Science Warehouse and NEP Shared System Group partner to deliver procurement savings across the NHS

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug. 3, 2012 - Science Warehouse, one of the fastest growing companies in the e-business sector, has been awarded a 6 year contract by NEP Shared System Group (NEP) to provide e-procurement to the National Health Service. With over 50 customers including Foundation Trusts, Acute Trusts and Mental Health Trusts and over 10,000 End Users NEP hold a significant footprint within the NHS community. The contract will see Science Warehouse team up with the NEP Shared System Group, an NHS Consortium and one of the fastest growing providers of Finance & Procurement management solutions to NHS Organisations, to deliver a dedicated catalogue management and procure-to-pay solution across multiple NHS sites.

The strategic partnership comes at a time when maximising savings is becoming increasingly important for the NHS with the introduction of the QIPP (Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention) programme and the National E-Commerce Strategy. Procurement efficiency is an important element that will help the programme improve the quality of care the NHS delivers whilst making up to £20billion of efficiency savings by 2014-15.

Christine Hall, Associate Programme Director, at NEP, said: “With the NHS focused on delivering significant cost savings over the next few years, our strategic partnership with Science Warehouse will enable NEP to support our members in delivering these objectives. Science Warehouse's ability to drive supplier adoption will deliver savings for both suppliers and buyers through our Oracle Shared System and provide a solid platform of 'clean data' for accurate spend management information. This ability will enable the NHS Organisations that we work with to dramatically reduce the cost of procurement."

Greg Staryk-Mills, Business Development Manager at Science Warehouse, said: “We're delighted to be working with NEP to help take NHS procurement solutions to the next level in spend compliance. Consolidating expenditure from dozens of Trusts through a single standardised platform will be a significant step towards delivering the NHS savings targets. It's great to be part of something where procurement will have such a tangible impact on successful healthcare."

Science Warehouse's user-friendly, data-focused e-procurement solutions are used by many leading organisations around the world to deliver procurement control and drive cost savings. Science Warehouse intelligently hosts over 8,000,000 products across all purchasing categories and connects buyers with over 18,000 suppliers for electronic trading. In addition to its work in the health service elsewhere in the public sector. Science Warehouse provides procurement solutions to some of Europe's leading universities, all seven of the UK's Research Councils and government bodies as well as corporates.

-ENDS-

Media Contacts

For further information please contact Tom Hemingway at Hatch Communications, 01943 855630, tomhemingway@hatchpr.co.uk or alternatively Sonia Ali at Science Warehouse, 0333 600 6300, sonia.ali@sci-ware.com.

Notes to editors

*NEP (North East Patches)

About Science Warehouse

Science Warehouse is a leading provider of purpose built on-demand procurement and managed catalogue solutions that deliver purchasing efficiencies and control, spend visibility and drive savings.
Science Warehouse helps organisations to achieve full procurement control by collating all of their preferred suppliers for indirect goods and services in a single, easy-to-use web-based application. Its fully customisable product suite integrates seamlessly with any finance system and the managed catalogue engine at its core accelerates procure-to-pay programmes. Continuous, customer-driven product development ensures the solution evolves in line with market needs. Science Warehouse counts some of the world's leading research and teaching organisations amongst its customers as well as charities and businesses of all sizes in sectors as diverse as construction, life sciences and manufacturing. To find out more please visit our website at www.sci-ware.com or join the conversation at www.sci-ware.com/blog.cfm.

About NEP

NEP is one of the fastest growing providers of Financial & Procurement solutions to NHS Organisations, competing directly with the private sector on reliability, quality and price. There innovative solution enables all types of NHS Organisation to meet business requirements by supporting key process optimisation and the delivery of both detailed and aggregated information to support the new NHS management structures. To find out more please visit www.nepssg.nhs.uk. or contact - Alison.Nell@nepssg.nhs.uk.