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Case Study – Doncaster College

By OGCbuying.solutions

Doncaster College is creating a unique learning environment for its pupils. They procured their IT infrastructure through Buying Solutions Catalist framework agreements. This allowed them to avoid the time and costs involved in conducting a full OJEU procurement and enabled them to quickly source a supplier who could deliver their requirements.

Photograph of The Hub, Doncaster College

The new Hub at Doncaster College © www.don.ac.uk

The creation of Doncaster Education City is one of the most exciting education and training initiatives ever seen in the UK. This £90 million project will deliver a safer, more efficient learning and working environment.

The College is developing an improved curriculum through which pupils can acquire skills needed by the local economy. Central to achieving this objective is the development of a range of purpose-built educational facilities, complete with the technology required to support an innovative learning agenda.

A key element of Doncaster College's plans was a move from its current site to a new building in the centre of Doncaster with the most advanced and up to date communication and technology systems including digitally controlled access and attendance, improving record accuracy and security.

The procurement team at the College put together a detailed specification of requirements. Through a mini competition held between suppliers on the Buying Solutions IT framework, Computacentre was chosen as the successful supplier.

With limited procurement resource available in house, Buying Solutions supported the College throughout the process and continues to offer assistance through their dedicated account management team.

Said Graeme Tizzard, Director of IT:

"Buying Solutions gave us support at the initial stages which was invaluable, responding quickly and professionally to our requests for procurement advice.

"They came in to meet with senior colleagues, providing advice and guidance which helped us to achieve best value in what was a very complex and demanding, time constrained project.

"With their help we were able to satisfy senior financial officers and our auditors that we had achieved best value and also a very quick route for our procurement which was demanded by the project. Buying Solutions helped to meet our business needs.

The College was looking to deliver an ICT enabled establishment that makes use of technology not just in an area of business application delivery but also in its fundamental role as a provider of high class educational resources to its student and extended learner community.

The exciting new development – known as The Hub – opened in September 2006 and is home to some of the best educational facilities in the United Kingdom including state-of-the-art IT facilities, a 100-seat lecture theatre, a 200-seat drama studio and a massive two-floor Learning Resource Centre.

Said Andrew Weedon, Solutions Unit Director at Computacentre:

"By using the Catalist Specialist Solution provider categories it is Computacentre's view that Doncaster College have potentially saved significant capital expenditure in terms of more efficiently used man hours and the reduced complexity required to select the preferred partner.

"We believe that the experience at Doncaster College should provide other Further Education organisations facing similar challenges with the confidence that Buying Solutions has the right balance of frameworks in place and extensive advice and guidance to offer customers who are facing time pressured, high profile and significant capital expenditure programmes."

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© OGCbuying.solutions 2007

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