Purchasing policies, procedures and forms

The University has replaced the CloudBuy e-marketplace system with Advanced (formerly Science Warehouse).  It has been integrated into T1 and is accessed in a similar way to CloudBuy.

Advanced is easy to navigate and has several helpful features, including:

• Access to 64 key suppliers including Fisher Scientific, Life Technologies, Merck, and SLS.
• Direct links to Amazon Business and Oligo.
• Enhanced search tools to find products quickly.
• A ‘Saved Basket’ option for repeat orders and collaborative ordering with colleagues to buy in quantity for better rates and to save on delivery charges.
• A 'Favourite Products' option to reduce time spent creating orders.
• An 'Order History' section to check up on placed orders and to amend/cancel if needed.
• Personalised buying reports to help you keep track of your spending.
• 'Marketplace News' section with current offers and important information.

Click the image below to watch a video demo of Advanced's features and functionality:

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For help with creating a requisition in T1, contact the Finance Helpdesk

For help with using Advanced, contact procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk

A procurement opportunity must not be sub-divided for the purpose of reducing the total value of a contract (in order to circumvent certain procurement rules, for example). When thinking about a procurement, consideration should be given not only to the immediate requirement, but also the greater requirement for similar goods/services/works, which can then be grouped together to form one contract. This grouping together is called aggregation.

The university is bound by the Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015 and it is an offence under the Act to artificially disaggregate the anticipated total spend to avoid running an EU compliant procurement process.  This also places the university at risk of legal challenge and, in the case of EU funded grant spend, at risk of up to 100% clawback by the EU of the related EU grant fund.

Amazon Business is available to all T1 users as a punch-out through the Advanced e-Marketplace

How to access Amazon:

• Start from 'My Requisitions' in T1 and select 'Advanced eMarketplace':

• Click the Amazon logo on the right-hand side of the Advanced home screen to be redirected to Amazon's website:
  
• Select the items needed and checkout your basket - this will be brought back into your T1 requisition.
• Ensure the correct delivery location and charge code have been entered on your requisition.
• Submit the requisition for approval as normal.
• Once approved, a purchase order will be created and issued to Amazon electronically.
• Your purchase order must be receipted in T1 as soon as the order has been received to ensure Amazon's invoice is paid on time.

Things to note:

• Amazon should always be accessed through the punch-out, rather than directly through their website or the checkout will fail.
• Personal purchases/expense claims or purchasing cards should no longer be used for Amazon.
• All deliveries should be sent to University campus addresses. Where an off campus delivery is required, this can be requested through the T1 Form called 'Request a New Delivery Point Location' and requests will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
• Amazon vouchers cannot be ordered through the punch-out, please contact procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk.
• If you hold an existing Amazon Business account and have problems accessing Amazon through the punch-out, please contact procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk.

Help and Support:

• Click the image below to watch a video demo of Advanced's features and functionality:

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• For help with creating a requisition in T1, contact the Finance Helpdesk
• For help with using Advanced, contact procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk

UoE Delegation Framework - states who has authority to sign contracts:

The University of Exeter's Conflict of Interest Policy can be found here.

The procurement conflict of interest form can be found here: Conflict of Interest form.

Contract Finder is a Crown Commercial Services online portal that is designed for businesses to easily view upcoming public sector opportunities and for public sector organisations to publish these opportunities and the award of contracts visibly.

The university will publish details of any open opportunities valued at £50,000 or above, subject to the below exceptions:

• Mini-competitions against frameworks - there is no requirement to advertise the opportunity but a contract award notice must be published via Contracts Finder
• Where the opportunity is grant funded and the grant body requires advertisement of opportunities at a lower value*
• Where the UOE financial regulations state other deviations

*Some grant bodies (e.g. ESIF) dictate that institutions publish all opportunities valued over £25,000 on Contract Finder. If you have any questions about publication, please forward a copy of the grant award documentation to procurement@exeter.ac.uk

The university does not sign credit agreements with suppliers.

Suppliers requesting a signed credit agreement should be contacted by the end user to identify why a credit agreement is required.

The university’s terms and conditions state that suppliers will be paid within 30 days of submitting an invoice (disputation of a invoice may result in a delay).

Procurement Services can provide advice but only Accounts Payable can approve the signing of a credit application form (in limited circumstances).

The Procurement team can help you identify another supplier should a company require a credit agreement.

The university does not support purchases made via an e-auction or liquidation site which has not been pre-approved by the Procurement team.

