Softcat to supply AV solutions to 24 universities
Marlow, UK, 6 February 2012 – The North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium (NEUPC) has selected Softcat to supply, install and support integrated audio-visual systems to 24 universities in the North, East and Centre of England.
Potentially worth £15-20m, the new regional contract for universities is the second that Softcat has won with NEUPC since it made a commitment last year to expand and grow its service offering into higher education institutions and the wider public sector. The IT provider has also secured inclusion on the National Educational Printer Agreement awarded by NEUPC.
Softcat is one of only nine suppliers of audio-visual equipment that made the grade in NEUPC’s robust tendering process. The company was successful in all three tendered lots, and its contract is expected to run for at least three years from today.
Andy Bruen, Softcat’s public sector frameworks manager, stated, “We’re excited to be forging even closer links with our university customers. We have recruited 80% of our employees directly from a graduate background, so there is a strong adjacency and empathy between Softcat and our university customer base. This year we are looking to recruit more than 100 new account managers, and it’s extremely valuable to canvas the opinions of recent graduates to understand how the higher education sector is making use of technology.”
Softcat is one of Microsoft’s fastest-growing public sector large account resellers, and was one of only three companies to be accredited across all six lots of the education-focused framework Crescent Purchasing Consortium in April 2011. Other accolades that Softcat has won in the last year include Dell UK and EMEA Partner of the Year, Symantec Commercial Partner of the Year, and becoming the first reseller to retain ‘Reseller of the Year’ at the recent CRN Channel Awards.
For more information please contact:
Robert Hayward
Resonates SLM Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 1635 898 362
softcat@resonates.com
www.resonates.com
About Softcat
Softcat (www.softcat.com) is a leading provider of software licensing, hardware, security and related IT services. Softcat, founded in 1993 by chairman and majority shareholder Peter Kelly, remains privately owned and currently employs more than 400 people. It achieved a turnover in excess of £200 million in its last financial year and has been profitable since inception, resulting in a strong balance sheet and very firm financial foundations.
The company sells and supports products and solutions from all the world's leading IT companies. On all its portfolio products and solutions it offers a full range of services, including advice and guidance, technical design, product sourcing, implementation, support and project management. It enjoys a trading relationship with over 1,500 longstanding customers, predominantly from the UK corporate sector but also including large enterprises, small businesses and public sector organisations.
As an organisation Softcat cares passionately about two things – outstanding employee satisfaction and world class customer service. It believes the former drives the latter.
About NEUPC
The North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium (http://neupg.procureweb.ac.uk/ ) is one of several UK Higher Education Purchasing consortia. Utilising a partnering approach, the NEUPC operates as a centralised structure of over 20 members. Its vision – 'To be the best collaborative partner that fully supports the procurement activity of our members' – advocates working together to provide collaborative procurement support, guidance, systems and processes and agreements that are aligned to, and actively support its members’ needs, values and objectives. Annual member spend today is over £1 billion.
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