NWUPC Ltd Membership Information & Benefits

NWUPC Ltd membership benefits include significant cash and resource savings from collaborative procurement, access to over 100 tailor-led framework agreements, compliance with EU procurement law to minimise litigation risk, procurement guidance, account management support and networking opportunities. In addition it will assist your institution meet its strategic and immediate purchasing needs.

Membership types

Membership Type	Description	Annual Subscription Scale 2019/20 (excluding VAT)
Full Member	Full Members are higher education institutions mainly from the North West region of England who have full access rights to all of our agreements have representatives on each Category Group are represented on the Management Council have voting rights at Council meetings	Non pay spend Under £5m - £945 £5m - £15m - £2025 Over £15m - £3402
Associate Member	Associate Membership is open to any other institution or organisation subject to approval from the NWUPC Ltd Board of Directors. Associate Members have full access rights to all of our agreements have representatives on each Category Group are represented on the Management Council	Non pay spend Under £5m - £945 £5m - £15m - £2025 Over £15m - £3402
Affiliate Member	Affiliate Membership entitles the Member to access such services and supply contracts as agreed in writing between the Managing Director and Affiliate for an agreed annual fee. Affiliate Members can access to up to three agreements and do not have voting rights.	£250

To enquire about becoming a member, contact us using our web-based form or telephone 0161 234 8007.

To join the NWUPC Ltd

Read our articles of association and members’ agreement and complete the NWUPC Ltd member application form. Please return the form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

On receipt of the completed application form, approval of application will be sought and upon acceptance a meeting will be arranged to discuss how to maximise the benefits of your membership.

NWUPC Ltd Member Benefits

Savings - In 2016/17 NWUPC Ltd members realised £26m in quantifiable savings. In addition there is also a reduction in tendering costs and time for both buyers and suppliers.

Guaranteed Compliance - All NWUPC Ltd framework agreements are compliant with EU Procurement Directives and are professionally managed. This reduces your risk of EU legal challenges, saves you significant time in your procurement process and ensures that prices and service remain the best throughout the life of the agreement.

Access to Over 100 Agreements – NWUPC Ltd has a diverse portfolio of professionally arranged agreements in place, and is constantly adding to this range, based on member demand. Our agreements cover a range of goods and services, and are tailored to the specific requirements of our membership.

Guaranteed Collaboration - NWUPC Ltd members have access to a wide range of collaborative procurement agreements. This will help your institution meet the English Higher Education target in the “Diamond Report” of directing 30% of non-pay through effective collaborative procurement arrangements.

Free Access to Selected Agreements Offered by Other Consortia – NWUPC Ltd works closely with other regional purchasing consortia in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as with category specific national consortia, to give members access to agreements for products and services that are not offered by NWUPC Ltd. This allows our members to benefit from the economies of scale of inter-regional and national aggregation, and allows us to maintain focus on delivering high-quality service to our members.

National Representation - NWUPC Ltd works with the other regional purchasing consortia through Procurement England (PEL) to influence higher education procurement strategy in the interests of our members. Operationally, we also work very closely with the other regional and category-focussed higher education consortia. A key operational group is the Joint Contracting Group that manages category and contracting strategies and plans on a national basis to ensure that all delivery partners are working to provide best value and minimum duplication.

Full Engagement - Members are at the heart of all NWUPC’s Ltd activities and are consulted on the shape and delivery of all agreements before launch or re-tender. Full members have voting rights to elect and join NWUPC’s Ltd Board, ensuring we offer an organisation that is truly owned by our Members, for our Members.

Annual Member Benefit Statement – NWUPC Ltd members receive an annual Member Benefit Statement that identifies your institution’s unique spend profile, and the return on investment your institution receives as a member. The report will also help you identify which areas your institution could focus on to realise increased savings.

Access to Professional Development Training - Through the Higher Education Procurement Association (HEPA), NWUPC Ltd members have access to ongoing professional development training at a reduced cost. We also arrange category focussed events for our members.

Category Groups - All of NWUPC’s Ltd agreements are developed, tendered and managed with input from our members – we really couldn’t do our work without them. The Category Groups bring together members from procurement and technical professions with a special interest or expertise in a particular category of goods or services. Tender working parties are involved in drafting tender documentation and evaluating tender submissions from suppliers. All Category Groups are chaired by a member representative and each Group is supported by one of NWUPC’s Ltd Contracts Managers. Category Groups are also key to managing relationships with suppliers on behalf of the Consortium, and reviewing supplier performance throughout the life of an agreement. To find out more about joining a Category Group, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Some categories are overseen nationally or inter-regionally in collaboration with other purchasing consortia. These may be supported by National Working Parties.

HE Contracts Database - HE Contracts is the joint consortia agreements database, which has been available since August 2016. It provides full details of all agreements open to NWUPC Ltd members, including Buyer's Guides which provide all the information you need to use our frameworks.

How to access HE Contracts

General access - All consortia Members will be able to access HE Contracts for browsing agreement information, without the need to login. This is because NWUPC Ltd can register your institution’s IP address range for auto-recognition. If you are being prompted to log in and would like your individual IP address registered, please send details to Margaret Bryant and we can add this in. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Individual logins - Members can also register for individual logins, required for members that want to use the additional functions such as create custom reports, mark ‘favourite’ agreements and access the system when they are off-site and not within your IP address range etc. There is also an option to set up local agreements in HE Contracts; to do this you will need to create an institutional administrator to manage this, please contact Margaret Bryant if you require this functionality. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

More information HE Contracts can be found in the HE Contracts User Manual.

A series of training videos have been produced covering various aspects of how to use the new system, you can view them here: HE Contracts Training Videos.

If you have problems in logging in, contact H2O Publishing (who manage HE Contracts on behalf of the consortium) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Procurement Maturity Assessments - A Procurement Maturity Assessment (PMA) is an independent detailed assessment of your procurement function and provides you with a bespoke action plan for improvement, a baseline to measure improvements, as well as a benchmark scores against similar institutions.

The purpose of this is to help institutions to understand and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their procurement functions which can, in turn, lead to significant efficiency savings.

The PMA involves an initial assessment to benchmark your current maturity, and then a follow-up 12 months later to show improvement.

A comprehensive PMA programme is currently being managed on behalf of all the regional higher education consortia by SUPC. For full information, see their PMA web page, or contact Judith Russell, PMA Programme Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Tel 07986 911918.

Supplier Credit Checks - Your NWUPC Ltd membership gives you free access to Creditsafe Contract as a means of checking on suppliers’ financial viability.

By using Creditsafe, you can view the most up-to-date financial information available including credit ratings and limits, CCJ information, 5 years accounts and Group Structure. You receive a unique password to ensure access remains secure.

Quarterly credit checks for all suppliers on NWUPC Ltd led Framework Agreements are available to members on our website.

Annual Scope3 Carbon Emissions Report - Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions that organisations produce through their activities, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the organisation. If you receive funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), following upload to Spend 360 NWUPC Ltd will use the HEFCE reporting tool to produce a report that will identify Scope3 emissions related to your institution. This can help you benchmark and manage your sustainability goals going forward.