The Drum has learned that the procurement consortium which represents Scotland’s universities is looking at establishing a roster of creative agencies for its members.

The Drum has learned that the procurement consortium which represents Scotland’s universities is looking at establishing a roster of creative agencies for its members.Up until now Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC)has focused on commodity type procurement; however it is now expanding into the area of services, which includes the marketing and communications industry. The process, which would also encompass print, would involve APUC agreeing standard prices and contracts with a roster of creative agencies, which the Universities would then be obliged to use. The key decision-makers in the process are the university finance teams, but some marketing departments have launched a rear-guard action to prevent the plan being implemented across the board. “This is very worrying,” said one university’s marketing manager, “you can perhaps see the merits of joint procurement in some areas; such as the printing of exam papers for example. But in other areas we feel we need to differentiate ourselves from other universities to create competitive advantage. “If we were forced to use the same suppliers it would homogenise our communications. “I would like to have the flexibility of choosing which designers I want to work with. Even in print, there is also the argument for identifying different suppliers when dealing with high-end print, such as the prospectus.” The combined print and creative budgets of Scotland’s largest universities is thought to be in excess of £20m according to some sources.