Getting educated how to get into the m a r k e t education
The education market has changed considerably in recent years. Many schools are now not controlled by local authorities, which often had a say in how schools spent their money, but instead are part of multi academy trusts (MATs) and are run much more like businesses. The education market can be lucrative for resellers, but how do they start selling into this sector?
While this means that for resellers in the education market there are more and different opportunities to sell, it also means there are hurdles that they must overcome that are not present when looking to start selling into other sectors.
Procurement All local authority and academy schools have a duty to follow best practice in procurement and get the best value for money from contracts they sign – which doesn’t necessarily mean taking the cheapest option. Schools often buy goods and services through an educational supplier framework but do also take quotes and bids from external suppliers and can run a Public Contracts Regulations-compliant buying process. An educational supplier framework is a list of suppliers that have been through a tough approval and procurement process. The framework means that schools can bypass some of the usual procurement processes, which saves time and helps to deliver value for money. These frameworks are reviewed by the Schools Commercial Team, which is part of the Department for Education, and oversee adding suppliers to the list or removing them.
While schools now have more autonomy about how and where
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