Blog - Minerva

MIS Procurement – Choosing and Implementing the Best System For You

MIS Procurement, on the surface appears straightforward with the DfE recommending suppliers and comparators but scratch below the surface and thinks can be a bit more complicated.

Energy

Energy Efficiency and Price Rises

Unless you secured a fixed rate contract covering this period (well done you!), every school and Trust is dealing with energy price increases. It is not all bad news, however, as Chris Prentice looks at the incentives and opportunities to cut costs and save money.

Minerva news

A day in the life of…..Lorraine Ashover

Meet Lorraine Ashover, Director! This post is part of our regular feature introducing you to our Minerva team.

What Is Continuous Improvement And Does It Apply To Me?

Can you "Kaizen" a pupil or "Poka-Yoke" a parents' evening. Maybe not, but continuous improvement is vital in any setting, as Steve Parker explains......

GUEST BLOG: Net Zero and School Catering

John Edwards, of 3e Associates, NetZero, procurement and strategic advisor to the academies and education sector, Angela Tregear, Professor of Marketing at University of Edinburgh…

Compliance

GUEST BLOG: Future-Proof Your Telecoms: Prepare For The ISDN Switch Off

If the COVID pandemic taught us anything, it is that effective communication is critical for schools to remain operational. The telecoms industry has entered a…

Minerva news

A day in the life of…. Steve Parker, Procurement Account Manager (Consultant)

Meet Steve Parker, Procurement Account Manager! This post is part of our regular feature introducing you to our Minerva team.

GUEST BLOG: Catering Service Challenges – Food Inflation & Recruitment

You will know, from your weekly shop, that food prices are soaring and there is no chance of this stopping any time soon. A perfect storm of Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine has contributed to this ever worsening situation. How is this impacting our school meals and what we can do to work together to manage the situation and minimise the impact?

Happy School Business Leader’s Day

10th June 2022 is School Business Leader's Day - you were probably so busy that you did not even notice. We’re all aware of the continued challenges faced by the SBL community, But, as always, the SBL Community is there to support each other and lift people up when needed. What a bloody brilliant bunch you all are!

Transforming Public Procurement – The Changes That Will Affect You

£300 billion of public procurement accounts for around a third of all public expenditure every year and is the largest area of public spending. For this reason, there has been a lot of focus on the opportunity to simplify the regulations now that we are no longer in the EU. Changes to how we procure in the public sector will be happening and it is vital that we get the rules and processes right.

GUEST BLOG: Education Establishment Building Maintenance: Statutory Compliance

With costs rising and contractors thin on the ground, the key to successful compliance is forward planning, specifying to the detail the work you want done and excellent record keeping. Remember, even if you contract property management to a third party you are still the client and still responsible.

Minerva news

A day in the life of…. Laura Tesh, Tender and Compliance Officer

Meet Laura Tesh - Tender and Compliance Officer! This post is part of our regular feature introducing you to our Minerva team.

GUEST BLOG: Structural Racism and Unconscious Bias

We unfortunately, do not live in an equal society. Many people face prejudice and discrimination every day - whether open or hidden, deliberate or inadvertent - because of their race, faith, gender, sexuality, age, disability, or other aspects of their background or identity

Compliance

GDPR and the importance of being a graceful swan

The swan metaphor is used to describe the perception of calm, control and graceful action whilst under the waterline, out of the public gaze, the…

ISO:9001 – what is it and why does it matter?

ISO:9001 – What is it and why does it matter? What is ISO:9001? ISO:9001 is an international quality management system standard. Clear as mud? Let’s…

GUEST BLOG: Energy Price Rises

Every school site manager must now be facing the prospect of immediate or imminent energy price increases that are quite frankly staggering and potentially budget breaking. However, it is not all bad news...

Minerva news

A day in the life of…. Plum Garland, Executive Assistant

Meet Plum Garland - Executive Assistant! This post is part of our regular feature introducing you to our Minerva team.

Public Procurement Regulations Update & Case Law

As you're probably aware, there have been a number of changes to the UK's Public Procurement Regulations over the last year, not least the Government's Green Paper review of OJEU legislation and amendments to the Public Contract Regulations (2015).

Attention To Detail

This is a tough one all round, given that we all miss important details from time to time and no doubt regret some of those misses. However, I just wanted to let you see some of the bloopers we see as part of the tender submissions from a whole variety of bidders. Naturally I am not going to give away any names of specific bidders or schools as that would be totally unfair, but you may recognise some of these and hopefully they will give you a bit of a smirk – even if that is down to recognising you have done that yourself…….

Don’t run out of time

Time is an essential part of a successful procurement process. With a bit of planning you can avoid running out of it, says Lorraine Ashover…

Five things I know about School Business Leaders.

11th June 2021 is the inaugural National School Business Leaders’ Day. The chance to recognise the SBL community and celebrate the huge contribution that you…

The Procurement Blog