Industry News
Bursars 'waste 12p in every £1 on poor IT finance deals'
Posted on 19th June 2007
Bursars in the education sector are making poor decisions that ultimately lead to financial losses, according to a new study.
Research conducted by Smartfundit.com claimed that £26 million is lost by UK schools undertaking IT deals and leases each year - meaning that 12 per cent of spending is wasted.
Interest rates, administrative costs and extra charges are all contributory factors to this loss, according to the company's figures.
Suki Gallagher, chief executive officer of Smartfundit.com, commented: "Sourcing specialist IT finance can be a complex task made all the more difficult by the lack of transparent advice and information."
She added that this complexity can be a major factor in the funds that are currently being wasted by bursars.
Gavin Corbett, Operations Director, SFS Group commented “Having worked with Bursars for over ten years, I know them to be arguably the most practical and vigilant community of people I do business with. Bursars will regularly challenge what is seen to be the ‘norm' in order to get a better deal for their school. Many Bursars have recently proved this sentiment by switching Property & Liability Insurance based on better service and price”.
One school in Dunbartonshire has recently adopted podcasts, blogs and other new media to communicate with other schools in Europe in what has been seen as a trailblazing innovation, the BBC reports.