When you think about

the Church of England

nationallywhat words or phrases come

to mind?

Old…? Big historic buildings…? Rich…? Traditional or stuffy or just old..! Women Bishops? God…? Justin Welby…?

1.7 million people attend every month.

There are 13,000 parishes, 16,000 churches.

Assets are £10 billion or more…. And spend around £250m on running costs (exc people)

Asset rich, but cash poor.

Joined up isn’t always top of the list

The Church of England – its BIG…..!!

Churches

A Large Church 849 in UK a team of 5 clergy full time admin staff a café, meeting rooms Sunday attendance > 800 annual budget £900,000

A Medium-Large Church 1665 in UK a Vicar has one Church an Administrator 4 days/week meeting rooms used in week Sunday attendance ~ 150 annual budget ~ £175,000

Churches

A Medium-Small Church 2778 in UK Vicar has 2 Churches Part-time Administrator modern building used for

weekday activities Sunday attendance ~ 90 annual budget ~ £80,000

A Small Church 7751 in UK Vicar has 4 Churches, all small small congregation, average

attendance 11 people worshiping annual budget ~ £10,000

The Church of England’s national procurement initiative:

Parish Buying

A resource with a £10 million goal

www.parishbuying.org.uk

The Parish Buying initiative was developed by two “national procurement officers” – appointed in April 2011

Under the auspices of the National Procurement Group – comprising diocesan secretaries, diocesan, national church and parish representatives

The new service was “quietly” launched in November 2011, and “loud” launched in January 2012

Releasing resource for mission and ministry

Parish choice whether they take advantage of national deals, or simply use buying advice.

The Parish Buying Service:-

Key Benefits

Buy With Confidence

Save Time

Save Money

Better Stewardship

Major opportunity to release resource (£10 million and significant volunteer hours) to support parishes in their mission and ministry

Helpful Advice

• Plus training courses from 20min briefing module to full day course for parishes doing large capital projects.

National Deals

Energy Contracted The Energy Basket Uncontracted Green Energy Oil

Photocopying Office Products I.T. SoftwareTelecoms Fire Safety IT HardwareChurch Consumables

National Suppliers

Good Stewardship in Buying

Question:Is buying ‘local’ the most appropriate way to demonstrate good stewardship when buying goods or services?

Your Buying Strategy

‘Buy Local’ - Plumbing

‘Buy Green’ – Office Products

‘Buy Quality’ – Health & Safety

‘Buy Cheap’ - UtilitiesBe flexible

Buying Guidelines

Think about who can buy and in what categories

Empower people to make decisions

Single Source v. Three quotes

Link your buying to your mission focus

Quality

The communications challenge…. Multiple buyers in parishes

– Clergy– Treasurers– Churchwardens– Administrators……

PB is a reasonably simple message and the whole audience will benefit

But process slightly complex:– Changing culture

Now:Register with Parish Buying (www.parishbuying.org.uk) Log you energy detailsSwitch to Parish Buying suppliers for the categories you currently

use

The Future:Link your buying strategy to your parish missionMake Parish Buying your first call when buying

Action Plan