Procurement

Procurement is a professional specialism covering a range of activity, from advertising new contract opportunities; managing tender competitions with suppliers; ensuring commercial contracts are in place, and helping ensure positive contract management activity takes places during a contract’s term. The university has a central procurement team that is established for the university to take a proactive & strategic approach in all its procurement activity. This is vital as the university spends in excess of £60 million each year on a broad range of goods, works and services which require optimised value for money for the organisation and our students. 

The Procurement team help support implementation of our procurement strategy, provision of clear policies, procedures and guidance for staff; alongside hands on support for any higher value procurement activity (typically contracts over £25,000). 

How to do business with the university?

The university has clear internal policies to help govern how / when different contracts requirements, based on value, are advertised and competed. Competitive process and advertising requirements are prescribed in detail within our relevant regulations, policies and procedures, but those requirements at a headline level are outlined below:

  1. Levels of Competition

    The university follows the below table in determining minimum levels of competition / requirements.

    Table 1 – Levels of Competition

    Level of Competition

    Estimated Contract Value (excluding VAT)

    Requirements

    Single Quote

    £0 to £9,999

    Minimum of ONE written Quotation.

     

    Three Quotes

    £10,000 to £24,999

    Seek a minimum of THREE written Quotations  

     

    Open Publication Tender (£25,000 to higher threshold as defined by Public Contracts Regulations 2015)

    £25,000 to higher threshold (PCR 2015)

    Quotations or Tenders sought via the University’s Electronic Tendering system (In-tend).

    Contract Opportunity Advertisement placed on Contracts Finder

    Open Publication Tender (Above higher threshold as defined by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015)

    Above the higher threshold (PCR 2015)

    Formal Tender Process undertaken by Central Procurement team. 

     

    Quotations or Tenders sought via the university’s Electronic Tendering system (In-tend).

     

    Contract Opportunity Advertisement placed within the Find a Tender Service and Contracts Finder.

    Alongside these prescribed levels of competition, the university will also access third party contract and framework agreements for purchase requirements where relevant, appropriate and permissible.

  2. E-tendering System (In-Tend)

    The university uses the In-Tend Electronic Tendering system to manage all procurement competitions valued above £25,000. Any supplier may access this system and register their business free of charge. Once you’re signed up as a supplier on the system you can register your interest on any potential opportunities that are available, quickly access tender / quotation documentation, and submit a response to any opportunities via In-Tend. 

    No access to tender / quotation documentation will be given, or supplier responses to a competition opportunity accepted; if requested / submitted outside of the In-Tend portal for Contracts above £25,000.

  3. Advertisement of Quotations & Tenders

    The university openly advertises all its Contractual opportunities valued above £25,000, whilst In-tend is a primary route for this, Contracts (as required) are also advertised on the below platforms. Suppliers may choose to register for opportunities across advertising platforms, including (but not limited to) those advertised by DMU.

    Contracts Finder

    This central government portal provides a simple search facility, for suppliers to search and seek access to national contract opportunities in their area of specialism or via key words. 

    The university will advertise all Contract opportunities valued above £25,000 on this portal.

    Source Leicestershire

    This local based portal provides a platform for suppliers to search and seek access to contract opportunities, typically from organisations based in the Leicester & Leicestershire area. 

    The university will advertise Contract Opportunities on this platform, particularly where this may  support better local collaboration and access for local and SME suppliers to the Universities Contract opportunities. This is aligned to the university SME protocols. 

    Find a Tender Service

    This central government portal operates in a similar way to Contracts Finder and is mandated for use in the public sector for contracts above higher value thresholds, as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

  4. University Procurement Consortiums

    The university were possible will use Procurement Consortia that set up collaborative contracts for many Universities to help create quick and compliant routes to market and work to leverage the buying power of many Universities to gain access to commonly purchased goods & services. 

    The university is a member of the Southern University Purchasing Consortium. Should you be interested in becoming a supplier and understanding what opportunities may exist across multiple Universities, please do use the above link to find our details on how you can register your interest.

    Alongside the above, you will find detailed information on all other University Consortia and representative procurement bodies on the HEPA (Higher Education Procurement Association) website. 

  5. Purchase to Pay

    Payment Performance

    Our goal is to pay all of our suppliers’ invoices within 30 days of receipt of an approved invoice.

