Parish Buying
last updated on: 13th Feb 2012
What if the Church could pool its buying power .... now that is a bright idea!
Buying together sounds great in theory but how do we start? Now the national church, in partnership with dioceses has launched a new service to help you. The Parish Buying service aims to take the stress out of buying many of the key products and services that churches use by offering you tips, advice and national contracts to help you buy with confidence, saving time and money.
From the energy needed to heat and light the church through to paper for the service sheets, the Church, as a whole, spends about £200 million each year on these kinds of operational costs. Parishes usually make these purchases independently and don’t benefit from our overall combined purchasing power. The Parish Buying service is changing this by bringing these spends together and negotiating favourable deals from approved suppliers.
This new service has been developed by two National Procurement Officers, Robert Kissick and Russell Stables, working with a National Procurement Group of diocesan and other representatives. The national contracts include:
• Electricity and Gas – as well as well as scanning the market for best price, the supplier will check you are not overpaying VAT or CCL. You can also buy “green” for less than you may think.
• Heating Oil – offering a guaranteed level of service, high priority delivery, and transparent daily pricing.
• Photocopiers – offering a range of devices, with carefully vetted contracts and very competitive click charges covering all consumables (except paper).
• Stationery – free next day delivery with no minimum order. Demonstrated average savings of up to 35% when compared with standard catalogue pricing.
• IT Software – giving access to the best charity pricing for Microsoft, Adobe and others. Also
specialist accounting and Gift Aid software.
• Fire Safety – a range of products including Ecclesiastical approved 10 year fire extinguishers which do not require annual maintenance.
Parish Buying does not only offer national contracts. The website includes a range of buying guides with helpful tips and advice to help parishes buy more effectively across a range of areas.
This service aims to support you in your stewardship, releasing resource for your mission and ministry!
To find out more please register at www.parishbuying.org.uk ; email the procurement team at procurement@churchofengland.org ; or telephone: 0800 368 0887.
