Procurement with Purpose: Insights from the CST Finance & Operations Conference
Categories
Unlock Sustainable Growth for your Trust!
With school budgets under increasing strain, procurement has become a lever for change within education. Through our work with a group of school trusts, we have found the Trusts we are working with on average spend over £560M across 42K suppliers. However, inefficient procurement practices are inflating costs, wasting resources, and missing opportunities for sustainability and social impact.
At the CST Finance & Operations Conference 2025, David Shields (CEO, Value Match) and Paul Edmond (CFSO, HEART Academies Trust) explored how school trusts can rethink their procurement strategies to drive savings, align with sustainability and climate change goals, and maximise social value.
CST Finance and Operations Conference 2025
Why school trusts must rethink procurement
Fragmented procurement is costly:
- 80% of transactions are under £500, leading to excessive admin & inefficiencies
- 87% of suppliers bill under £10,000, limiting strategic supplier relationships
- Annual price increases of 10-19%, creating long term budget pressures
Lack of procurement strategy = missed opportunities:
- Trusts lack structured contract management, leading to inflated costs and supplier profiteering
- Sustainability and social impact are not embedded into procurement policies
- Trusts miss opportunities to consolidate spending and leverage group buying power
How procurement can transform school trusts
What We Buy – Ensuring Value for Money and Impact
- Implement a clear sustainability policy and share with suppliers
- Procure refurbished and recycled products to reduce waste and save costs
- Incorporate ethical standards & social value requirements in tendering
- Aggregate and standardise low value orders to reduce admin costs
How We Buy – Improving Procurement Processes
- Plan proactive, coordinated procurement to avoid reactive, costly decisions
- Use technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline procurement processes
- Collaborate to increase buying power
- Monitor Scope 3 emissions and integrate sustainability into supplier evaluation
Who We Buy From – Ethical & Sustainable Supplier Selection
- Conduct supplier due diligence before awarding contracts
- Reduce supplier fragmentation & prioritise strategic supplier relationships
- Prioritise local suppliers to support the local economy & reduce food miles
- Remove unreliable, high-cost suppliers (e.g., Amazon)
What Can Schools Do Now?
Procurement is no longer just about buying, it’s delivering real impact. School trusts must take action by:
- Establishing a clear procurement strategy linked to long term financial and sustainability goals
- Implementing ethical supplier policies & consolidating contracts
- Embedding social value requirements into supplier agreements
- Engaging with procurement partners to reduce costs & improve efficiencies
