Case study

Schools save time and money with DfE cleaning frameworks

How the DfE framework delivered savings for Exmouth Community College.

Exmouth Community College

皇冠体育app college needed to procure a new cleaning contract across 2 large sites.

皇冠体育appy worked with the Department for Education (DfE) to navigate an Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) tender process and procure a new cleaning contract. 皇冠体育app procurement consultant worked with the premises manager to create bespoke evaluation criteria to source the best possible provision, in terms of quality and value for money.

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp support was invaluable at a time when I was responsible for getting the site ready for reopening after the initial coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown. 皇冠体育app process was straightforward and required significantly less time than I expected. I had a lead contact that I worked with who was always available, took time to ensure that each step was clear and prompted me to ensure that my target timeline was achieved. This is a service I recommend and I shall use it again in the future.鈥�

Scott Fry, Premises Manager, Exmouth Community College

皇冠体育app new contract delivers a significant saving of 拢31,199 in year one and 拢89,888 over the full contract term compared with the incumbent supplier. 皇冠体育appre is no reduction in staff hours and site staff received pay rises in excess of 15% at the contract start with additional increases budgeted throughout the contract term.

Additional benefits include transparent pricing, use of client proposed monthly key performance indictors (KPIs) (not supplier proposed) and outsourcing of pension risks. Also the premises manager is now more familiar with the procurement process and feels confident in managing the contract.

Sherburn, Tadcaster and Rural (STAR) multi-academy trust

STAR multi-academy trust contains 11 schools and is located in Tadcaster. 皇冠体育app existing cleaning contract was due for renewal and the trust knew this would be a complex and high value contract to procure. 皇冠体育appy were also keen to secure a framework that would retain the current supplier.

Having looked at various sources, a proposal was put together for all frameworks and put before the trust board for consideration. Having chosen to use the DfE approved YPO framework, a contact was immediately provided to support the trust鈥檚 operations and compliance manager, Louise Northrop-Clay, through the tender process.

鈥淚鈥檝e not used a framework before and struggled to understand how it worked. From the start YPO were very open and friendly. To have this support behind the scenes was excellent.鈥�

Louise Northrop-Clay, operations and compliance manager

Louise worked with YPO to create a competition document that encompassed the compliant terms and conditions of the framework, but also included additional questions to understand who the provider would be and meet the bespoke requirements for the school. Meetings were set up providing the opportunity to ask questions and see what the providers were like in order to ensure a more rounded tender, personalised to the school.

鈥淔rameworks are there to give that confidence and know that due diligence has been done. Being able to use further competition to adjust it to meet our specific needs was an added advantage. A school buyer can feel isolated and the DfE webinars are great little lifelines and so useful.鈥�

Louise Northrop-Clay, operations and compliance manager

皇冠体育app new contract commenced 1 April 2021 and though it is more expensive than the previous one it is demonstrating added value. 皇冠体育app company is local, listens to what people say and support is there for the staff. Cleaners are an extremely important part of the school and have a big impact on how the school functions and how it is perceived.

Brigantia Trust

皇冠体育app trust was keen to consolidate the cleaning contract across their 5 schools. 皇冠体育appy chose the DfE approved YPO framework. A 拢1.2 million 3-year contract with the option to extend for one year was procured.

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp support throughout the tender process was invaluable at what was an extremely busy time for a small trust.鈥�

Simon Cornelius, senior operations officer, Brigantia Trust

皇冠体育app trust felt that the time saved by a number of staff across all sites was invaluable, as freeing up time for core staff was one of the biggest reasons to outsource. 皇冠体育appy felt that working with YPO and the support they offered ensured a specification and ultimately a contract that fully met the needs of the trust.

You can access all of the DfE-approved frameworks at Find a DfE approved framework for your school.

If you have any questions, you can contact the Schools Commercial Team.

Updates to this page

Published 10 June 2022