Procurement

Selling to Cambridge Regional College

About Us

Cambridge Regional College has a small Procurement Team which is located within Finance & Procurement and provides guidance and support to the College in relation to all procurement matters. This also includes compliance with procurement law, managing all tender activities, issuing of purchase orders to suppliers, creating procurement strategies and working with suppliers to deliver value for money and added value for the benefit of learners. The team is managed by Noel Cassidy, Procurement Manager.

Process for Purchasing Goods/Services for Cambridge Regional College

Depending on the value of the purchase, a formal tender may be conducted, quotations obtained or a call-off via a framework agreement carried out.  A College credit card may be used for small value purchases where there is no credit account with the supplier however College Purchase Orders is the main method of purchasing goods/services and is also required where a contract has been tendered.

New suppliers to the College must complete a supplier form where the request will be vetted by the Procurement Team and a decision whether to add the supplier to the College System will be made.  Suppliers can be added as a result of tenders, successful quotations or for one off purchases.

Purchase orders are checked by the Procurement Team before being forwarded to a supplier either automatically by the College purchase order system via e-mail or sent by the order raiser. 

Goods/Services must not be supplied to the College without a valid College purchase order received in advance otherwise payment will not be made or in the case a tendered contract delayed.

Unless tendered using different terms and conditions, calling off from a framework agreement or agreed in advance by the College in writing, Cambridge Regional College standard terms and conditions for the supply of goods and services (copy included on the procurement web page) shall apply to all purchases of goods/services made by the college.  Suppliers who process College staff and student personal information are also expected to comply with General Data protection Regulations and may need to sign a data sharing and processing agreement.

All suppliers to Cambridge Regional College are required to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 if legally required to do so.  Suppliers who are not legally required to comply are expected to observe the spirit of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

All potential suppliers to Cambridge Regional College also need to be aware that the College operates a zero tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and makes it a condition of contract that its suppliers shall comply with all applicable laws, statues, regulations to anti-bribery and anti-corruption including but not limited to the Bribery Act 2010.

Cambridge Regional College relies on its staff and suppliers to ensure our students receive the best service to be able to maximise their potential. The College is predominantly funded from public funds, and it is expected that suppliers will behave ethically and treat users of their service, their employees and subcontractors fairly and with respect and comply with relevant law.  The College code of conduct sets out requirements which suppliers will be expected to adopt as a minimum requirement when doing business with the College. It is not intended to be legally enforceable, nor take precedence where the courts or other body have jurisdiction. As a statement of good practice, it should be read (copy included on the procurement web page) by current and aspiring suppliers to the College and suppliers are expected to communicate this code of conduct to relevant staff internally and to their subcontractors.

Advertising Tender Opportunities

In addition to its own Financial Regulations, the College has to comply with the Procurement Act 2023. 

The College conducts the majority of its above threshold tenders using the In-tend electronic tendering software although some may be advertised via other means.

To access current Cambridge Regional College tender opportunities, click on the link below and follow the instructions on the In-tend website. You will need to register/log in before you can express interest in tender opportunities and view the tender documents however you do not need to register/log in to view the description of the tender.  Please note only tenders issued will be available to view. Further Competitions using a Consortium framework agreement are normally conducted via In-tend although on occasion we may use a Consortium website for this purpose, however only suppliers on the framework agreement will be able to view documents and participate.

To Register or view tenders on In-tend Click Here

Cambridge Regional College does not accept expressions of interest in advance of tenders being advertised; however we are happy to accept letters of introduction via e-mail to keep on file.

Use of Central Purchasing Bodies

Cambridge Regional College also uses framework agreements set up by Central Purchasing Bodies/Consortiums such as Crown Commercial Services, SUPC and Crescent Purchasing Consortium.  For energy contracts we currently use The Energy Consortium (TEC) framework.

Framework agreements are tendered by the Central Purchasing Body and can be called off by Public Sector Organisations including Colleges such as Cambridge Regional College. Depending on the specific framework agreement and value, the College would normally conduct a Further Competition between multiple suppliers on the framework.