How to do business with the University

Benefits of doing business with us

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, in the top 10 of every national league table. We would be a valuable high-profile client to be referenced when endeavouring to win other contracts across the public and private sector.

We are a strong and stable organisation with a good record for paying its suppliers on time. The percentage of supplier invoices paid within 30 days during 2023-24 was 68%, with 76% paid within 39 days.

What we buy

As a large multi-disciplined research-intensive University, we spend £100m+ each year on goods and services as diverse as IT software, laboratory supplies, cleaning supplies, research equipment, consultancy services and large-scale construction.

How we buy

We are fair and transparent when buying goods and services. We compily with the Procurement Act 2023, as well as our own Procurement Regulations, to ensure appropriate levels of competition for lower value contracts. 

We compete our contracts based on our standard terms and conditions, not only to protect our interests (for example, in relation to data security), but also to ensure bids are evaluated on a consistent basis. Where we do not have a pre-agreed contract, we expect the purchase to be based on our Purchase Order Terms and Conditions.

We benefit from efficiencies and economies of scale by being a member of the North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium (NEUPC), as well as from our close working relationship with the University of Leicester with whom we have a joint Procurement Strategy.

At the same time, we have a small & medium sized enterprise friendly procurement policy to guard against creating unnecessary barriers for smaller businesses interested in competing for our contracts.

We follow a No PO, No Pay Policy.

Identifying contract opportunities

We use the Delta e-tendering system for competing our £60k+ contracts. It is free for businesses to register on the system, which includes the facility for them to be notified of any relevant Loughborough contracts that are openly advertised.

The University, in line with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23), will also be publishing a pipeline on the Central Digital Platform of all potential procurements coming up in the next 18 months that are over the PA23 thresholds.

Not just about price

We award contracts based upon the best overall bid; considering both price and quality.

We are keen to realise wider sustainability benefits through our contacts. For £100K+ contracts we invite social value submissions via the Social Value Portal as part of the tender. 

We also seek expressions of interest in providing Loughborough students and graduates with internship and placement opportunities, when inviting bids.

Our Modern Slavery Statement explains how we endeavour to mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking within our supply chains.

Supplier Information - Procurement Act 2023

The Procurement Act 2023 was made law on 27 October 2023, incorporating the biggest changes to UK public procurement since 2015. The act went live on 24 February 2025.

There are some key changes within this act that will impact on suppliers including: 

• An increase in procurement transparency 
• Debarment lists
• New routes to market
• Changing from 'Most Economically Advantageous Tender' (MEAT) to 'Most Advantageous Tender' (MAT)
• A central place for all tender opportunities and supplier information 

Further details can be found below along with training modules (knowledge drops) designed specifically for Suppliers:

One of the biggest changes to suppliers is the introduction of the Central Digital Platform which will be where all UK contracting authorities publish information relating to procurement and where suppliers provide their commonly-used information to bid on multiple procurements.  

There are videos and guides available to help with signing up to the Central Digital platform