CPC was created in 1999 as an arm of the purchasing team at The University of Salford. The consortium was developed to fill a gap in the provision of reliable and best-value frameworks for the FE sector. Our services proved to be so useful that the FE sector bought the company in 2009, at which point we achieved charitable status.

We now operate as a not-for-profit organisation, meaning that any surpluses generated are invested back into member support and wider services. All of the income generated from CPC's activities stays within the FE and Academy sectors, and is used to sustain and expand the range of contracts for goods and services that we provide, and to support training initiatives.

Constitution

Crescent Purchasing Ltd is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity governed by its memorandum and articles of association. The registered charity number is 1130461 and the company number is 06774578.

Directors and trustees

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.

The directors and trustees serving are as follows:-

Nominated Chair

  • Andrew Comyn

Board Trustees

  • Andrew Comyn, Chief Financial Officer/Deputy CEO, Nottingham College
  • David Pullein, Director of Finance and Resources, Leeds College of Building
  • Darren Lowe, Managing Director, CPL Group
  • Noel Cassidy, Procurement Officer, Cambridge Regional College, Chair of the Procurement Advisory Group
  • Lawrence Jenkins, Deputy Principle Finance and Resources, North Kent College
  • Jo Bentley, Head of Finance, Hopwood Hall College
  • Jon Howard, Director of Estates, Wakefield College
  • Peter Kane, Deputy Head of Estate, Belfast Metropolitan
  • Fatima Bensihem, Finance & Procurement Officer, College of West Anglia

Legal Office:

Procurement House, Unit 23, Leslie Hough Way, Salford, M6 6AJ

Reinvesting in the Sector

Most of CPC's income is provided by our contracted suppliers as a small percentage of the value of sales to members. All of the income generated from CPC's activities stays within the Further Education and Academies sectors, and is used to sustain and expand the range of contracts for goods and services that we provide, and to support training initiatives for our members.