Institutional Procurement Services (IPS) is the shared service delivery arm of APUC, the procurement centre of expertise for Scotland’s higher and further education sectors.
Operating as a Cost Sharing Group (CSG), IPS is wholly owned by its member institutions. We function as a professional extension of our members’ internal teams, providing dedicated procurement leadership and operational management. Our model is built on the principle of “by the sector, for the sector,” ensuring that procurement expertise is retained and reinvested within Scotland’s public and research infrastructure.
Regulatory and Financial Framework
The IPS model is designed to provide members with a streamlined and fiscally efficient route to professional procurement.
- Cost Sharing Group (CSG) Status: As an HMRC-recognized CSG, IPS provides services to its members at a Zero VAT rate. This ensures that institutional budgets are maximized, particularly for organizations with limited VAT recovery.
- Teckal Exemption: Our ownership structure allows members to utilize IPS services through a Teckal exemption. This enables institutions to appoint IPS to manage their procurement functions directly, ensuring regulatory compliance while avoiding the administrative requirement of a separate competitive tender for the service itself.
University Services
For university members, IPS typically provides a fully integrated procurement management service. We act as the institution’s internal procurement department, taking over the management of the function to ensure it is strategically aligned with the university’s broader mission.
Our embedded teams manage the end-to-end procurement lifecycle, from high-level policy development to the execution of high-value, complex tenders for research infrastructure, global operations, and campus estates.
College Services
Our service for the college sector is delivered through a fully managed model, where IPS teams are embedded directly within the institutions they serve. To ensure national expertise is balanced with local and regional requirements, our college delivery is structured into four specialized regional procurement teams:
- College Services (East)
- College Services (North)
- College Services (Central & South)
- College Services (Glasgow & West)
Public Sector and Research Partners
Beyond the core education sector, IPS can provide specialist procurement management for public bodies and research institutes. We offer a dedicated alternative to the commercial market, providing partners with access to a team that understands the specific regulatory, ethical, and technical rigors of the Scottish public sector.
By joining the IPS membership, research and public organizations can leverage our collaborative frameworks and technical expertise to manage high-stakes tenders, specialized equipment, and complex service requirements.
Procurement Project Managers (PPMs)
Procurement Project Managers within IPS are high-calibre, medium-term appointees who integrate into a client’s team to provide leadership on critical or strategically vital projects.
A PPM is typically deployed when an institution requires dedicated expertise for a fixed duration—such as during a major infrastructure redevelopment, a complex digital transformation, or a high-stakes commercial negotiation.
Governance and Member Control
As a member-owned shared service, IPS operates under a governance structure that ensures total transparency and institutional control.
- The Board of Directors: APUC is governed by a Board of Directors primarily drawn from its member institutions. This ensures that the strategic direction of the service is always aligned with the needs of the sectors we serve.
- Member Control (Teckal Compliance): To maintain our Teckal status, our members exercise a level of control over IPS equivalent to that which they exercise over their own internal departments. This is achieved through active participation in governance meetings and strategic reviews.
- User Intelligence Groups (UIGs): Operational governance is further supported by UIGs. These groups consist of subject matter experts from across the membership who collaborate with IPS to shape framework agreements and procurement strategies, ensuring outcomes are grounded in practical requirements.
Discuss Your Requirements
If your organization is looking to enhance its procurement capability, achieve greater fiscal efficiency through our CSG status, or requires a dedicated appointee for a critical project, please get in touch.
Brian Dearden serves as the initial point of contact for all prospective members and current partners looking to expand their engagement with IPS. He can provide detailed guidance on the membership onboarding process, the application of the Teckal exemption, and how our managed service models can be tailored to your specific institutional needs.