Prospective suppliers

The Department of Finance has a number of specialist teams, each supporting a specific area of the financial activities of the University.

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The Procurement Office is responsible for looking after prospective University suppliers.

The University of Sheffield procurement procedures vary according to the goods and services being purchased and their value.

The University purchases through:

  • pre-tendered contracts – for most of its general goods and services
  • advertised tendering opportunities – for the purchase of more specialist items of equipment or services, or works projects not covered by an existing contract
  • a best value for money approach – for the purchase of some low value goods (items below £5,000) not covered by an existing contract

Each University of Sheffield department is responsible for purchasing its own goods and services following the appropriate procurement procedures relative to the items being purchased and according to value.

All orders are placed subject to the University of Sheffield Terms and Conditions for goods or for services (see downloads below) and under any special terms negotiated by the Procurement Office, the NEUPC or national or inter-regional contracts.

In addition to adhering to our own Financial Directives, The University of Sheffield is also bound by both UK and EU procurement legislation.

Purchases over the EU threshold, which are governed by the EU directives, are advertised and tendered through the In-Tend e-tendering system and advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

If you are visiting a member of the procurement team in person then you can find out more about how to find us and opening times.

Tendering

The University of Sheffield is a member of the North East Universities Purchasing Consortium (NEUPC), which is one of the four UK Higher Education purchasing consortia.

Through the NEUPC the University accesses a number of collaborative framework agreements that are negotiated on its behalf by the NEUPC or by any of the Higher Education Consortia.

The University of Sheffield purchases most of its general goods and services through these pre-tendered contracts.

These contracts are negotiated at a local, regional or national level for the use of the University.

Once a contract is in place, University departments must use the contracted supplier(s) to purchase these types of goods and services.

The University uses a wide number of collaborative framework agreements in the following areas:

  • Catering equipment and supplies
  • Furniture
  • Computing – hardware, software and peripherals
  • Laboratory supplies
  • Postal and courier services
  • Domestic services
  • Professional services
  • Stationery and office equipment

Contract durations usually range from three to five years. When contracts are due for renewal they are advertised:

The Procurement Office team are involved in the creation and negotiation of contracts, ensuring University needs are met when the contracts are initially tendered and during the contract period.

The team are also responsible for adopting, managing and monitoring these contracts at a local level.

New vendor accounts

If a department wishes to purchases goods or services from a new supplier they will contact the procurement team to request a new vendor account for the supplier they wish to purchase from.

Once a new vendor account has been approved and created then the University department will raise a purchase order for you to supply the University with goods or services.

Payment for goods or services will not be made without a valid University of Sheffield purchase order. 

We will return invoices to suppliers unpaid if a valid University of Sheffield purchase order number is not quoted.

Specialist purchasing through tendering

The University uses pre-tendered contracts for purchasing most of its general goods and services but advertises tendering opportunities for purchasing more specialist items of equipment or services, or works projects not covered by an existing contract.

The University uses the In-Tend e-tendering system to conduct its tender exercises.

This electronic tender system enables suppliers to view tender opportunities, offering a secure environment to download tender documentation and submit tenders responses electronically.

Tendering terms and conditions

Related information

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