UK Research Councils Drive Savings via Shared Services eProcurement

PR Log (Press Release) – Nov 03, 2009 – RCUK Shared Services Centre Limited has awarded its e-procurement catalogue and spend management contract to Science Warehouse in a deal that will drive multi-year savings across all seven of the UK’s Research Councils. The contract represents the first major shared services project of its kind in the public sector and integrates the Science Warehouse solution with RCUK SSC Ltd state-of-the-art Oracle E-Business Suite.

Science Warehouse is a leading provider of on-demand procurement and catalogue solutions. RCUK SSC Ltd is wholly owned subsidiary of the seven Research Councils, which together invest some £2.8 billion in research each year. RCUK SSC Ltd provides joint support services in Human Resources, Procurement and Finance to the UK Research Councils.

Nicola Dunne, Commercial Director at RCUK, said: “The implementation of Science Warehouse will further develop the strategic tools in support of our Category Management strategy and increase our operational effectiveness.  It will help to optimise collaboration between the Research Councils through leading edge spend management and reporting capabilities.  It is ‘win-win-win’ as it will deliver major cost and efficiency benefits for customers, the Shared Services Centre and our suppliers without cutting into the resources we need to drive world-class research.”

Mark Holroyd, Head of Procurement Systems Implementation at RCUK SSC Ltd, said: “This is a flagship shared services project. We had to be certain that the chosen provider would deliver a best-in-class service to our tight deadlines. Science Warehouse won the tender from a competitive field of global providers based on the high quality of its solution and its impressive track record of successful rollouts in the research sector.  We know our world-leading researchers will benefit from the use of a solution designed with them in mind.  However, the wider community of RCUK customers in all disciplines will also be able to take advantage of our one-stop-shop approach to catalogues”

Dr David Hames, Chairman at Science Warehouse, commented: “The UK Research Councils have world-class status across a wide spectrum of research – from astronomy to economics to medical sciences – and needed a spend solution to address this.  We are delighted to have been chosen as their e-procurement provider to help deliver a key shared services initiative. The project will realise the substantial savings that the government is targeting and act as a valuable benchmark for the rest of the public sector.”

RCUK SSC Ltd joins a growing community of leading European research organisations using Science Warehouse’s procurement and catalogue solutions.

ENDS

For further information:
RCUK Shared Services Centre Limited: http://www.ssc.rcuk.ac.uk
Science Warehouse: http://www.sci-ware.com