Does framework pricing give the best value to schools?
I would like to question whether framework pricing gives best value to schools, but first over the course of this year, I would like to share various true funny and serious stories which will hopefully strike a chord with you all.
Laughter is the best medicine, always remember you can’t lose your job for laughing at work, as long as it’s at the appropriate time. Everyday throughout my life I have always tried to have an open and honest approach to life and will always see the funny side of things. There are lots of positive benefits to this and help to make the working day more pleasurable and rewarding.
Around 20 years ago after spending many years on the road, I was then based in a transport office managing drivers and a fleet of vehicles, plant & machinery for a civil engineering company. After a couple of weeks I quickly got to know everyone across the whole company building up various working relationships and developing a rapport with them. One morning after a particularly hectic start to the day, one of the directors who I hadn’t seen too much of since I started working there came into the office whilst myself and a few colleagues were discussing various jobs. His greeting when he walked in? “Good morning everyone, what a lovely day!” - No, that would have been what most of us would have said. The poetic words that I still chuckle about were “Why are you always so (expletives) happy all of the time?!!” - We all stood there mouths aghast as he swiftly entered his office closing his door with a loud bang! I quickly reached in my drawer for the book I always kept to hand for occasions such as this. I knocked on his door, entered and delivered it to him along with some other paperwork that was for his attention. Fast forward around 20 minutes, he came out of his office chuckling to himself and returned the book to me with an apology saying “Fair play to you, I asked for that!”
The book? - ‘How to win friends and influence people.’
As we approach the end of another financial year, schools are looking at various ways to survive with reduced income and increased costs. I have for many years worked with schools to help them to get best value deals on everything from IT Devices and subscriptions through to internet connections, telephone systems and photocopiers. It’s a bit of a minefield out there in a cut throat world where lots of companies are eager to win business from schools. As part of my new series of articles I would like to share some true stories, many of which are funny but have a serious message. Many of these will bring to mind similar scenarios that school leaders will have come across without realising the full story.
Throughout the first 12 months of my life working in schools my first main project was to advise and help develop the IT for a new build Primary school. My business and IT background helped to make an impact on this project throughout the costing exercise for resources for the new school. The main focus of this project was to be innovative and to introduce state of the art technology into the school. At that time, the iPad was only a rumour and the Mac was now capable of running Windows. This was a perfect opportunity for the school to move over to Apple with a view to move towards a 1:1 deployment of iPads in the future. I reached out to various Apple suppliers for proposals for iMacs & Macbooks. In the end the Governing body made a decision for the project to be supplied by the company who gave the lowest price and could guarantee the delivery of everything in time. The whole process did take some time but proved to be a valuable exercise.
It is important to ensure that the school is being given the best value for money on all products and services. The DfE approved framework agreements have helped schools to save time and offer fully compliant procurement options. There are many academy trusts and mainstream schools that have made the business decision to only use framework pricing. Unless these schools carry out their own pricing exercise they won’t know if these framework deals are still the best value option. There are solutions that I can supply directly to schools at a lower price than frameworks can deliver. We have even been asked for quotes to supply solutions to suppliers who are selling on frameworks. The price given to them is the same as a school could buy directly from my business. This shows that the framework prices aren’t always the best they could be.
Please bear in mind there are many companies who offer a fairer service with more cost effective prices. Humour is often a great help, especially when dealing with suppliers.This helps to make the relationship between them and your school more of a personable one. Don’t ever be frightened of laughing in the workplace.
Nigel Milligan
IT Director.
