PURCHASING

1. PURCHASING Delivering Value For Money www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

2. UWE Purchasing • The University spends in excess of £78 million a year. • Approx £78m of this is on non-pay spend such as computers, desks, services and estates (of which £16m can be influenceable) • Our job is to help make sure that the University spends this budget correctly and obtains value for money. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

3. Purchasing Services Purchasing Provides: • Advice • Guidance • Tenders • Prices • Disposals • Training • Official University Purchase Orders • Savings and Value for money www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

4. The Team Helen Baker82239 Head of Procurement Andrew Parsons83959 Purchasing and Contracts Officer Purchasing82227 Gillian Weaden 82218 Purchasing Officer Rosie Hale86686 Purchasing Apprentice www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

5. What is Purchasing? The ‘Classic’ definition is:- • To obtain goods/ services of the right QUALITY. • In the right QUANTITY. • From the right SOURCE. • Delivered to the right PLACE. • At the right TIME. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

6. Our Aim To enable UWE to make maximum use of our non-pay resources in order that we may minimise purchasing costs and achieve value for money in the delivery of goods and services to our internal customers whilst contributing to the overall corporate strategy of the University. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

7. The Rules and Regulations • The University is funded partly by the tax payer through the Higher Education funding council (HEFCE). Therefore we have to ensure that we spend our money correctly. We are subject to European Procurement rules and so the following rules apply:- • £5,000 plus:- Faculty obtains three quotes and displays them on a Summary of Quotations form. If not possible obtain Single Action Waiver (SAW), covered later. • £30,000 plus:- Purchasing involvement to obtain tenders. • £156,442:- UK Law states that an EU tender exercise must be completed. Timescale 3-6 months for supplies and services. • £3,927,260:- For building or works. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

8. Aggregation These figures are aggregated over: • Contract period • Value of expenditure by supplier or Value of expenditure by product • 48 months www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

9. Tender Regulations • Guidance from the EC states that any tender, whether above or below the EU limit needs to be advertised to a degree sufficient to enable the services market to be opened up to competition. • Any tender above the EU threshold must have a 10 day standstill period between the award of the contract and the contract start date to allow any objections to be made. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

10. AuthorisationLevels • If an order totals £5,000 or over and is accompanied by a SAW, Purchasing will send it to the Directorate for authorisation. • Any order totalling £30,000 or over will need to be sent by Purchasing to Management Accounts to check for funding. • Any order for an untendered supplier totalling £50,000 or over Purchasing will send to the Directorate for authorisation. • Any order for a supplier that has gone through a formal tendering process either with UWE, the SUPC or the OGC and totalling £100,000 or more will also need to go to the Directorate for authorisation. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

11. Order Process www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

12. How to place an order • Source your supplier: Try to use Contracted companies, either National Contracts, Regional or Local. See Purchasing web page for details. • Complete a requisition form and get authorised by your faculty/service. • Either input onto Agresso or send to Purchasing to input. • Once you receive copy of order back this means that the supplier has been sent the original. • Purchase orders should not be used as confirmation orders. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

13. Information Required on Requisition Forms What is being ordered - description • Not – “the supply of goods” or “As per your invoice ABC123”. • But – “the supply of right handed desk” or “Paul Smith and Anne Jones, Bristol – Monaco, 12-23/05/2008”. How Many? • i.e.. 10 cases, 5 printers, 3 days, 2 people etc. How much is it? • Write as per item required: • Not – “maintenance of fax machines at £1000”. • But – “maintenance of 10 fax machines at £100 each”. When are the items required? • i.e.. Dates of flights, if order is urgent state the date supplies are needed by. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

14. Attachments to Requisitions In addition to the information required on requisitions, it is sometimes necessary to provide supporting documentation, such as: • Copy of the tender opening sheet • Details of any cost clarifications • Consultants reports • Copies of quotations with a completed Summary of Quotations form. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

15. Call off Orders • Must have ‘start’ and ‘end’ dates. • Must state the cost of the service/goods. • Check aggregated values across all sites - Do you need to get new quotes/tender • Don’t automatically renew with last years supplier. - Check out the market place. - Find out who others are using. - How much have prices gone up. - Valid for the whole order period. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

