
2019/20
Nominated Chair
Welcome to this year's annual report for the Crescent Purchasing Group (CPL Group). It goes without saying that this has been a challenging year for all and I firstly want to commend the staff of Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) and Tenet for the way they adapted to working remotely, always putting the members needs first.
CPL Group have continued to invest in the education sector and have targeted help to those who need it in these difficult times. As we hopefully navigate our way through this pandemic and come out the other side, CPC will be a constant in offering assistance to the education sector whether through purchasing frameworks or the services offered by Tenet.
What is clear to me as we hopefully near the end of the pandemic is that efficient purchasing and securing value for money has never been more important and Colleges and schools will see CPC as a trusted partner offering solutions to an ever-increasing funding problem.
Finally, can I offer my thanks to our valued customers and suppliers for their continued support and hope everyone has a prosperous and most importantly, safe period ahead.
Managing Director
This will be my final annual report as I retire at the end of July 2021 after over 20 years of being a part of building the company into what it is today. We started with a total of 4 staff (who were also responsible for running the University of Salford Purchasing at the same time), just 9 FE colleges, borrowed NWUPC frameworks plus a visionary University Director of Finance, Ray Corner, who saw what the potential was. We have moved a long way from those days to a UK wide organisation serving the whole of the education sector and where we are now actually donating surplus back for the benefit of students and their institutions.
There have been many bumps in the road along the way which brings me nicely to what has probably been the biggest and most recent, COVID19. The Group are absolutely dependant on our own income as we do not get support from any Government bodies or our members and our financial resources were going to be a major concern. Thankfully, Tenet performed really well and the CPC part of the operation also did a lot better than expected, so much so that we emerged from the year with a small surplus.
I could dwell on the negatives of COVID19 but would very much prefer to concentrate on some positives which have come out of the crisis. The first is the marvellous adaptability of CPL Group staff. We were able to move to home working very quickly and had all the areas of CPL Group effectively working the day after we announced the change. Home working has been difficult for most, but it has led to a much more flexible working life balance for most staff with them now benefitting from changes to working practice policies for the future.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the work of Myles Woodman and Ekkehard Kugler who did sterling work after being seconded to the NHS to assist with purchasing for them in the first months of the crisis. Myles has also been providing an excellent service to the education sector providing weekly updates of stock of crucial PPE supplies to fight the epidemic.
I should now move onto other matters outside of the crisis. This year marked the start of the process of cash donations by CPL Group to Educational institutions for the benefit of students. There were some marvellous projects to which funds were provided and although interrupted by COVID, we will be resuming the gifting process in early 2021. This process is a source of great pride to me knowing that we are completely separate from the big private companies working in the Education sector in that we are handing over surplus for the benefit of the students.
This annual report must also mark the retirement of a major stalwart of CPC for many years, our contracting supremo Pat Condon. He has been a massive support and great friend to me over the past few years and has led the contracting team through a significant number of changes and challenges. One of his final projects has been the provision and launch of the e-learning procurement training system which is truly superb and which I am sure will be around as a testament to his skill for many years to come. He will be greatly missed by staff, me and the business.
The concluding paragraph of this report must be one of thanks for the partnerships in building up the Company. Initially I must recognise and thank all staff, past and current, for all their hard work and support through the years. I must also thank all past and current members of the CPL Group Board as well as partner organisations like NPG, NWUPC and TUCO. I thank all the suppliers who have worked with CPC through the years as part of the service delivery partnership. Finally and as always, I thank all our customers without whose support, CPL Group would not function.
I hand the torch over to my successor, Darren Lowe, who I know will do an excellent job leading this super organisation.
Head of Procurement
The Contracting Team experienced a demanding year with the introduction of several new frameworks as well as the retendering of existing frameworks.
These were all delivered which is testament to the professionalism and commitment of the team. I am also delighted to report that their camaraderie and support for each other as a team was exemplary particularly during such a difficult year.
The Contracting Teams partnership with the Department for Education (DfE) went on hold during the year as a consequence of Covid19. 12 Frameworks remain supported and many of our other frameworks are under consideration for recommendation by the DfE. We look forward to the opportunities that this partnership will undoubtedly bring for the organisation.
2019/20 saw our team of Regional Procurement Advisors transition to Microsoft Teams meetings with our members but still providing hands on support on how to use our framework agreements. The team continue to provide guidance on what to include in specifications and how to conduct tender processes as well as advising members on the application of procurement regulations and raising the profile of procurement within their institutions.
It would be remiss of me not to mention that Jo Frost who leads the team with distinction will be our new Head of Communications with effect from August 2020 and both I and all the team give our heartfelt thanks to Jo for her contribution as an RPA and look forward to her contribution in her new role.
