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.
How collaboration between procurement and estates is delivering value for money
With universities spending billions on estates, the relationship between estates and procurement services is key. Three members of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium have described how their institutions are building closer relationships between these two departments, which are delivering savings and better value for money.
Making campus safety more efficient
A government code regulating CCTV stimulated Aston University to take a fresh look at their surveillance technology. Mark Sutton explains how complying with the surveillance commissioner's code has resulted in efficiencies and savings.
How one university is tackling under-utilised teaching spaces
Single discipline teaching labs can often be under used: typically for just 24 weeks per year. Ian Tidmarsh explains how new larger teaching labs at the University of Birmingham aim to provide more flexibility, higher utilisation and thus deliver better value for money.
UK university income grows by £2bn in one year, AUDE report reveals
UK Universities' response to the efficiency agenda and their own income generating projects have helped them increase their income to a record £30bn.
Demonstrating HE Efficiency and Effectiveness
This report focuses on how universities continue to deliver value for money in a climate where income is reducing in real terms and competition is increasing, while finding recurrent savings which will enable them to make necessary investments. It includes examples from universities across the UK where universities are saving money through efficient estate management.
Five strategies universities are using to keep estate costs down
In the past few years the university sector has grown, yet property costs have remained stable despite substantial upward pressures, according to statistics by AUDE. In its report, AUDE highlights some of the ways that institutions are successfully keeping their estate costs down.
Developing efficient and sustainable buildings
A sustainable building is usually an efficient one and when new build and refurbishment projects are designed with future decades in mind, they can save money in running costs, maintenance and redevelopment. With this in mind, the University of Edinburgh is developing guidance on how building and redevelopment projects should be conducted as Andrew Arnott explains.
Beacons of learning – micro-location technology on campus
The growing use of smartphones is making micro-location technology more attractive and delegates at this week's ALT Annual Conference 2016 will learn about how it could be used in universities. Ahead of the presentation, Sheffield Hallam University's Ian Glover describes a study he has jointly carried out into the use of 'bluetooth beacons' in higher education.
The UK Higher Education Learning Space Toolkit: a SCHOMS, AUDE and UCISA collaboration
This toolkit has been produced by three higher education organisations to help their members share best practice and work more effectively when creating learning spaces. It is intended to serve both as a practical guide and as a source of inspiration in the design of spaces that delight and motivate students, as well as meet their functional needs.