16. Call off Orders (cont.) • Plan ahead - renewals if done correctly, will take time, e.g. For august starts begin looking in June. • Offer suppliers longer ‘contract’ periods. - longer commitment = better rates. • For a range of goods/services always attach to the requisition a pricing schedule. - valid for the whole order period. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

17. Call Off Orders examples • BAD EXAMPLE “Supply of plastic bags, £10,000” • GOOD EXAMPLE “Supply of plastic bags during the period 01/12/10 to 31/01/11, prices as per the attached schedule, firm for 12 months, £10,000” • OR 1,000 Yellow Bags Size x Price £10 / 1,000 5,000 White Bags Size y Price £11 / 1,000 4,000 Black Bags Size z Price £ 8 / 1,000 Goods to be called off as required up to 19/01/2011 When looking at an order, you should always be able to tell what you bought and how much each item cost. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

18. Cheque With Orders • These should ONLY be requested where the supplier will NOT invoice. • If an invoice has already been received, do NOT request a cheque with order, but raise a confirmation order. • If a cheque is required, you MUST complete ALL of the total cost boxes on the requisition, especially the VAT and total cheque amount boxes. If VAT is to be paid give the VAT registration number if the supplier is not set up with it. • Check if they will take a ‘credit card’ order before requesting a cheque with order. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

19. Quotes and Single Action Waivers • A Single Action Waiver is only used to explain why competitive quotes/tenders have not been obtained. i.e. equipment maintenance • It is NOT acceptable to use a SAW to say that the supplier gives the lowest price. In that case evidence of quotes must be shown. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

20. Single Action Waiver or Single Source? • Is there a difference? Yes!! • Single source – not possible to obtain goods/services anywhere else • SAW – there are multiple supply sources but we are choosing this one because………………… www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

21. Request for Payment • Is NOT an alternative to raising a requisition/order. • RP’s are NOT a fast track payment method. • Should be used only when expenditure can not be planned • Could you raise one call off order instead of several RP’s?i.e. Subscriptions, Updates, Agency Staff. • Should you raise a “One Time Creditor” instead? • If over £5,000 then quotes or SAW are still required. Raise ONE standing order that you can clear MULTIPLE invoices against. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

22. Purchase Cards • For low value orders under £500 • One faculty super user has a single transaction limit of £750 • Overseas travel form for increased transaction value • Merchant categories set by suppliers banks • Monthly random statement checks – audit requirement • Online payments are allowed • See Fin 19 - Purchase Card Regulations www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

23. Whole Life Costs Elements Equipment capital costs + Service/maintenance charges + Consumable costs + Energy costs = Total acquisition costs. Lowest initial capital costs may not be the most cost effective option over 3 – 5 – 7 years. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

24. Sustainability Needs to encompass • Whole life costs • Energy costs • Disposal costs • Local sourcing • Environmentally friendly options • Local supplier – SME’s • Equalities and diversity – CSR • Sustainable Purchasing Policy (www) www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

25. Disposals Equipment not needed by a department can be removed in a variety of ways: • Transfer to an alternative department • Sale to an external third party • Sale to students or staff • Disposal If disposal is required, a Disposal of Equipment form needs to be completed and returned to Purchasing. Selling equipment to staff or students should only be used after all other options have been exhausted. All computer equipment will be dealt with by IT Services -they should be contacted to arrange collection. For more information, please check the Purchasing and Environmental Management websites. Re-use Recycle Website http://www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing/intranet/re-use recycle/index.shtml www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

26. Suppliers • Before placing an order check that the supplier is set up on Agresso, if it’s not then try and use a supplier that is set up. • If you need to set up a new supplier complete a new supplier form and send to purchasing with a copy of their headed paper. • If it’s a supplier that you are not likely to use again then set up as a “One Time Creditor”. Purchasing will do this for you and can advise. OTCs can only be paid by cheque. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

27. Genetic eMarketplace GeM GeM is the new eMarketplace and contracts repository for both the Higher Education and Further Education sectors, which is replacing CuPID. www.gem.ac.uk/ www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

28. Audits • Purchasing is subject to a twice yearly audit by both internal and external auditors to compare our processes against the rules laid down in the Financial Regulations. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

29. Further information If in doubt or you need to know more then contact Purchasing or go to our web-site: www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing/welcome We are here to help www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing

30. Conclusion If this were your money, would you spend it this way? Spend wisely. www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing