CPC framework can facilitate esports purchases

In March 2024, we took a look at the rise and popularity of esports in the UK, calling it a "game-changer" for our students. Now, almost a year on, we revisit this trending topic, as CPC launches a refreshed ICT Hardware and Peripherals Equipment framework - with approved suppliers like Centerprise/Yoyotech ready to turn esports dreams into reality at your institution.

At the start of 2024-25, tenured CPC members Coleg Cambria of Deeside unveiled a cutting-edge esports arena on site, with some £230,000 of investment helping establish a facility at the forefront of the "esports revolution" we mentioned last March.

Coleg Cambria's pioneering approach to the integration of esports has already helped its 'Cambria Chimeras' esports squad lift an Apex Legends Spring Cup, while establishing a communal facility that can proactively appeal to learners who are potentially threatened by personal disengagement, or by removal from education completely.

In addition, the college has attracted attention from talent scouts affiliated with professional esports organisations like the high-profile Excel Esports, demonstrating the fledgling potential for interest in esports to develop into career opportunities.

It is therefore worth considering how the benefits of esports to our sector could be some way greater than the virtual thrills of traditional video game challenges alone, with esports associated transferrable skills of teamwork, organisation, branding and promotion validating this emerging genre as an asset to students' education, as well as what might follow.

While a relative newcomer to the sector, and a unorthodox one at that, esports' expansion in the United Kingdom shows little sign of slowing down as we roll past the current decade's mid-point, with November 2024's major League of Legends World Championship Finals event at a sold-out o2 Arena forecast to generate a £12m boom to the city of London's economy.

Simply put, if esports didn't have your attention before, it should now, and it quite likely has the close attention of some of your students, making it something CPC member institutions might now seek to leverage for a variety of positive outcomes.

Handily, the Yoyotech team has outlined its ten-point plan for the introduction of esports as an educational qualification and enrichment activity, advocating its digital literacy benefits, as well as its support of students' strategic thinking, problem-solving and teamwork. Meanwhile, a press piece on the esports developments at College Cambria can be found here.

Interested in bringing new esports technology into your education establishment? Ready to service this growing category, Yototech, the esports brand of Centerprise International, can support registered CPC members through the supply of high-end/bespoke/gaming-specific PCs and professional gaming peripherals.

Procurement of such kit can be compliantly facilitated via the new ICT Hardware and Peripherals Equipment framework, with institutions also being able to benefit from the resources and professional expertise that come as part of the CPC package.

Yoyotech's work with the innovative Coleg Cambria has seen delivery of 36 high-specification gaming stations, each equipped with the latest I7 Intel processors, as well as contemporary gaming-enabling, high-performance RTX 4070 graphics cards.

Yoyotech specialise in offering a complete, turn-key solution for esports in education, also covering 3D design, custom RGB furniture, installation and software management platforms.

Looking for a compliant route to market connecting you to such esports provisions, while reaping the benefit of CPC's collective purchasing power? Looking for choice and the knowledge each supplier has been evaluated, pre-selection?...

Look no further. The ICT Hardware and Peripherals Equipment framework is an updated, dual-lot agreement that compiles provisions of desktop/portable solutions and equipment/peripherals, with its second lot for the supply of Apple-branded kit.

Having also serviced the prior framework, Centerprise are among approved suppliers on the Desktop PC and Portable Device Solutions lot, with more on the scope of products and services catered for outlined on the newly uploaded framework page.

To discuss how this CPC framework can support your institution, contact Contracts Manager Jane Edwards via email or by calling 0161 823 1860. To learn more about Centerprise International and their offerings, visit them at their official website.