academia the technology group banner. On the left are 5 apple devices. On the right is the text 'Trade in. Credit. Upgrade.' Below reads 'Trade in your old intel based MacBook and iMac for credit towards a new device. Click the banner to find out more.

What Should I do Right Now?

If you are a supplier and interested in applying for a tender or staying up-to-date on SUPC tender opportunities register below.

It may also be of interest to use the Find a Tender service for high value contracts (usually above £118,000), and the Contracts Finder for contracts over £12,000. Registering for the Contracts Finder allows you to save your searches and receive email updates on present and future contract opportunities in the public sector.

Things to keep in mind:

  • SUPC uses EU-Supply to promote tender opportunities and manage the bid process.   
  • Registering your interest in a particular tender on EU-Supply does not make you an SUPC supplier; it simply tells us that you are interested in a particular tender opportunity. You only become an SUPC supplier if you are awarded the tender. 

SUPC runs a limited number of tenders per year; however, there may be opportunities to bid on tenders being run by our partner regional consortia.  Please contact these organisations directly for more information about their tender opportunities. You can find a list of our consortia partners on our Collaboration Page.

What are SUPC’s Upcoming Tender Opportunities?

Please click here for a list of our upcoming tender opportunities.  If you need more information on how to become a supplier, please email supc@reading.ac.uk.

What are the Benefits of Being an SUPC Supplier?

There are several benefits to being a supplier on an SUPC framework:  

  • As a supplier on an SUPC framework, you will work with a dedicated SUPC category manager to facilitate your relationship with buyers.  We regularly meet with buyers throughout the year to assess their needs and we feed this information back to you. Our category managers can support you in breaking into the market, building on your sales and staying up to date on the sector needs.
  • We also support suppliers in marketing their products and services through supplier showcase events, printed publications and advertising opportunities.   
  • SUPC suppliers are listed on the Higher Education Contracts Database (HEC).  Being a listed supplier on HEC gives you visibility to participating members from all regional Higher Education purchasing consortia across the UK.
  • SUPC supports the NETpositive Sustainability Management Tool. Suppliers can use this tool to manage and demonstrate their sustainability initiatives to members. 

What is the Process?

As a public body, and due to the high-value spend that goes through SUPC agreements, we are required to tender each of our agreements according to Public Contracts Regulations (PCR). This means that SUPC advertises all upcoming tender opportunities in line with PCR requirements.   

Only those suppliers who best meet the tender requirements of high quality products/services are awarded tenders and listed as suppliers on SUPC agreements.  Once awarded, agreements typically run for four years.  Please note, we are unable to add suppliers to an agreement mid-term.  The only time suppliers can apply to be added to an agreement is during the tender stage.  

SUPC tenders and manages agreements that enable our members to award individual contracts. Please note, the process to do this is defined as part of the contract award. Our members are entirely independent in their purchasing decisions and are not obliged to use SUPC agreements.  

SUPC tenders agreements not only on behalf of our own members but in some cases also on behalf of the wider UK Higher Education sector.  We work closely with our partner UK regional purchasing consortia, who operate in the same way.  You may want to contact our partner regional consortia directly to inquire about their tender opportunities.