Education - Purchasing

[tomo2607]

Good afternoon,

Bit of a niche topic... I work for a school in Derby, and recently we have had some restrictions imposed when it comes to purchasing.

Previously, we were able to pretty much purchase from any supplier world wide. We have now been informed that we are no longer able to purchase from overseas.

Further to this, the procurement process is a little restrictive in that suppliers must be "approved" before we can make a purchase. This involves having an approved credit account with a supplier so that a purchase order can be agreed and payment made after receipt of goods. I think this is relativity common in education, however slightly restrictive.

 

Thomann used to be a "go to" supplier for cheaper equipment... but with the restriction to overseas purchases, this is no longer an option.

Our school (like most) is often short on funds, so we often need to look for budget conscious options which most larger theatre suppliers don't offer. Below are the suppliers I use regularly.

 

I wanted to ask if any members working in the education sector have any other recommended suppliers?

 

StudioSpares

GAK

DV247

Flints

Stage Electrics

Hawthorns

 

Many thanks in advance,

[pjrails]

Use Hawthorns

 

Very reliable and always seem to have everything we require and have good contacts to all theatre and education industry

 

 

HTH

PJ

[MarkPAman]

I find both Andertons and Absolute Music to be helpful and competitive on price for audio stuff - especially if I deal directly with their respective education departments.

 

Also remember that many places will "price match" - you don't have to tell them you can't use Thomann!

[Shez]

I use all of your current suggestions and would add Gear4music to the list as well.

[Emmett45]

I would definitely add Stage Depot to that list.

[ojc123]

10 out of 10 have good deals and educational discount. CPC are good for routine stuff.

[Junior8]

Well Tomo you're lucky you didn't have this before. Twenty odd years ago the county I worked in had just the same restrictions - though you could get round them in the case of big purchases that went out to tender. I always suspected it was as much to do with mythical 'discounts' that the supplier had agreed to give which in most cases brought their price down to round about everybody else's! By the same token a few firms, mostly the sort of useful one man band you know and trust, that the county might have dealt with told me that they took so long to pay they weren't interested in council business.

[bruce]

.... recently we have had some restrictions imposed when it comes to purchasing. Previously, we were able to pretty much purchase from any supplier ..... the procurement process is a little restrictive in that suppliers must be "approved" before we can make a purchase.

 

 

Well Tomo you're lucky you didn't have this before. Twenty odd years ago the county I worked in had just the same restrictions ........ I always suspected it was as much to do with mythical 'discounts' that the supplier had agreed to give which in most cases brought their price down to round about everybody else's!

 

Both of the above suggest that these “restrictive procedures” are a bad thing. Personally, I think it’s good. You’re spending public money. These “restrictions” are all part of the due diligence process to make sure that the money is being spent fairly and legally. You can only spend money with companies that your finance people have checked out, and where there is no conflict of interest.

[the kid]

AC usually have some good prices.

 

I had issues with buying, what is the reason, bigger reasons? It Might be worth exploring the idea of a card. We were given credit cards with limits to buy, but it allowed us some flex when needed.

[kerry davies]

.... recently we have had some restrictions imposed when it comes to purchasing. Previously, we were able to pretty much purchase from any supplier ..... the procurement process is a little restrictive in that suppliers must be "approved" before we can make a purchase.

 

(T)he above suggests that these “restrictive procedures” are a bad thing. Personally, I think it’s good. You’re spending public money. These “restrictions” are all part of the due diligence process to make sure that the money is being spent fairly and legally. You can only spend money with companies that your finance people have checked out, and where there is no conflict of interest.

 

Just a guess but the ban on imports is probably due to the incredible mess that Brexit will make of VAT payment and reclaim. It looks like the UK will have to revert to a 35 year old system called "postponed accounting". From a nephew involved in the game, UK importing companies are having to ditch their procurement and purchase software packages and buy new, much more expensive IT. For local authorities and the like it is simpler and cheaper just to ban imports outright.

Not even HMRC know exactly what will happen with VAT. We may end up with the nightmare that faces construction with reverse charge VAT rules where the end purchaser pays the VAT to HMRC rather than the seller paying it. It all changes with what sort of deal or indeed no-deal we leave under.

Edited December 6, 2019 by kerry davies

[Techie-v2]

Second vote for cpc and gear4music. My budget for performing arts tech is pretty non existent but when I do get the chance or need to purchase anything I find them both to be very competitive on price.

[Junior8]

Both of the above suggest that these "restrictive procedures" are a bad thing. Personally, I think it's good. You're spending public money. These "restrictions" are all part of the due diligence process to make sure that the money is being spent fairly and legally. You can only spend money with companies that your finance people have checked out, and where there is no conflict of interest.

 

Au contraire. In most cases it involved the taxpayer paying more to suppliers who had no compunction in dumping rubbish on the unsuspecting when it suited them.

 

 

 

[pmiller056]

I too work in the public sector. Again we are told to use our preferred suppliers. I have had reasonable success in convincing the keyboard pushers to use (on a one off basis) other suppliers (Uk based, VAT registered etc) where the same product is much cheaper from the alternative supplier than from the preferred supplier - even after discounts. The justification being that we get better value for the public purse this way (and my meagre budget goes further!). Generally for this type of transaction we will use a corporate purchasing card (similar to a credit card) provided the total transaction value is no more than a few hundred pounds. Most of these smaller suppliers, nor is our purchasing department willing to spend the time and effort to set up an account unless we can guarantee several hundred pounds a month of regular business.

[Jivemaster]

Establishment procurement seems to rotate about someone else's idea of price, payment terms, compliance, and after sales service availability for the particular deal. There will be an assumption that the purchased item will have infinite life and never become outdated.

[adam2]

RS components are IME most useful for obscure or specialist items that are hard to find. Not always best value for "bread and butter" items. They are an approved supplier for most local or national government departments.