NWUPC ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24
I am very pleased to provide an introduction to the 2023/24 Annual Report and accounts for the North Western Universities Purchasing Consortium.
As usual, but extremely heartfelt, I would like to start by thanking all the staff and my Board colleagues for the focus and passion that goes into to delivering our key services whilst maintaining a very strong financial performance. In particular I would like to thank retiring Board member Carl Gibson who was an extremely effective chair of the Audit Committee and a long serving colleague. We continued to diversify the skills and experience of the Board through the appointment of Sandra Milne, a solicitor with extensive procurement related experience. The focus of our Board effectiveness programme is now on how the Board both works together and with the Executive. Board colleagues are fully involved in ensuring we meet our key deliverables through participation in the Audit & Risk Committee and the Remuneration Committees.
The Higher Education sector is currently facing considerable financial challenges and whilst specifics will be different for each of our members, the importance of effective procurement will be a key aspect of meeting these challenges. We have continued to develop our frameworks and met a peak post Covid workload in terms of refreshing existing arrangements. There has been growth in the use of our frameworks and we are actively engaged with our members to understand what more we can do to help them. The Board are also considering how to get even more active dialogue with our members.
Our full membership increased with the addition of Norwich University of the Arts. Also the value of our services has been recognised by other non-higher education bodies and we have added to our affiliate membership. The continued growth of our membership is key to our financial sustainability challenge but we are mindful of the needs of other procurement consortia. This growth has been achieved whilst retaining high levels of member satisfaction.
Our post-tax profit increased to £234,585, the increase being attributed to a release from the USS pension provision. This particular volatility is a sector wide issue. Our strategy has been to utilise some of our reserves to add additional value across our membership with over £100k being invested in the year. This investment remains a constant aspect of Board discussion and it grows in importance as financial pressures continue across the sector.
Our Annual Conference was held at the University of Liverpool. The event would not be possible without the contribution made by our key suppliers, and I thank both them and our staff for making it so successful. Feedback from previous events was taken on board and all considered that improvements were tangible and welcome.
I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to continue delivering for our members.
Welcome to our 2023-2024 Annual Report. We have had yet another successful year and are delighted to share our highlights with you.
Our Performance
Our organisational performance against challenging KPIs covering Framework Performance, Customer Satisfaction, Responsible Procurement, Financial Sustainability and Value Added Services was good. We achieved 4 out of 5 KPIs. Although collaborative spend had increased compared to the previous year, it was below the stretch target set for 2023/24. This impacted the sub criteria of cashable and non-cashable savings that we around the same percentage below target. We excelled in all other KPIs, our dedicated team and of course the ongoing support of our wonderful members contributed to a successful year.
Our framework engagement has broken all records and we continue to see growth across all areas of the business. We utilised unrestricted reserves to deliver more services and support – both in volume and range. This has further expanded into 2024/25.
Our People
We would not be able to do what we do without a great team behind us, we are fortunate that our people are both knowledgeable and experienced in their areas of expertise. We continue to invest in the professional development of our people and ensuring that they have access to the tools and resources needed to deliver a first class service to our members and wider stakeholders.
We did see some movement in the team over the year. We were sorry to say goodbye to Danielle (Dee) Guthrie, Dee was with us for just over 18 months and her contribution to our marketing and communications activity is missed.
We were thrilled to grow the team and welcomed new recruits throughout the year. We expanded our contracting resource and welcomed new Category Managers Shelley Watson and Myles Woodman. We also welcomed Nicola Boland as our Business Services Coordinator.
Our Strategic Contracting and Responsible Procurement
Contracting is what we are here to do, and we do it well. We have worked hard to ensure that we have the correct structure in place to enable us to deliver effectively for our members. Our framework agreements continue to offer value for money for our members and we have grown our portfolio over the year. We have increased resource to develop contract management and member engagement, ensuring we are listening to our members and providing them with the support that they need.
We ensure that there is a strong thread of responsible procurement present in all that we do and we continue to make great strides in providing framework agreements and related support / services that give our members access to resources that support their institutional demands. You can read more about our work in this area on pages 15-16.
Our Membership Engagement and Category Groups
Our members are at the heart of all that we do and we continue to ensure that we are meeting our members’ needs. We are committed to responding positively to changing demands and priorities within our stakeholder groups. We were delighted to retain our Customer Service Excellence accreditation along with 6 Compliance Plus points, an increase of 2 points compared to the previous year. We are thrilled to see the hard work of the team recognised through this robust external review.
