Creating value for schools

by Matt Roper

Founder and CEO of Buying Support Agency (BSA)

Matt discusses how the partnership between Buying Support Agency, www.greenbuying.co.uk, and the Independent Schools Portal has the potential to create enormous value for schools

“We’re delighted to be partners of the Independent Schools Portal, supporting their drive to provide schools with significant value. Our mission at Buying Support Agency (BSA) is ‘to create amazing value to clients and society through the power of supply chains.’ We achieve this goal in part by working closely with bursars to generate up to 58% cost savings across 18 cost categories via BSA Buying Group. By freeing up time and cash, your school can divert more funds into the education of your students, which has a positive social impact. ​

But BSA Buying Group is just one part of our offer. I am a firm believer that if schools can cluster and engage in collaborative procurement, the resulting economies of scale and shared insights into the supply markets will make a significantly positive impact on the financial health of each school involved. But in our experience talking with bursars, the biggest barrier stopping many schools from collaborating is lack of time in co-ordinating the different schools, developing the joint tenders, and so forth.
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And that’s where BSA can help. For those willing to join a regional cluster, BSA can provide a dedicated procurement professional who will support each bursar in the cluster. Their role will include facilitating the cluster meetings, collating and analysing multi-school benchmarking data, understanding the individual needs of each school, developing tenders, supporting the bid evaluation panels, drafting contracts and monitoring supplier performance during the live contract period. ​

​Purchasing Support for Schools

When the Portal was originally conceived, one of the key aims of our original member schools was to develop ways of driving down purchasing costs. After carefully evaluating the potential opportunities in this area, we have now agreed a partnership with Buying Support Agency, the UK's leading supply chain specialist.

All schools are able to benefit from the preferential agreement that we have negotiated: you do not need to be a member of the Independent Schools Portal. Just quote 'ISP' when you call them on 0800 254 0344, or for more information, please visit the Portal purchasing page 

This fee-based service will be cost effective because our fees will be shared across each school participating in the cluster. And ROI targets will be set to ensure that significant value is enjoyed by every school. So please do consider which schools in your region might be interested in participating in a collaborative procurement cluster and call 0800 254 0344 if you would like to discuss this opportunity further.

I should also point out that BSA can also provide procurement training for bursars (our most popular courses are ‘best practice procurement’ and ‘effective negotiation’) and offer 10% off our standard fees for fully paid up members of the Independent Schools Portal.

Finally, our unique point of difference in the marketplace is that we also provide sustainable procurement support. We recognise that schools increasingly want to demonstrate their green credentials and hence we set up a website which sells ‘the best of British’ eco school supplies: www.GreenBuying.co.uk. It’s easy to use, secure, and can help you to procure novelty recycling bins, playground equipment and benches, non-toxic cleaning supplies, eco stationery as well as 100% renewable energy and ethical telecoms. All ISP members enjoy 10% discount off all eco products on the site.

We look forward to serving your school, delivering value for money whilst protecting the environment.”

Find out more on the Portal purchasing page