Sustainable procurement

At Birmingham City University (BCU), we ensure that sustainability is embedded in our procurement process. In July 2018, we achieved Level 4 of the Flexible Framework for Sustainable Procurement, confirmed by an audit conducted by NetPositive Futures assessing BCU’s performance against the Flexible Framework. This provides a structured approach to integrate sustainability into our procurement process.

We are currently in the process of refining our Procurement Strategy with sustainability in mind. We have embedded a Sustainability Impact Analysis into our procurement process, requiring staff to outline the positive and negative environmental, social and economic impacts to then be addressed in the tender process.

Birmingham City University also has a Sustainable Supplier Toolkit which is available for all of our suppliers to use. The toolkit allows suppliers to develop their own sustainability action plans to reduce the impacts of the service and/or goods they are providing. Information will be uploaded to our online real-time dashboard, so we can track any issues or actions needed.

Birmingham City University staff can find out more about our procurement process at the following iCity pages.

Ethical investment

We believe that the University’s investment should reflect our ethical values, taking into account our responsibility for social, environmental, ethical and financial factors in any investment decision. We have an approved Ethical Investment Policy, which outlines our approach to management of funds to minimise the risk of investment in areas that conflicts with our core values.