London & South East

Two primary schools approached Schools’ Buying Club when the Local Authority announced that they were ceasing their cleaning service.  It was the first time the schools had gone to tender for a fully outsourced contract, and Schools’ Buying Club supported the end to end procurement process. The process resulted in savings of £84k against the most expensive bidder.

“Having been unsatisfied with our existing cleaning contract and contract performance, I was introduced to Schools’ Buying Club at an ISBL Conference. I have been working with them since the start of the year to run a joint procurement process in conjunction with another school in our West Harrow cluster. The process has been efficient and well led and we are very pleased with the outcome and contract award to our new provider. The procurement advice and support we have received during this process has been invaluable and we have felt well supported during the transitional period.” Kirsten Beaven, Schools’ Business Leader

Schools’ Buying Club helped a cluster of 4 primary schools in Enfield to go out to tender for their cleaning service. The new service is compliant, fit for purpose and has been tailored to each school’s individual needs. We also managed to secure a contract £293k less than the most expensive bidder.

“SBC made the process very straightforward and clear. Delighted with the outcome and would use SBC to support procurement again.” Sophie O’Shea, Office Manager

“In a large, busy primary school, running a procurement project alone seemed very daunting. Schools’ Buying Club were brilliant from start to finish with excellent support and proactive guidance. Thank you team!” Esther Campbell, School Business Manager

Schools’ Buying Club is the strategic procurement partner for Havering Council. It advises, adds capacity to the internal team at the Council and helps deliver with hands on support. Recently Schools’ Buying Club has put eight new frameworks in place for Havering Council including cleaning, security, telephony, small building works, waste management, MFDs (Multi-functional devices), EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) and educational supplies.

“Through their methodical and painstaking approach, SBC’s professional input over the past three years has made a significant difference in ensuring that we continue to provide a robust brokerage service to schools, enabling them to purchase goods and services cost effectively and compliantly. SBC’s willingness and readiness to collaborate in developing our service specifications continues to give us added value in ensuring that tender documents published are comprehensive and fit for purpose. A key strength of SBC is their personnel, they are very knowledgeable and can be completely trusted to deliver results.” Shola Omogbehin, Head of Education Traded Services

Newton Farm sought the help of Schools’ Buying Club when the annual cost for their cleaning service was due to increase. We ran a restricted OJEU procurement process for the school and were able to save almost £16k in the first year of the contract. The new contract includes additional items such as bin-liners and point-of-use consumables which will bring further savings to the school. Newton Farm has found a supplier who is looking to bring further innovation and support services if required, allowing for a greater partnership relationship with its supplier.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, we ran the procurement process virtually. We received site photos and ran a virtual Q&A session in lieu of the usual supplier site visit day and hosted virtual bidder presentations. Our client was kept informed of our scope of work and timeline throughout the whole process to ensure the school was fully aware of our progress at each stage.

“I couldn’t be happier with the service that SBC provided. I felt supported every step of the way to ensure that I was able to make the best decision for my school.”  Matthew Bradley, Headteacher, Newton Farm