Our Category Groups continue to have good engagement and are in the main held online. We always encourage greater attendance and more engagement, but do recognise and value the time that our members give to us. The Category Groups are at the core of our member engagement, the Groups share knowledge, experiences, troubleshoot and create supportive networks for the specialist disciplines within our procurement community. They really are the heart of the Consortium. You can read more about this from page 19.
Our National Collaboration
NWUPC has a key role in the successful collaboration of UKUPC members. Julie-Ann Garton is the UKUPC Chair, Helen Dodd-Williams is the Joint Contracting Group Chair and Sarah Dye is the Chair of the UKUPC Responsible Procurement Network. These positions allow us to be at the forefront of the activity that takes place on a national level and gives us real insight into the opportunities and impact of that work. We also support the UKUPC Systems and Communications Groups and contribute to the valuable work that they do.
Our Commitment
As always, our members are at the heart of all that we do. We thank you for your continued support and engagement. We look forward to another successful year, we have so many exciting initiatives to share with you, all designed to ensure that we continue to provide you with a first class service. We are committed to delivering more, supporting you more, and helping to make our procurement community the best that it can be - we are here when you need us!
NWUPC’s Year in Review 2023/24 by NWUPC
We were delighted this year to welcome Norwich University of the Arts to NWUPC as a Full Member after many years of being an Affiliate. New Full Members are a rare occurrence and we look forward to working more closely with the team.
We closed the year with 16 Affiliate Members which is an increase from 11 in the previous year. We saw significant growth in enquiries over the year which we attributed to an increased profile on social media as well as exhibiting at public sector procurement events such as Procurex in Liverpool. This route is a growth opportunity for NWUPC to complement our core membership.
We continued with a schedule of online Category Group meetings with 27 meetings held in total. We did have 2 meetings in person and these were felt beneficial by participants. Following discussions with the Telecomms and Computer Groups a merger of the two was agreed. This was due to a decline in the requirements that fell under the Telecomms Category and strong synergies between both groups. We are looking forward to the discussions going forward for the newly created ICT Category as these active members work more closely together.
We partnered with UKUPC on the provision of a collaborative programme of webinars for our collective members as a joint project to support our sector. The webinars ran on a monthly basis and we took turns hosting the sessions. In the second half of the year we focussed on sessions related to the Procurement Act 2023 and utilised the services of legal firms on the UKUPC framework.
Following the successful return of our training programme last year we continued to provide professional development for our community and ran 6 sessions across a variety of procurement related topics with a fantastic 95 delegates in attendance from 15 institutions. This represented a value of £436 per institution invested in member CPD. This is a significant priority for NWUPC as budgets at institutions are shrinking and it is imperative that we continue to grow and develop our procurement talent across the sector.
We have launched the Contract Uptake tool to members so that they can access their spend data and Scope 3 data rather than rely on the report we previously provided. The system gives members greater flexibility and ability to interrogate data to a more granular level. This information can be used to populate the annual Procurement Value Survey as well as for internal reporting at the institutions.
The delivery of frameworks by the Category Managers against our challenging pipeline has been phenomenal. The Category Managers collectively have launched 16 National Frameworks (including 1 DPS) between the four of them within an eighteen-month period. This is quite astounding considering a framework process takes approximately 12 months and three of the four are studying for CIPS qualifications at the same time.
2023/24 was a busy tendering year. August saw the launch of the streamlined High Value Laboratory Equipment Agreement with new lots for Mechanical, Thermal and Physical Testing Equipment and Radiation Safety & Detection Equipment to meet member requirements.
It also saw the launch of our Facilities Supplies framework which amalgamated three existing agreements into a single agreement, simplifying the bidding process for suppliers with a broad offering that cut across multiple lots. The agreement saw the introduction of two geographic lots for our Northern Ireland members.
This theme of consolidation continued in May with the Facilities Services agreement which again combined three existing agreements into one to support the common supply base; and similarly with the Cleaning Solutions Agreement where a further three frameworks were merged. This process was supported by our Apprentice and our Category Support Officer who led the market and member engagement along with the development of the tender documents for distinct lots.
