An update from purchasing

Purchasing inform us on what they are doing to help us get the best deals from our suppliers.

Here at purchasing, we are constantly trying to save the University money by negotiating the best deals with suppliers. Our aim is to reduce the cost of running laboratories and workshops using the Universities purchasing power. I am writing this update because our experience is that technicians are the ones that often do the actual purchasing in many faculties. We want you to know about these deals to help you save money.

Top 100 Promotional Products - We are in the process of negotiating with our top suppliers for short term promotional items that will be priced as low as they can be for up to 3 months. It is expected that this list will be released to you in September. 

Chemicals Tender – a recent benchmarking exercise showed big differences between universities in the cost of chemicals with us not always getting a great deal. A joint mini-competition with the University of Sheffield and the University of York was held recently based on a list of commonly purchased chemicals. Four suppliers participated and the bids are currently being evaluated. The anticipated outcome is better pricing for chemicals on Science Warehouse.  

Antibodies and Sera Tender – A national tender was completed in July 2017 to accredit suppliers and fix antibody prices nationally. Source Bioscience were a notable omission, they did not apply so they will be switched off from Science Warehouse in due course. If you want to order from Source Bioscience you still can, but you will need to go through the SIPR system. Abcam are also an issue, they would not sign the part of the contract relating to any price management, this may lead to some further changes

Low Value Equipment Lab Maintenance – We have negotiated some new low prices for low value equipment lab maintenance. There are seven different areas each of which was bid for separately. We can now announce the full list:


1. Centrifuges - VWR International Ltd
2. Environmental Control - VWR International Ltd
3. Safety - Crowthorne Hi-Tec Services
4. Measurement - Fisher Scientific
5. Environmental Storage - VWR International Ltd
6. Water Purification - Triple Red Ltd
7. General - Fisher Scientific

logos

Further information on each area can be found at - http://purchasing.leeds.ac.uk/

If you have any questions about any of this feel free to get in touch.

Laura Irwin
Category Manager

Posted in: