The London-based conference, organised by Optimus Education, was attended by 100 MAT CEOs, COOs and Finance Directors and there were presentations by the DfE, ESFA and legal specialists.

Jo said: ‘There were three talks on procurement strategy; one for early adoption MATs, another for those in mid development, and I hosted the established procurement strategy discussion.  I presented our strategy and how we determine which contracts should be procured centrally versus in school. Also how we manage categories including Facilities Management, IT, Catering, Finance and Education packages to find opportunities to benefit from economies of scale.’ 

'It was a good occasion to share learning with other MATs as one size does not fit all, depending on the culture, size and demographics of the individual Trust. Stephen Archer, Head of the Schools Commercial Team at the DfE, attended my talk and said it was really good to hear real-life examples and generate discussions.

‘The DfE spoke about their “Buying for Schools” strategy and the work School Resource Management Advisors are doing, plus the new online benchmarking tools which can be used to compare spend with other similar sized schools in your region.  Lawyers Browne Jacobson spoke about the legal regulations surrounding public sector procurement and contract law, which was a helpful insight for school leaders to understand and mitigate risks in these areas.  The conference was a great chance to network, share best practice and strategies in a professional setting.’