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.
‘Strategic sourcing in UK HEIs: assessing the options’: lunch-time seminar 2 July 2014
Dr Wendy Phillips and Dr Dharm Kapletia of the Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, will present the findings of a study investigating the sourcing strategies and practices of UK Higher Education Intuitions (HEIs), funded by the Innovation and Transformation Fund.
When: Wednesday, 2nd July, 2014
Time: 12:30 - 13:30pm
Location: Schofield Buidling A.2.03, Loughborough University
A buffet lunch will be provided.
Smarter procurement in universities: five steps to improvement
The 2011 Diamond Review set a challenging agenda for procurement in higher education. So what's happened since then? Quite a lot actually. Here are five important steps the higher sector sector has taken to achieve smarter procurement in universities.
HEPA helps universities improve their procurement expertise
Caroline Blackman-Edney, Chair of the BUFDG Procurement Professionals Group, tells University Business magazine that, “As procurement raises its profile within an institution, more departments within it will rely on procurement expertise. Building the capacity to offer these services should be key to a university’s wider risk management strategy. HEPA provides tools which enable personnel to achieve this.”
LUPC joins Electronics Watch to counter labour abuses in tech industry
The largest facilitator of electronics purchasing in the higher education sector, London Universities Purchasing Consortium, joins Electronics Watch to take action against labour abuses in the electronics industry.
Procurement as an institutional priority
Universities were encouraged by the Diamond report to see procurement as an institutional priority. But how can this be achieved in principle and what have universities done on the ground? Laura Watson, deputy director of procurement at Durham University, talks with John Lakin of Procurement UK about what has been achieved at her university.
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.
The Procurement Journey: a ‘how to’ guide from HEPA
The Procurement Journey gives procurement professionals and wider institutional buyers access to a comprehensive 'how to' guide to procurement, including a wealth of useful materials, standardised documentation, up-to-date legislation information, and references to appropriate external advice websites. It has been professionally reviewed, and is now available online for use across the sector.
BUFDG 2014 Annual Conference, 6-8 April, University of Leicester
Booking is now open for the 2014 BUFDG Annual Conference, kindly hosted at the University of Leicester on the 6th-8th April. We have created a fantastic programme of interesting plenary sessions and engaging workshop choices for FDs this year, to help you tailor your conference experience to your needs.
University finance: how should we judge value for money? Guardian live chat 7 February
How should universities deliver value for money and maintain their values? Read the comments on our live chat session held on the Guardian Higher Education Network on 7 February.
