Published
By Ashley Cox
Late-October saw CPC make a return to the Education Estates® event at Manchester Central (the former G-Mex), joining a national conversation around the education estate with a host of delegates and exhibitors, including various CPC suppliers.
A four-strong team represented CPC at this two-day event, with our Head of Contracting Services, Peter McMullan, flanked by Procurement Manager, Ria Logan and Procurement Officer, Zaynab Salim, plus Customer Engagement Manager, Jack Horton.
A recurring stop on the CPC itinerary, Education Estates® offered another good opportunity for engagement with our 10,000+ member community, fostering discussion with public sector bodies, while promoting the CPC brand and procurement services.
Dialogue with attending suppliers was meanwhile at a real high, with the team introducing CPC to potential estates framework incumbents, in addition to investing significant time in coaching suppliers around best practice in public procurement bidding.
As well as generating some encouraging leads, the event provided a platform to promote the newly-constructed Crescent Construction Framework to the kind of audience that may benefit from it most. Created in collaboration with the law firm, Weighmans, and award-winning development consultancy, Identity Consult, the Crescent Construction Framework has an eight-year life cycle and is duly compliant with Procurement Act 2023 regulations, supporting institutions with capital works.
With its focuses on education sector infrastructure encompassing the funding, design and build, as well as maintenance and management, of schools, colleges and universities, Education Estates® was delivered in partnership with the Department for Education and featured 30+ sessions as part of its central conference. More than 170 expert speakers offered up insight and information across its seven stages, with a dedicated SEND & Inclusion stage in line with the focus of our Giving Back efforts.
The event week also saw the Education Estates® Awards ceremony take place at the city's nearby Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, with CPC members the University of Leeds, the University of Oxford, the University of Gloucestershire and Prospect House Specialist Support Primary School among its winners. Don't forget that CPC members and suppliers alike can now nominate or self-nominate for the spring's CPC Excellence Awards, which offers a great vehicle for professional recognition in 2027. 🏆
Next year's Education Estates® decamps south, to take place at Excel London on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th October, with stakeholders interested in exhibiting, sponsoring or speaking at this two-day event able to register their interest here.