Our first DPS, Print Solutions, went live in October 2023 and has gone from strength to strength with a dynamic and evolving supply base and the potential for local suppliers to gain access to participate in call-off opportunities. The team is constantly seeking new ways of meeting member needs, and the DPS also allowed us to develop new implementation processes that have translated well to our framework offering, simplifying and standardising the information available to suppliers at award.
We continue to explore better ways of engaging with the market in support of our commitment to improve access to public tendering opportunities for MSMEs and to broaden our supply base to the benefit of our members. Our Gift Cards & Vouchers agreement saw an increase from one supplier to four, increasing competition and diversity of offering. 2023/24 also saw the launch of the renewed Photographic Equipment agreement in February and the Electronic Components agreement in July.
We couldn’t have delivered the complement of agreements that we did without the support of our members and our UKUPC consortia colleagues. Tender working parties are central to ensuring that the agreements we deliver meet member needs and, whilst stretched resources within the HE sector and new ways of working have impacted participation this year, we thank everyone who has given their time to support in the delivery of our agreements for the benefit of yourselves and your peers.
We welcomed two new category managers in 2024 and the introduction of a new role, Sustainable Relationships Manager, to promote, support and deliver effective and sustainable relationships with our suppliers and their supply chain, with a focus on managing risk and delivering value to our members. We continue to apply our Strategic Approach to Contract Management, with an established programme of review meetings assessing market conditions, supplier performance and sustainability initiatives. This has been another challenging but rewarding year and it is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of our team that so much has been achieved.
This year marked a significant advancement for communications at NWUPC with substantial financial investment in a new website that would enhance the member experience as well as a CRM system, and tools to support analytics and presentation. Our events were reinvigorated with a programme of webinars and a new location for our Annual Conference.
Taking feedback from members as well as working with a creative web developer led to the launch of a new modern, engaging, user friendly website this year. The radically improved visual appeal of the website is designed to encourage engagement as well as new resources that will be made available being of great member benefit. The discussion boards that have been developed have been designed to build a sense of community and enable members to have enhanced access to their peers as well as a data bank of information that can be utilised by members on demand.
To complement the website we invested in a CRM system which is giving us a source of rich information about our communications and most importantly our members and their interests. It allows us to understand our members’ needs and therefore be more intelligent with our communications. It also integrates with the website to manage access for members through their profiles.
Our publications have been given a facelift through utilisation of digital flipbook software which gives a more digital feel for the reader in line with trends in this medium. It integrates with our website to give a seamless approach. We are monitoring data to see if the investment in more professional software has had the positive effect on member engagement that we planned.
The highlight of our events calendar is our Annual Conference which for the first time we held at the University of Liverpool. This was a fantastic location with easy transport links which allowed us to have exhibition and conference facilities within one building. Our footfall was higher than the previous years but we are still working on getting this up to pre-2020 levels and constantly reviewing the appetite for conferences and how we can ensure both suppliers and members benefit from the day. The feedback received from the event was positive with the exhibitors praising the exhibition space and the members enjoying the chance to see colleagues in person and appreciating the opportunity to expand their knowledge that our thought provoking conference programme offered.
In addition to a variety of webinars covering different procurement and technical aspects, we ran a collaborative UKUPC webinar series focussed on the Procurement Act 23 during this financial year, utilising the suppliers on the Legal Services Framework. Attendee numbers were high across the sector and members reported that they found the information valuable.
This has been a progressive year for communications at NWUPC and we hope that the enhancements made to events as well as investment in the website and additional tools and software provides members with valuable information as well as easy access to resources that builds engagement and benefits our procurement community.
Collaboration has defined our responsible procurement work this year, with our consortia colleagues, members and relevant third parties, to ensure that we can deliver more for our members. We continue to Chair the UKUPC Responsible Procurement Network which has seen a changed strategy delivery process with a focus on delivery by theme.
Each theme is owned by a UKUPC consortium which allows us to maximise capacity to deliver more timely content for members than can be achieved individually. The themes are: Social Value/ Community Benefits, Maximising Opportunities for MSMEs and 3rd Sector, Carbon Reduction, Circular Economy.
