OPEN eMarketplace is Launched – Educated Purchasing for Schools Across England

1st NOVEMBER 2011, LONDON, UK - ProcServe, a leading provider of eProcurement solutions, today announced the launch of the new OPEN eMarketplace - the one-stop shop for schools across England.

OPEN is an electronic procurement system that enables schools to securely purchase and pay for goods and services online, saving schools time and money. Using OPEN provides schools with easy access to the widest range of products and services available to the education sector. Schools can search for, and compare, products and prices from a range of suppliers and contracts (including many national and regional contracts) so that they can choose the best value for money.

Schools using OPEN can also make further savings because it helps them reduce administration effort, removing the costs of printing, faxing and posting orders.

In summary, OPEN helps schools: 

• Find goods and services faster by providing a single place to go to quickly and easily search across a broad range of suppliers;
• Get value for money by enabling schools to compare prices between suppliers through catalogue price comparison or by using the Request for Quote (RFQ) process; 
• Speed up the ordering process as there's no need to print, fax or post an order; 
• Save time keying-in invoice data as suppliers can send invoices electronically which can, if desired, be loaded automatically into a school's finance system.

Jim Knox, CEO of ProcServe, said "OPEN represents a major step towards delivering efficiencies for schools across England. It is both simple and secure, and specially tailored to help schools make better value for money purchasing decisions now and in the future."

For more information about OPEN, please visit www.openemarketplace.com.

Media Contact:
Cora Byrne, ProcServe
T: +44(0)7889 996 345
E: cora.byrne@procserve.com

Notes to Editors

About ProcServe
ProcServe offers a cloud-based solution for businesses who wish to buy goods and services from their suppliers electronically, saving time and money. The solution overcomes a major barrier to electronic procurement, namely that buyers and suppliers use a wide range of separate back office systems that receive and process data in different formats. Our key offering is the ‘ProcServe Commerce Hub', which enables buyers and suppliers to get connected and transact easily and efficiently.

By connecting to the ProcServe Commerce Hub, buyers and suppliers automatically belong to the ProcServe Commerce Network which provides the ability to join and share procurement information with similar organisations. ProcServe also provides some of the key marketplaces across the UK public sector including the Government eMarketplace, xchangewales eTrading, xchangewales eTrading for Schools, Procurement for Housing eMarketplace and the National Police Procurement Hub. For more information, please visit www.procserve.com.