The new PfH Materials Agreement: Savings of up to 24 percent against current spend.

Six lots, for specific areas of spend.

The new Agreement, provides further savings of up to 24% compared to the current Agreement*, and will have an additional four new lots adding aids and adaptations, electrical materials, heating spares and stores management to the building and plumbing materials offered previously.

The individual lots will create an EU compliant "one stop shop" for Members who will benefit from clear bespoke arrangements for each product area, offering the best in terms of quality, pricing, and capacity to service the Agreement effectively.

After significant spend and gap analysis of three years of transactional data from the previous agreement, PfH saw an opportunity to further support Members requirements by introducing new and additional lots to the framework. This enabled both specialisation of suppliers, and increased scope of products available within the contract for Members to procure in a secure and EU compliant manner.

Merchant choice and availability.

In addition to increasing the scope of products available to PfH Members by introducing six new lots, PfH has made the Agreement more robust and effective by ensuring that we also increased the supplier choice within the framework. Not only has the number of awarded suppliers increased, naturally offering more choice, but the effective coverage available throughout the UK has grown in excess of 3,000 branches.

Fixed pricing: certainty in a volatile climate.

PfH has analysed the spend of all its Members over the past 4 years in detail to build core lists for each of the lots in the new Agreement. The core lists represent over 85% of total spend to most Members, and these will have fixed prices for 12 months, ensuring stability in an otherwise volatile climate.
This allowed PfH to ensure it put in place the most accurate and effective core lists that accurately meet Member requirements.

Savings certificates: evidence of the savings your organisation has achieved.

The Tenant Service Authority (TSA) has made its priorities clear that Value for Money (VfM) is a separate, national standard. Housing providers need to demonstrate that effective controls and procedures are in place to ensure the security of assets and proper use of public funds. Linked to this, providers need to establish effective systems to monitor and accurately report the delivery of their plans.

In response to this requirement, for each Member trading on the new Materials Agreement, PfH is introducing an annual savings certificate. This certificate will detail the actual savings each organisation has saved from every core transaction via the Framework. The certificates will be bespoke to each Member, and fully endorsed and supported by each supplier on the Framework. Further news on the annual savings certificates will be released as we develop the final offering with the awarded suppliers in the first few months of the contract.

Benefits for all: Registered Providers, contractors and tenants.

The new Agreement will be available for both Registered Providers and contractors. PfH account cards will be given to the PfH Member and/or their contractor as a means of identifying that they are eligible to procure via the PfH Materials Agreement and access the negotiated pricing therein.

With the need to raise the standard of services for tenants, PfH is dedicated to improving housing for the benefit of residents and driving forward community renewal. PfH will be introducing tenant discount cards from the awarded merchants, providing discounts of up to 30% from list price. PfH Members can ensure restrictions are enforced to control tenant's choice of products supported by the discount cards.

Nominated suppliers are also willing to work in conjunction with Members to deliver tenant training initiatives. All the awarded suppliers have agreed to work with PfH Members to determine how best to add value for tenants by offering basic DIY training.

To find out how your organisation can benefit from the new PfH Material Agreement, contact Rob Peck on 0845 864 5256 or email materials@procurementforhousing.co.uk.

*Based upon analysis of 100 Registered Providers' material spend.