1. PURCHASING
Delivering Value
For Money

2. UWE Purchasing The University spends in excess of £220 million a year.
Approx £92m of this is on non-pay spend such as computers, desks, services and estates (of which £75m can be influenced by ourselves)
Our job is to help make sure that the University spends this budget correctly and obtains value for money.

3. UWE Purchasing The Purchasing Team is responsible for:
Advice, guidance and training on purchasing and procurement matters
Producing official University purchase orders
Managing tenders
Managing and issuing University Purchase Cards
Negotiating prices and payment terms
Equipment disposals
Savings and value for money

4. What is Purchasing? The ‘Classic’ definition is:-
To obtain goods/ services of the right QUALITY.
At the right PRICE
In the right QUANTITY.
From the right SOURCE.
Delivered to the right PLACE.
At the right TIME.

5. Why are we here?
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.

6. Why are we here? UWE is classed as a Public Body
Majority of our funding comes from public funds (via HEFCE)
Public Bodies are obliged to ensure tax payer’s money is spent sensibly

7. UWE’s spend is regulated by:
Why are we here?
UWE’s spend is regulated by:
The European Public Procurement Directives
The Public Contracts Regulations 2006
Our own financial regulations

8. Why are we here?
The Purchasing Team ensures UWE expenditure complies with our own financial regulations and European / UK Legislation
The Head of Procurement is directly accountable to the UWE Board of Governors

9. The Rules and Regulations
As we are subject to European Procurement rules and the following spend thresholds apply:
£5,000+ :- 3 quotes or Single Action Waiver (SAW) required (excluding Estates purchases, which have a threshold of £10,000)
£30,000 :- Tender exercise required with Purchasing involvement
£50,000:- Estates tender threshold
£172,514:- UK Law states that an EU tender exercise must be completed. Timescale 3-6 months for supplies and services.
£4,322,012:- EU tender threshold or building or works.
I would remove ‘and so’
£5,000+ rather than £5,000
Works…isn’t if £4,348,350?

10. Aggregation These figures are aggregated over: Total contract period
Value of expenditure by supplier or value of expenditure by product type (eg: stationery)
48 months (if no contract period specified)

11. Authorisation Levels
If an order totals £5,000 or over and is accompanied by a SAW, Purchasing will send it to the Directorate for authorisation (excluding Estates orders).
Any order totalling £50,000 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 totalling £100,000 or more for a supplier that has gone through a formal tendering process either with UWE, the SUPC or the Government Procurement service will also need to go to the Directorate for authorisation.

12. Authorisation Levels
Orders below £5,000: Authorised by the Purchasing Team
Orders between £5,000 and £30,000 with 3 Quotes: Authorised by Purchasing Team
Orders between £5,000 and £30,000 with SAW: Authorised by Purchasing Team and Directorate
Orders over £50k will need additional authorisation from Management Accounts to confirm available budget.

13. Additional levels of authority are required when:
Authorisation Levels
Additional levels of authority are required when:
The value of the order increases
Insufficient evidence of Value For Money
Financial procedures have not been followed
The level of financial risk is higher than normal
Remember: the more levels of authority required for an order, the longer the order will take to reach your supplier..!

14. Unofficial Ordering The Consequences….
Suppliers should not be engaged to supply goods or services until they have received an authorised UWE purchase order.
The Consequences….
We cannot pay supplier invoices that do not have an official UWE purchase order number.
The supplier does not get paid
Since March 2013 we are liable for additional charges if supplier invoices are not paid within 30 days from date of invoice (Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act)

15. 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.
Unsuccessful tenderers have the legal right to challenge EU tender awards.

16. Order Process Requisition raised by originator on P2P
Electronic requisition authorised by budget holder
Dean/Head of Service to authorise if above budget holders authority level & below £10,000
Management Accounts to check funds are available if above £50,000
Purchasing to ensure requisition is compliant and authorise
Directorate to authorise if untendered and above £50,000, tendered and above £100,000 or with a Single Action Waiver
Purchase Order ed directly to supplier

17. Suppliers
Before placing an order check that the supplier is set up on Agresso, if not is an alternative supplier available that we already use?
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 or proof of address.
Individuals or sole traders may need to complete an online HMRC Questionnaire in order to determine whether they are self employed or should be paid through UWE payroll.

