What Makes Procurement For Care different from other procurement companies?

We are 100% dedicated to care, which we believe to be vital to our offering. We have lived and breathed the care industry whilst always on the look out for innovation, and CARE is what we specialise in without diluting our attention.

We understand your business and what is important within that, and that procurement decisions can impact your residents in positive and negative ways. So it's our job to make sure they are positives.

We want to help you make a difference to your residents, living in 'their' home. By making a difference, despite working on low margins, this is how we  gain repeat business and make our profit. But we don't want to make too much profit out of you so our charging mechanisms will work on a reducing percentage scale as our trade with you increases - If you already use a procurement company then why not ask exactly how much money they make from you! We can help audit this for you and sometimes it's frightening how much they are actually making out of you!

How do you and other procurement companies make their money?

Depending on who you ask you will get a multitude of answers from other companies, such as 'it doesn't cost you a thing' to 'we get a small rebate from the suppliers due to them not having to use telesales/sales people'. Both whilst partly true hide a multitude of ways procurement companies can make money out of you.

Most companies, if they get a 'kick-back' from the supplier will not actually tell you the actual amount - We at Procurement For Care pledge to to advise you of any % or reward we get from suppliers, and this will be detailed within any contract we sign.

Also, most companies will not let you know about any manufacturer support they receive - We at Procurement For Care will negotiate with manufacturers as part of ongoing contract management and any savings identified will actually reduce our fee not increase it! If negotiated as part of a project then any fee would be agreed in advance not undisclosed and hidden.

We will charge a fee for running tenders, agreed in advance, that may be reduced, if we agree to a % of savings for year 1 - other companies will take a % of savings for first 2 years which is unreasonable as doesn't allow for product swaps and inflationary price increases forcing you to pay a % of a saving that isn't there in year 2!

If you use one of our approved suppliers, outside of a tender/RFP, we will get a % from that supplier of your spend but again this will be marginal and declared - Other companies readily take 5-8% or more! - If your spend with one of these suppliers reaches a certain level we will come to you and recommend tendering, to not only get you better pricing, but also will likely lower our fee made from this supplier.

Do you have an online portal for purchasing?

No but we can recommend independent options, or highlight the benefits of the suppliers own portals for online ordering.

We don't believe Procurement Companies should manage their own portals, as can allow scope for pricing manipulation on top of an agreed rebate. If you deal with a procurement company that has their own online-ordering platform, then as well being aware of any rebates, you should ensure you have the pricing from the supplier to match against the pricing on the portal. Procurement For Care can also support in this area to make sure you know exactly what you are paying in the way of third-party fees and audit this for you.

How can you work on such low margins compared to other companies?

By following Award winning professional procurement optimising practices and remaining lean and agile, we aim to maximise repeat business. By operating on a transparent charging model, providing key recognisable support to your business (or procurement team), enabling efficiencies and releasing bandwidth for other tasks, we believe helps us make a difference and build long term relationships.