Although purchasing from these sites can be seen to be cheaper, e-auction or liquidation sites do not capture:

Whole life costing: you will need to account on top of the cost of the auction for the following:

• Delivery and installation
• Online site costs and fees
• Maintenance costs

Things to consider:

• Does the site have ownership rights of the items being sold?
• Terms and conditions of sale may not be favourable to the university.
• Exchange rates fluctuations may not be in favour of GBP
• Service and maintenance costs will need to be captured separately
• Delivery terms including risk and insurance provisions

Risk associated with:

• Product description may not be accurate
• Product may not comply with EU or UK safety regulations
• No service history
• Product has been misused
• Payment may need to be made via proforma invoice which puts the university at risk

If you have any questions please contact the Operational Procurement team.

Purchasing from eBay is not recommended and members of staff may buy from eBay only if:

1. The required item cannot be purchased from Advanced e-Marketplace - this should be checked first.
2. The required item is not available from the suppliers on University agreements (or those from public or HE agreements). Please check the Advanced e-Marketplace first.
3. The supplier is reputable (it is worth contacting the supplier before purchasing where possible).
4. The supplier can handle the rate of VAT (eBay may not be able to handle VAT-exempt orders).
5. The value is below £1000.
6. You minimise the risks by:
   1. Satisfying yourself that the seller is genuine.
   2. Using reputable or low-risk suppliers that would honour their warranties and have a clear return policy.

Use only University of Exeter procurement cards to pay.

Please contact Procurement-Operations@exeter.ac.uk who can place the order for you on a card.

If in doubt about buying, contact Procurement Services (procurement@exeter.ac.uk).

UoE Financial Regulations - including rules applicable to non-pay expenditure/procurement:

Finance Regulations

All gift voucher ordering has been centralised to the Procurement Operations team to ensure that any tax implications for the recipient are correctly considered.

To request gift vouchers for a student or an external beneficiary such as a research participant, please click this link - procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk - to email the team and give full details of your requirements.

Please note that your request may require approval from the Tax Team, so orders should be placed at least 5 working days in advance of the required date to allow for this.

Any award or gift vouchers for a member of staff should be arranged via the Above and Beyond scheme.

Modern Slavery Act

University of Exeter – Procurement Services Policy

Financial Year 2022 - 23

Aim of this policy

This policy helps procurement staff (and other staff engaging in procurement) to detect and prevent slavery, human trafficking and associated practices in the University’s supply chain. 

Procurement Services staff are trained to critically observe the University’s supply chain; to report risks and worries, and recommend changes to our supply chain and/or working practices.

Background

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA15) came into force on 29 October 2015.  Section 54 requires certain commercial organisations which supply goods or services and carry on a business in the UK to produce and publish an annual slavery and human trafficking statement.

The University of Exeter’s suppliers provide all of the goods and most of the works and services used in the University.   We use approximately 4500 separate suppliers each year and the underlying supply chain (sub-suppliers and sub-contractors) could include many thousands more. 

We recognise our supply chain is likely to harbour unethical practices and exploitation.

Position

• The University of Exeter wants to avoid child labour and human exploitation in its supply chain and is committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all its business dealings and relationships.
• The University has an Ethical Framework of principles, structures, policies and procedures that underpin and demonstrate the ethical standards that the University sets across all of its activities.
• Several policies govern how the University conducts its business operations that include sustainable, environmental, economic and social considerations in its purchase of goods and services.
• The University published its first annual slavery and human trafficking statement in 2017 to comply with Section 54 of the MSA15.  
• Procurement Services has trained its strategic and management staff in the implications of the MSA15.
• If a breach of the MSA or related concerns is discovered in our supply chain or through tender opportunities, the University will report the problem to the appropriate authorities to enable a lasting improvement for the workers involved.  The University also retains the option to terminate business relationships with suppliers found to be in breach of the MSA.

Work being done

Procurement Services are acting to improve transparency in its supply chain in these ways:

• Procurement Services can influence and observe our suppliers.  Staff must look out for signs of modern slavery in our supply chain, particularly in risky commodity area, and challenge or report concerns.
• The staff managing tenders must assess the risk of modern slavery and trafficking for each project, and include appropriate measures in the procurement plan and procedure.  These will include specific MSA terms and conditions within contracts and MSA due diligence tests within supplier selection procedures.
• All Procurement Services staff participate in Modern Slavery training including training particularly relevant to their procurement responsibilities.
• Procurement Services regularly reviews and amend the University's standard terms and conditions and tender documents which specifically highlight the MSA15.
• Procurement Services has undertaken a review of its supply chain to identify those supply chain categories posing a greater risk in slavery and human trafficking.  We will assess, for identified risks, what we should do to prevent, monitor and mitigate them. 
• We have limited resources and thousands of suppliers so we will investigate collective means (including sector groups) that may help us monitor and minimise risks to our supply chain.
• We are developing procurement category management, which will improve our understanding and control of our market and supply chains.
• We are reducing the number of suppliers we use to focus more attention on fewer, more influential suppliers.

