UCL’s long term success and continued excellence is dependent on the quality of our suppliers and ensuring they align with UCL's fundamental values and supply chain policy. UCL welcomes approaches from new suppliers, and is open and fair in its selection of supply and service partners.
As one of the world’s leading multi-disciplinary universities, we operate in a global context and are committed to excellence, innovation and the promotion of global understanding in all our activities. We expect the same commitments from our suppliers and partners. Find out more about our vision and values.
Pre-requirements for working with us
Before we commit to working with a supplier, we will conduct an assurance process. Check some of our key requirements below and for more info, find out about UCL's supply chain policy, contracts and agreements and responsible procurement at UCL.
- Are you appropriately insured? We require typically £5m insurance cover for: Public Liability / Professional Indemnity / Employer’s Liability (if applicable) / Product Liability (if applicable). Click for a description of each insurance requirement.
- Are you ready for a credit check to be conducted?
- Are you ready for Anti Money Laundering checks to be conducted?
- We are keen to measure and understand our environmental and social impact. This includes our suppliers. Are you able to share your environmental, social governance policy and any annual reports with us to improve the transparency of our supply chain?
- If applicable, do your digital products, services or platform comply with UCL's policy on digital accessibility?
As per our standard contract terms, we will seek commitments that you have also conducted such checks across your supply chain/ against any subcontractors you wish to use in the delivery of services. These checks will need to be complete for a supplier to be set up in our ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning) and purchase orders to be issued and payment enabled.
Please note:
- We are keen to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs). Please contact us if you would like to understand more about how we contract with SMEs and VCSEs.
- If you are an individual, we have various methods of engaging people to provide services. Please ask your UCL contact to check with HR or Professional Services’ Hub before registering as third party supplier.
Opportunities to work with us
Quotations and competition process
UCL is not a contracting authority for the purposes of the EU public procurement regime and/or the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) therefore we are not obliged to publish forthcoming competitions via UK Government’s Contract Finder.
UCL operates in accordance within the following financial governance (all values include VAT):
- Up to £5k - via the eMarket Place, preferred suppliers or if none available, one quote from supplier;
- £5 to £50k - via the eMarket Place, preferred suppliers or if none available, three quotes from suppliers;
- £50k to £181k - via a minimum of three competitive responses from independent third parties;
- Over £181k - via engagement with Commercial & Procurement Services.
In accordance with UCL’s financial governance and best practice, competition is usually sought by either quotation or tender where the spend is likely to exceed £5,000. Quotations will usually be sought by telephone or email and are typically for low value purchases. A more formal quotation or tender process may be followed in writing for higher value purchases (over £50,000) where appropriate.
Subject to the best outcome for UCL, we may choose to compete goods and services via the market. We often use this to appoint preferred suppliers. These suppliers are usually appointed via a Framework with individual Statements of Work issued directly to the supplier. Call-off contracts are used where applicable.
Competitions may be advertised via our online electronic tendering portal In-Tend. In order to be able to view current contract opportunities and apply for tender documents, your company must firstly complete a free of charge registration process.
Expressions of interest
UCL does not place contracts in response to direct marketing but we do keep details of suppliers with an interest in working with us. Suppliers may be contacted directly and asked to submit proposals at the discretion of the Commercial & Procurement Services team subject to market analysis.
If you would like to submit your details, please fill in our online form below. Your details will be kept in accordance with our General Privacy Notice.
Contract management
UCL views contract management as key to a successful business relationship. If your company is awarded a contract or framework agreement we expect you to manage your part of the business and work with us to improve the contract over its lifetime including regular review meetings to discuss, amongst other things, performance against agreed SLA and KPI targets.
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