Information for Suppliers

Purchase Orders (POs)

The University still operates a ‘No purchase order, no pay’ policy, therefore please do not accept requests for goods or services, or attempt delivery of goods and services until you have received an official purchase order from the University of Exeter.  Any goods and services supplied without an official purchase order may not be paid for by the University.  Invoices received without referencing a valid purchase order will delay your invoice being processed and/or paid.

Suppliers are advised to validate all University of Exeter purchase orders with our Procurement Operations team.  Please email procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk to have your purchase order validated, or to raise any queries you have.

Procurement

Please continue to monitor CTM for business opportunities.

Invoices & Payments

The University is currently not able to process any paper-based invoices. All invoices must be emailed to invoices@exeter.ac.uk. This will enable the University to process your invoices promptly.

The University is working hard to ensure all payments are made within the terms of the contract / order. Our standard payment terms are 30 days from receipt of a valid and undisputed invoice. Please only contact the University if you have a query related to a payment which is overdue.

For further information on invoicing please download our Invoicing Procedures for Suppliers to the University of Exeter (pdf). 

Key contacts

University telephone lines are still up and running by may be busy at times. Thank you for your support during this time. To help us respond to you as quickly as possible please send correspondence to our shared e-mail inboxes, where available staff will be able to access your request or query:

Payment queries Accounts:  accountspayableenquiries@exeter.ac.uk 

Purchasing and contract related enquiries:  procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk 

Procurement and tender related enquiries: procurement@exeter.ac.uk

New Supplier Crib Sheet

The University chooses its suppliers through a competitive tendering process (or quotations for lower values).  The University does not have 'approved supplier lists', only contracts, framework agreements or similar arrangements. To see opportunities please register for free on the UoE tendering service CTM (more information in below tab). 

Opportunities are advertised on Find a Tender, Contracts Finder and the Official Journal of the European Union, where applicable.

The University uses CTM as its e-tendering system. To view or download tender documents, you must first be registered with CTM, registration and use of the system is free of charge.

To prevent duplication, before registering on CTM, please check if your company is already registered. If you are not on the CTM system then you can register now.

If you require further assistance?

For any system issues please contact the EU-Supply helpdesk on uksupport@eu-supply.com.

Enquiries regarding tenders please contact us via procurement@exeter.ac.uk. 

• As a member of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC), the University of Exeter has access to all agreements offered by and available to SUPC.  Find out how to tender for SUPC frameworks.
• The University can also utilise Crown Commercial Service (CCS) frameworks.
• For catering, the TUCO framework can be used.

The purchase order should have the requisitioner's name and contact details printed on the purchase order, please contact the requisitioner if there are any issues with the purchase order.  If you require any further support please contact procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk. 

If you have any questions about an invoice please contact accountspayableenquiries@exeter.ac.uk. 

The University of Exeter Supplier Portal is a secure, web-based portal housed with the T1 finance system.  It enables our suppliers to login and review their account details, check the status of invoices, download remittance advices and request updates to bank details.

This Supplier Portal Guide provides a high level explanation of the portal. ‌

Suppliers with any queries or making a complaint should contact Procurement Operations at procurement-operations@exeter.ac.uk who will guide you to the correct team/person.

The University aims to be a sustainability and climate change leader regionally, nationally and internationally; delivered via transformation in its operation and via collaboration in its educational, research, international and impact activities, demonstrating innovation, influence and action.

To enable this, environmental and sustainable considerations in the purchase of all ‘bought goods and services’ needs to be adopted across the University. This will ensure goods, services, works and utilities and practices meet the intention of the Environment and Climate Emergency (E&CE) Policy, value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment.

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

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.