If you suspect illegal practices…  

Procurement Staff may notice irregularities that suggest modern slavery. 

• If there is imminent danger, call 999 without delay.
• If you detect or suspect trafficking or slavery, call the Police on 101.
• Procurement staff should report all suspicions or observations to their Procurement Manager who will investigate. 

The University of Exeter reserves the right to engage external auditors to conduct an audit on any individual suppliers or elements of the supply chain which have been identified as high risk.‌

The university has identified medium/high risk industries and current suppliers falling into those categories - High/medium risk suppliers‌.

You can access the university's modern slavery statement here: Modern Slavery Statement

The process for adding suppliers and amending supplier information is changing as of 6th September 2021.  This page will be updated shortly with the new process; in the meantime, please contact procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk for further guidance.

Suppliers that can only take payment via PayPal may pose a risk to the university, including but not limited to;

• Fraud
• Unregulated trading
• Standards of goods

The Operational Procurement team must always be contacted prior to buying goods through PayPal as they can help look for alternative routes/suppliers

PayPal should never be used to procure works or services.

For information on the proforma process, please follow the guidance found here

If you need to make a purchase using an ESIF/ERDF/EU funded grant and wish to discuss the use of a PCW please contact procurement@exeter.ac.uk. The team will talk you through the options and provide further advice before completing the form as there may be restrictions under the grant conditions which mean a PCW cannot be used. 

FAQs

How do I know where my PCW is in T1?

All PCWs can be tracked by the requestor using the ‘PCW Form Tracking' dashboard located on the 'My' page in T1

» See the PCW Form Tracking guide‌

I need to raise a PCW for an ESIF/ERDF/EU Funded grant what should I do?  

Before raising a PCW please speak to Strategic Procurement and they will talk you through the options before a PCW should be considered.  

Are there any times when a PCW is not necessary?  

The list below gives the instances when a PCW is not required. When creating the requisition in T1, select the relevant exemption code from the drop-down list in the ‘PCW Reference’ field:  

• PCW Exemptions List 

I need a PCW to cover multiple requisitions with the same supplier, how does the process work for this?

Once your PCW has been approved then it can be selected using the unique reference number as part of the requisition process and added to your requisition. The PCW can be selected and added multiple times. The Procurement team will undertake periodic housekeeping and any PCWs that have exceeded the maximum value stated when raised will be closed. Should you still wish to use the supplier under a PCW, then a new PCW  form will need to be submitted in T1.

Who will approve my PCW?  

Your PCW will be approved by Procurement firstly and then by the Professional Services Director or Director of Faculty Operations for the Service/Faculty you are in. The PCW Form Tracker dashboard in T1 will confirm which approvals are required and the approval status.  

What happens if my PCW is rejected?

If your PCW is rejected it will be sent back to you via T1 with an explanation why and/or more information is needed. It will be rejected in one of two ways.  

• Fully rejected – e.g. if you have raised a PCW for one of the exemptions where a PCW is not necessary. 
• Rejected with the option to re-submit – this option will be used where you are asked for further information to support the PCW.

Help and support

For further guidance on when to use a PCW or for help with procuring goods and services:

• <£50,000 - procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk
• >£50,000 - procurement@exeter.ac.uk
  

For help with using T1 - contact the Finance Helpdesk

‌The Procurement Procedures Manual details the University of Exeter's rules for the buying, renting and leasing of goods, services and works and applies to all contracts put in place by the University.

For further information on purchasing cards, please visit the dedicated 'Purchasing cards' page.

A printable version of the policy can be found here: Sustainable bought goods and services policy

University Codes and Policies for;

• Ethics Policy
• Conflict of Interest
• Due Diligence 
• Code of Conduct
• Bribery Act 2010
• Fraud Policy Statement

Government Codes and Policies for;

• Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015)
• Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 (CCR 2016)
• Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012
• Freedom of Information Act 2000
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Equality Act 2010
• Modern Slavery Act 2015 (updated)
• Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006