purchasing by schools comes as concerns about future funding grows. The survey revealed that worries about school budgets have grown significantly since 2014’s survey. In 2014 54 per cent of respondents said funding was a key concern. This has jumped to 76 per cent in the 2015 survey.
The survey also asked respondents to identify the main way their school would try to address any future funding challenge. Nearly half (49 per cent) said that ‘staff optimisation’ – getting the best value from existing staffing levels – would be their key approach. More collaboration either through structures or sharing of resources was cited by 30 per cent. Review of existing procurement practices was cited by 15 per cent.
Peter Melville, a school business director and co-founder of survey organisers Incensu.co.uk, said: “The survey shows that as funding fears grow schools are increasingly aware that collaborative purchasing will be a major plank in their money saving strategies, but they need support, training and time in order to make the most of it.
“It also shows that the businesses who supply goods and services to schools should step up and work more closely with the education sector to make it easier for schools to access the benefits of collaborative purchasing.
“We’re encouraging this approach amongst suppliers through our school supplier register, which allows suppliers to let schools know whether they permit collaborative purchasing in bulk, but there is a sense that this approach needs to be replicated across the education sector as a whole for the benefit of schools and school suppliers”
Kevan Walsh, managing director of school energy broker Zenergi, welcomed the survey’s findings. “School budgets are having to work harder than ever before so it is vital that suppliers make it as easy as possible for schools to collaborate on the buying of high quality, good value goods and services. This approach will help school budgets go further and makes sound business sense, giving school suppliers access to a bigger customer base.”
NSPS15 was carried out online by Incensu, the national register of school suppliers, in summer 2015. The survey of 89 school business managers, headteachers, bursars and governors in mainly state schools across England was supported by a range of partners, including the National Association of School Business Managers (NASBM).
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