Ormiston Education

Finance: Ormiston BushfielD AcaDemy

The background
Ormiston Academies Trust opened four new academies in September 2010, which all needed to set up new insurance arrangements. In addition, a number of the existing Ormiston academies had insurance arrangements which were due to be re-negotiated.

The challenge
To manage the tendering process as efficiently as possible, within tight time-constraints, over a holiday period when few of the academy staff were available, in order to achieve the best value for each of the academies.

The solution
The tendering process was managed by the finance team at Ormiston Academies Trust on behalf of both the new academies and those existing academies whose insurances were due for renewal. Appraisal of the tender submissions and receiving presentations from short-listed suppliers was also carried out centrally. This ensured that the time commitment required from the academy staff was kept to a minimum. The tender was also drafted to apply to academies whose insurances came up for renewal at a future date without having to go through a new tendering process

The results
The insurances were all placed with a single insurer, resulting in a reduction in premiums payable in excess of £100,000 in the first year.