We have increased our engagement with Electronics Watch this year to more effectively leverage our affiliate membership, which extends to our members, to drive meaningful change in our supply chain. We have instituted quarterly catch-up meetings with Electronics Watch, contributed to a UK Parliamentary round table on public procurement in support of the Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Human Rights and Environment) Private Members Bill; and participated in the Electronics Watch facilitated Apple Working group. The latter led to UKUPC endorsement of Apple/CISCO statement reiterating our commitment to actively advocate for and improve the rights of workers in our ICT supply chains.
We continue to work with the HEPA & EAUC National Responsible Procurement Group (NRPG) through Steering Group contribution and are leading a task and finish group to update the UKUPC Risk Matrix. Collaboration on this task with the NRPG has offered access to sustainability expertise within our membership and improves standardisation of resources in the sector. We also continue to participate in the HESCET Scope 3 Working Group.
We continue to discuss responsible procurement as a standing agenda item in our review meetings, and to utilise the NETpositive Supplier Engagement Tool. Work has begun on a review of tool data, analysing supplier scores by theme and market to identify support and guidance opportunities to further develop our supply base. Initiatives offered by suppliers in review meetings and through the tool are developed into articles for ECOnnect.
We have a 77% SME supply base, with micro organisations accounting for 17% of NWUPC suppliers. This is fostered by our commitment to undertaking pre-market engagement with a focus on supporting participation from MSMEs. The introduction of the Print Solutions DPS has bolstered Micro organisation participation with less upfront work required from suppliers. Work has commenced on MSME engagement activities in the development of a UKUPC MSME Strategy led by NWUPC.
We continue to deliver category specific responsible procurement initiatives of interest to members, examples include: STEMed meeting presentations on LEAF [Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework] and My Green Lab on Building a Global Culture of Sustainability in Science. Office Solutions award of the Gift Cards and Vouchers agreement with promotion of migration to digital gift-cards. Our Period Dignity Lot has grown in value, with significant use of Hey Girls, a social enterprise that donates 100% of profits to eradicating period poverty and lobbying for period dignity. NWUPC took the initiative in instituting this agreement and its increased use signifies improved access to period products and education within our membership.
UKUPC Conference 2023
In late 2023 UKUPC members were invited to the University of Exeter for a two day conference. The HE procurement community benefited from a number of sessions covering key procurement topics with an exhibition showcasing UKUPC Framework Suppliers running alongside. The event is a fantastic opportunity for the sector to network and share knowledge whilst building relationships with peers.
Market Insight
The Market Insight document is in it’s third year of publication and continues to provide members with information developed by our expert category managers across UKUPC. The report continues on a quarterly basis and includes market intelligence on supply chains as well as information gathered from suppliers during contract review meetings.
HEC Hunter Transition
The UKUPC Systems Group worked on the implementation of a new Contract and Supplier Management Portal to be rolled out across the consortia and collective membership to provide a streamlined tool to replace the HEContracts Database. The portal integrates with the UKUPC individual websites and provides our members with improved functionality and ease of access. This provides a significant improvement to the user experience and will go live late 2024.
Procurement Act 23 Project
To ensure that the Transformation of Public Procurement is implemented effectively across the consortia, JCG established a project plan with each of the UKUPC partners taking the lead on a key area. The lead undertook a deep dive into that are to identify changes, priorities and actions.
A roadmap was developed for that area and activity took place with regular reporting into the JCG meetings. The four workstreams identified were People, Process, Systems and Suppliers and support from our joint Communications Group underpinned the dissemination of information to all relevant stakeholders. The UKUPC Update was developed as a medium for sharing the information with our procurement community and was a collaborative publication sent out via email on a monthly basis.
As part of the People workstream UKUPC hosted a series of Webinar sessions focussed on Procurement Act 2023. Each of the UKUPC Partners hosted a webinar and worked with the providers from the Legal Services Framework to deliver the session.
The Process Workstream appointed a new legal provider through the Legal Services Framework to develop a suite of PA23 compliant templates for use by the Consortia so that all documents used in the tender process are aligned to enhance ease of use by members as there will be synergy regardless of which partner has led the framework. In addition a comprehensive set of template documents was produced for members including guidance on correct use under the new processes of PA23 covering Call Off Terms and Contract Notices.
Responsible Procurement Network
In collaboration with the HEPA National Responsible Procurement Group (NRPG), RPN has been working to update the Responsible Procurement Risk Analysis Matrix to better align with the Supply Chain Code of Conduct used across UKUPC. The revised matrix will be launched in early 2025, further strengthening responsible procurement assessment.