BlueCat

About the buyer

University of the West of England is a higher education institution in Bristol that selects suppliers through competitive tendering, with quotations for lower value purchases. Tenders at or above the university's threshold appear on Find a Tender and on In-Tend, its preferred e-tendering portal. The university is a member of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium and uses SUPC frameworks alongside those of the Crown Commercial Service and TUCO. A central professional team oversees all buying. Procurement is devolved in IT, estates, printing and stationery, catering and accommodation. Open and restricted procedures are the two most common tender routes.

Education procurement reached £47.4bn in 2024/25, the fourth-largest public sector budget.

Over the past 5 years, most of University of the West of England's contract awards have been in business services, IT services and software and information systems.