Beths Grammar School is an academy located in Bexley, Kent. It is a boy’s school of non-denominational religion catering for boys between 11-18 years old with a mixed Sixth Form. Beths Grammar School is committed to meeting expectations and achieving excellence.
The school has 1,350 students and approximately 135 staff.
The school are rightly proud of the sporting achievements of their students with some reaching County and international standard across a range of sports. As a result, their grounds maintenance provision is extremely important.
The Background
The grounds maintenance contract overall value exceeded the OJEU threshold at the time meaning that the school were required to run the project in alignment with public sector procurement regulations. Andy Dyer, Facilities Manager, explored a number of companies to run the project alongside the school and appointed Minerva due to our ability to quickly grasp a clear understanding of the school and compliance requirements. They critical outcomes the school needed to achieve were:
– A contract representing value for money
– A contractor who would offer continual improvement to the grounds in particular the sports pitches
– 100% compliance with EU procurement legislation
The Results
The project ran extremely smoothly and included ‘hands on’ support from Minerva in the form of a hosted site visit and presentation day. In addition to this the school were furnished with a detailed ‘Procurement Audit Report’ giving them a full audit trail for the duration of the project. The school were delighted with the range and quality of suppliers that were shortlisted which offered them more than one viable option. However, the winning bidder was not only able to meet the budgetary needs of the school but also several additional works provided within the cost, a free 5-year Landscape Management Plan, a workshop in close proximity to the school and significant experience with schools and sports pitches. Despite commencing the project some months in advance of the contract renewal date the timetable was still quite tight in order to ensure all regulatory timescales were met. However, due to the efficiency of the procurement process the winning bidder had a suitable time period for implementation of the new contract. The project came in on time and at a very competitive price.
Customer Feedback
“After considering a number of other procurement companies, Beths Grammar School appointed Minerva to assist us with our grounds maintenance tender. The total contract value exceeded the OJEU threshold and so we needed a company who could help us navigate the complexities of public sector procurement regulations whilst ensuring we achieved best value for money. As well as providing us with bespoke tender documentation, Minerva managed the entire end-to-end process including arranging, and attending, site visits and a presentation day. Their service was not remote or electronic based but offered the personal touch which is one of the things that attracted us – along with their price! I would not hesitate to recommend Minerva to another school considering using their services. A very cheery smile and approach is what you can expect!”
Andy Dyer, Facilities Manager (retd), Beths Grammar School