    Financial year Invoices paid within 30 days Invoices paid within 37 days Average days to pay

    2017/2018

    58%

    66%

    65

    2018/2019

    67%

    73%

    44

    2019/2020

    74%

    80%

    36

    2020/2021

    78%

    84%

    33

    2021/2022

    84%

    88%

    31

    For the financial year ending 31 July 2022 the De Montfort University paid 84% of invoices received within 30 days of the invoice date. For those not paid within 30 days were due to the following

    • Invoices did not quote a valid Purchase Order number
    • Invoices quoted a previously used Purchase Order
    • Invoice discrepancies, i.e. price and / or quantity variances
    • Supplier incorrectly charged VAT on supplies where a VAT exemption certificate had been issued

    For the financial year ending 31 July 2022, 87% of invoices were paid within 37 days of the invoice date. The extra 7 days allows for the time for Accounts Payable to receive and pay valid invoices from suppliers sent to the incorrect address, or for the university to reasonably consider, verify and resolve disputes with suppliers.

    All invoices sent to the De Montfort University must quote a valid Purchase Order number unless an exemption has been agreed. Invoices received without a valid Purchase Order will be automatically rejected and must be resubmitted ensuring a valid Purchase Order is quoted.

Strategic Procurement & Policies

The university acknowledges that it must take a strategic and forward-thinking approach to its procurement activity, to ensure that we deliver the maximum from our budgets every year, whilst ensuring we manage all key contractual and supply chain risks. 

A number of key strategic documents and policies are provided below to provide a context to the approach the university takes in it’s Procurement activity. 

Procurement Strategy

This is the university’s overarching Procurement Strategy until 2023 that defines the ambitious strategic direction of travel for the Procurement team.

Sustainable Procurement Strategy

The university is proud to publish its first Sustainable Procurement Strategy.

The Strategy focuses on seven key priority areas in which the Procurement team and responsible procurers at DMU will actively target, to drive more sustainable procurement activity.

SME Protocols

The university has defined SME protocols which help establish the Universities commitment to supporting SME (including locally based) providers of goods, works and services. A key part to this is ensuring we do all we can to remove potential barriers in procurement policy & processes, whilst ensuring we retain a robust process in measuring suppliers’ ability to meet the contractual requirements.

If you have found any potential barriers to competition following procurements process you have expressed an interest in or participated in as a supplier, please do let us know. This will ensure we can consider if action is required to improve and refine our processes based on your experience.

Whistleblowing Policy

The university has a set policy on whistleblowing, if you have any concerns as and/or about any supplier that the university may procure goods, works or services from, please do raise these concerns with us as set out within the policy.

Modern Slavery Act

The university publishes an annual statement pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. 

Within this Statement the university defines the scope to our perceived Modern Slavery risk and the actions taken each year ensure that we reduce our potential susceptibility to this risk within our internal operations and supply chains.

Contact Us

The university has established a Category Management approach to its Procurement Activity. This means that under the Head of Procurement, sits a team of Category Managers who actively support the university in a range of specific category areas, for example Travel & accommodation services.

If you require further guidance on how the university supports procurement activity beyond the detail provided on this page, please review the below contact points as to who may be appropriate to answer your query. 

If you have a general enquiry, or are not sure who to contact, please send your e-mail here.

Primary contacts and responsibilities

Job TitleNameKey Areas of ResponsibilityE-mail

Head of Procurement

Martin Satchwell

Head of Department

Martin.Satchwell@dmu.ac.uk

Purchasing Manager

Ian Wright

Policies, Purchase to Pay, Procedures, Reporting and Training

ian.wright@dmu.ac.uk

Category Manager: 

ICT

Paul Whitehall

Category Management of:

  • AV & related equipment
  • IT Hardware & Software
  • IT Services
  • IT Peripherals
  • Library Services and Publications
  • Postage equipment and Services
  • Telecommunications 

Paul.Whitehall@dmu.ac.uk

Category Manager: Professional Services

James West

Category Management of:

  • Consultancy
  • Marketing and Communications
  • Recruitment and Temporary Staffing 
  • Travel and Accommodation
  • Health Services
  • Promotional Activity and Materials
  • Stationery and Office supplies 

James.West@dmu.ac.uk

Category Manager: Estates & Commercial

Mahesh Parmar

Category Management of:

  • Buildings
  • Cleaning Services and Supplies
  • Food and Beverages
  • Furnishings
  • Laboratory and Medical
  • Utilities

Mahesh.Parmar@dmu.ac.uk