Supporting the fulfilment of our charitable objectives, Crescent Learning (CL) was created by CPC to deliver a range of training services and resources for our members. The key activities delivered through CL during the year were as follows:
Managing Director
Tenet has been operational throughout 2019/20 with demand from customers continuing throughout the national lockdown. Tenet’s two core procurement services have both exceeded the previous year’s income, which is exceptional under the circumstances.
CPL Group will be a constant in offering assistance to the education sector as we hopefully navigate our way through this pandemic and come out the other side, whether through purchasing frameworks or the services offered by Tenet.
The team supported 43 contracts nationwide. Provision of days on-site at each contract ranged from 0.5 to 5 days per week. Adjustments to the normal practice of delivering our services within our customers organisation was required part way through the year. The availability of the latest IT systems and a flexible attitude from the team ensured we quickly adapted to new working practices and all our customers continued to receive a full service.
The enhanced support received from Tenet is delivered by regional teams of procurement professionals and a network of 35 procurement colleagues, all of whom are employed by Tenet and based around the country. This range of expertise allows for the sharing of knowledge and best practice to the benefit of our customers.
The demand for this service has increased during 2019/20, with 64% of the income coming from the school and academy marketplace. The growth was projected to be higher however the COVID19 pandemic resulted in some confirmed projects being postponed until the 2020/21 financial year (at the request of the customer).
The grant funding from the CPL Group has helped many customers to gain extremely competitively priced procurement support from Tenet via the subsidised procurement consultancy fund.
Tenet Procurement Services focuses on delivering procurement support to organisations outside the education sector. Tenet delivered projects within the housing sector and supported a well-known high street fashion retailer to tender a cleaning service for 300+ stores across the UK.
Customers using Tenet Procurement Services are not from the education sector but all fully support the charitable ethos of the business and the benefits it brings to their organisation in the development of their future workforce.
The financial year produced a good return and enabled the CPL Group to benefit from additional funds to support their charitable objectives.
Tenet Education Services and Tenet Procurement Services fully support the work of the education sector. Donating 100% of our surplus to CPL Group ensures as much money as possible is retained within the sector.
The education sector continues to support Tenet and for this we are truly grateful. The forthcoming year offers more opportunities for Tenet and CPC to combine resources and deliver further improvements to the services we already deliver.
CPL Group Finance Manager
CPL Group income fell this year as a direct result of the national lockdown and in particular the closure of educational establishments during the Spring and Summer.
Although Tenet contracts were able to continue with relatively little disruption the impact on the charity was greater as framework activity diminished considerably in the final quarter of the financial year.
CPL Group was able to survive this period without the need for any staff reduction and with minimal use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme introduced by the Chancellor. We acknowledge that many companies have not been so fortunate and put this down to having excellent levels of cash and revenue reserves alongside a robust financial business model.
During the year we continued to honour our promise to reinvest surplus back into the education sector with over £325k being spent primarily in the form of grants to fund student activities and welfare. Furthermore, in November 2019 the Board committed a further £500k into the free reserves fund for further reinvestment.
The balance of funds available for reinvestment was £657k at the year end and whilst projects have been placed on hold whilst we concentrated on protecting cashflow through the year we feel confident that funds can start to be released during 2021.
Swipe left on table to scroll through information
Income | 2020£ | 2019£ (restated) | Assets | 2020£ | 2019£ (restated) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charitable activities | 3,430,942 | 3,591,455 | Goodwill | 490,000 | 615,000 |
Investments | 15,658 | 11,339 | Other fixed assets | 163,566 | 89,162 |
Total income | 3,446,600 | 3,602,794 | Net current assets | 3,537,272 | 3,499,487 |
Operational Expenditure | 3,445,934 | 3,107,285 | Provision for liabilities | (2,425,000) | (616,000) |
Operational Net income | 666 | 495,509 | Total Net Assets | 1,765,838 | 3,587,649 |
Reinvestment to sector | 325,477 | 17,785 | |||
Net income | (324,811) | 477,724 | Financed by | ||
Revenue reserves | 3,534,100 | 3,721,434 | |||
Designated reserves | 656,738 | 482,215 | |||
Actuarial (loss)/gain on defined benefit pension schemes | (1,497,000) | (558.000) | Pension | (2,425,000) | (616,000) |
Net movement in funds | (1,821,811) | (80,276) | Total reserves | 1,765,838 | 3,587,649 |
Looking ahead, the Group has sufficient reserves and cash to withstand events such as experienced during 2020 though the impact has resulted in a much more cautious approach to the 5-year business plan and budgets. Thresholds have been put into place should income levels drop again which will trigger appropriate responses to enable business continuity.
The directors of the charitable company (“the charity”) are its trustees for the purpose of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the trustees.
Procurement House, Unit 23-25 Leslie Hough Way, Salford, M6 6AJ
Haines Watts, Bridge House, Ashley Road, Hale, Altrincham WA14 2UT