18. Sourcing your Supplier
Try to use contracted suppliers
Suppliers on approved framework contracts should have preferential pricing and terms
Details of HE sector framework contacts can be found on the Generic e-Marketplace (UniBuy) formerly known as GeM

19. uniBuy
Generic eMarketplace
UniBuy is the HE sectors online contract management database and is available for the storage of local agreement information and also for accessing regional and national agreements..

20. Information Required on Requisitions
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, 12-23/05/2013”.
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.
Remove the word ‘Forms’

21. Information Required on Requisitions
Ask yourself:
if someone looked at the information you entered for your requisition- would they know what you ordered and how the cost was broken down?
Your information needs to be clear in order for the Purchasing Team to Authorise it.
Your requisition may also be subject to a random check by our external auditors.

22. Attachments to Requisitions
In addition to the order details required on P2P requisitions, it is sometimes necessary to provide supporting documentation, such as:
Copies of relevant tender documentation
s providing supporting information
Copies of quotes along with a completed summary of quotations form
These can be attached as electronic documents to your P2P requisition

23. 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.

24. Call off Orders (cont.)
Plan ahead - renewals if done correctly, will take time, e.g. For contracts commencing in August 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.
Capital ‘A’ for August

25. Call Off Orders examples
BAD EXAMPLE
“Supply of plastic bags, £10,000”
GOOD EXAMPLE
“Supply of plastic bags during the period 01/08/13 to 31/07/14, prices as per the attached schedule, firm for 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 19/05/2013
When looking at an order, you should always be able to tell what you bought and how much each item cost.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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…………………

29. Single Action Waivers
Requisitions with Single Action Waivers take longer to authorise
Requisitions where quotes have been obtained are usually authorised more quickly

30. 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.
Your requisitions and attachments may be subject to an audit inspection.

31. Purchase Cards UWE has over 145 purchase cards in circulation
Used for low value transactions (< £500)
Ideal for online transactions
All cards managed by the Purchasing Team
See Fin 19 - Purchase Card Regulations

32. Purchase Cards
Faculty Finance staff may have higher transaction limits
Increased limits are available if travelling abroad- completion of Overseas Transaction Level Request form required
Merchant categories set by suppliers banks- not all categories are automatically open to use
Monthly random statement checks – audit requirement

33. Low Value Purchase Orders
Average cost of raising a purchase order from origination through to paying the invoice is circa £70 to £100 per purchase order.
Will the supplier take payment by Purchase Card?
If this a regular supplier, can a call-off order be raised (e.g. for a year’s worth of goods / services)?

34. Whole Life Costs
When purchasing equipment, don’t just consider the cost of buying the equipment itself:
Equipment capital costs
+ Service/maintenance charges
+ Costs of consumables
+ Energy costs
+ Disposal costs
= Whole Life Costs
The lowest initial capital costs may not be the most cost effective option over 3 – 5 – 7 years.

35. Sustainability
When buying goods, the following sustainability considerations should be taken into account:
Whole life cost of equipment ownership
Disposal costs
Local sourcing
Environmentally friendly options
Local supplier – SME’s
Equalities and diversity – CSR
Sustainable Purchasing Policy (www)

36. Disposal of Equipment
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.
Surplus equipment can be advertised for re-use within UWE using the WARPiT re-use portal.

37. Further information
If in doubt or you need to know more then contact Purchasing or go to our web-site:
We are here to help

38. The Team Head of Procurement Purchasing Officer Helen Baker 82239
Andrew Parsons
Purchasing and Contracts Manager
Louise Murray
Purchasing & Payments Customer Services Manager
Ani Drewery
Purchasing Officer
Rosie Hale
Purchasing Assistant

39. Conclusion