Universities are under financial pressure

Universities UK (UUK) has warned that with income declining and costs continuing to rise, many institutions have been forced to cut courses and scale back research. These financial pressures have raised serious concerns about the long-term health of the higher education sector.

In response, UUK has outlined seven opportunities for universities to reduce costs and reshape the system. At Procurement Services Lifecycle, we help higher education institutions put these recommendations into practice — offering tailored solutions that deliver measurable impact.

Here’s how we support universities across seven key areas:

1. Shape a supportive regulatory environment

We can help universities cut costs by validating contracts, benchmarking spends, planning needs, and delivering compliant procurement with OPTIMiSe, our contract and supplier management platform.

2. Sharing more services and infrastructure

Partner with us to run the day to day of procurement, contract management, and performance management, one consistent service, while you retain control and we deliver savings and compliance.

3. Leveraging Sector Buying Power

The Lifecycle index, our contract management capability tool, determines the focus each contract needs, using spend, risk and complexity. This helps universities maximise profit and prevent loss.

4. Supporting Digital Transformation

OPTIMiSe, our contract and supplier management platform, gives universities full visibility of contracts and simplifies management, saving time and ensuring nothing is missed.

5. Adopt shared efficiency and benchmarking

Our team can help universities adopt a common approach to efficiency by using the Lifecycle index, our contract management capability tool, to benchmark costs and performance across the sector.

6. Enhancing leadership and governance

Our dedicated procurement and contract management team work closely with your stakeholders, helping to free up valuable time and enabling leaders to focus on driving change.

7. Pursuing innovative collaboration structures

We design and run collaborative procurement across institutions, building joint category strategies that turn combined buying power strategies into savings. We enforce performance through shared KPIs and SLAs, clear governance, and contracts which ensure compliance.

To explore how we can support your university, contact us at lifecycle@csltd.org.uk.