Client Success Stories: The University of Warwick

Founded in 1965 and now ranking as the 6^th best university in the UK in the Guardian’s 2022 League Table, the University of Warwick provides further education courses for over 29,500 students, run and supported by nearly 7000 members of staff. Keeping 750 acres of academic departments, serene lakes and leafy woodland, both picturesque and operational, means bringing in a wide range of subcontractors to build and maintain all facilities.

Managing a supply chain and limiting the amount of risk involved has always been top of the agenda for the university and that’s why, since 2017, they’ve worked with SMAS Worksafe to outsource their supply chain compliance, ensuring all contractors hired to undertake work hold a valid SSIP certificate issued by SMAS Worksafe.

Why the University of Warwick chose SMAS Worksafe

As a growing and ambitious university, Warwick knew they needed to make sure that all contractors coming onto campus held the right training and qualifications, while also having other pre-qualification documents such as method statements and risk assessments in place. Managing this in-house became a sizable task, adding additional work to an already busy and bustling department.

Barbara Tsang, Procurement Officer commented:

“We are a growing university and have great ambitions. However, I understand that to achieve our ambitions and vision, we need our contractors to be the best they can and we as an organisation have to ensure that we’re hiring the right companies to do the best possible so that we all can look forward to achieving our goal and be excited doing it.”

“Outsourcing supply chain compliance and pre-qualification has meant that we can have confidence in those coming onto campus as well as limiting the amount of risk involved in our own supply chain.”

A feeling of confidence

When it came to working with the SMAS Worksafe team, Barbara was thrilled with the professionalism, commercial knowledge, and thorough understanding of the university.

“When we’re asked about supply chain compliance, we have a great feeling of confidence as we know SMAS Worksafe has all of this covered.”

Happily recommended

When asked if she would recommend SMAS Worksafe to other universities and further education facilitators, it was a resounding “yes” from Barbara.

She commented: “Yes, I happily would. We’ve enjoyed the last five years and look forward to the future with SMAS Worksafe.”