Published
By Ashley Cox
For the June 2024 CPC Members' Newsletter, we chose to highlight two of our overarching framework categories, beginning with Furniture & Furnishings, where four time-saving agreements can be found...
Schools and Academies Furniture & Associated Services
Schools and Academies Furniture & Associated Services is a buying framework encompassing no fewer than seven separate lots, with coverage for compliant procurement of a host of classroom furniture and furnishings.
From various shapes of school tables, exam desks, storage cupboards and lockers to special sensory solutions and even staging and performance areas, this framework is live and free for our CPC members to use until March 2025.
Created in partnership with Dukefield Procurement to ensure a more bespoke arrangement for the schools and academies sector, this purchasing framework has approved and engaged more than a dozen able suppliers with experience in the outfitting of school sites. Enabling healthy competition between suppliers, our advertised and affiliated frameworks aim to get a better outcome for registered members, with the absence of need for a full tender process ensuring members can save precious time and devote greater focus to their day-to-day duties.
Looking to refurbish your classroom before September? Keen to replace your tired furnishings? Speak to CPC's Jane Edwards for more details on this active Schools and Academies Furniture & Associated Services offering.
Office and Residential Furniture
Recognising your need for furniture and furnishings will extend beyond the classroom environment, CPC can also connect members with appropriately vetted suppliers via the NWUPC Office and Residential Furniture agreement.
Launched in May 2023 and active through April 2025 (with a one-year extension facility), this particular framework might be of interest to institutions in Northern Ireland, as its second and third of three lots cater exclusively to NI.
The first lot, which covers mainland Britain and its islands, has as many as eight contracted suppliers on board and focuses on the provision of furniture for office, learning and communal spaces. From booths and breakout areas to stackable seating and reception desking, this Office and Residential Furniture lot can initiate the buying of a wide variety of furniture that crucially complies with requirements outlined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1999.
With Lot 2 reflecting the kind of offerings presented by the first, Lot 3 is devoted to residential furniture supply, with beds and mattresses, study facilities and kitchen/dining furniture all falling within its remit, not to mention soft seating, such as armchairs and settees, and traditional storage options, like wardrobes and bedside cabinets.
As a result, members representing boarding schools or other residential entities may look to this framework to support their purchasing, with additional information available from CPC Procurement Manager, Jane Edwards.
Residential Textiles
Continuing to cast our eye at residential buying, CPC's Residential Textiles framework provides another simple and easy to use, compliant route to market, allowing CPC member institutions around the United Kingdom to acquire a range of such materials for student accommodation, through to its end date of 13th February 2026.
Lot 1 of this framework concerns itself with bedding and bathroom-based textiles, alongside associated student accommodation products. Members in search of blankets, duvets and pillows, as well as mattress and bedding protectors, can engage this agreement and its twin suppliers, with bathmats, towels, shower curtains and other washroom resources falling within the category, which can offer additional bespoke/customisable product print.
Our second lot meanwhile can connect residential institutions with suppliers of kitchen starter packs, which can likewise be useful for residential conferencing events that our education sector stakeholders may embark upon. Everything from glassware to pans to utensils and cutlery can also be procured in Lot 2, along with kitchen linen.
Of added note, localised Lots 3 to 5 of this Residential Textiles agreement (which account for Scotland, Northern Ireland and England & Wales, respectively) are your go-to for window coverings, with a selection of curtains and various blinds available for your education, residential or commercial buildings, whether your objective is to dim corridors, stairways, offices, store rooms, lecture theatres or other parts of the premises per the framework page.
A fixture of CPC, Jane Edwards will be able to fittingly furnish our members with further details on this agreement.
Sustainable Furniture Solutions
Finally, with sustainability a topic of interest to both procurement and the wider public sphere, CPC is pleased to promote a dedicated Sustainable Furniture Solutions offering, targeting more sustainable purchasing outcomes.
Another agreement in place until 13th February 2026, this NEUPC arrangement boasts a diverse framework layout, with three to five sub-lots for each of its main categories, while the inclusion of the CPC Quote Tool (for purchases made below the threshold of £214,904) and CPC Sourcing Cloud (for those above that number) allow members to compliantly perform the relevant action. Extra support is on hand, online, via the associated framework user guide.
Espousing a wider variety of available furniture options than in its previous incarnation, the Sustainable Furniture Solutions framework contains new circular economy lots, with users able to have items of furniture that they no longer require be collected by a supplier. This allows for refurbishment and subsequent purchasing by another institution, enhancing your establishment's green credentials, while helping others within the education sector.
With its framework page compiling further aspects of this section, the agreement also handles the provision of supply and installation, as well as several specialist solutions, spanning on-site laboratory and security furniture, plus arena/auditorium seating and audio-visual/IT integrated items. Want to know more? Contact Jane Edwards.