Education consortium to run engagement exercise for £35m legal services panel

The Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) – a purchasing body for the further education, academies, free schools and schools sectors – has begun an early market engagement exercise in connection with its second generation legal services framework, which is worth an estimated £35m.

In a prior information notice it said the framework would enable the organisation “to engage with suppliers to better understand the market and explore potential structures and specifications”.

It added that the framework would service the needs of CPC members and the wider public sector as a whole.

The early market engagement exercise will conclude on 22 September 2017, whereupon CPC will review the outcome of the exercise and use its findings to inform the design of the framework.

In January 2014 the CPC named 21 law firms to its first framework, which contained 14 lots. This exercise was run on behalf of a consortium of further education institutions, including academies, and the North East Universities Consortium.