06 October 2025 
Amanda Darley, Head of Operations and Engagement
HEPA was established in 2011 following a grant from the Innovation and Transformation Fund associated with the Diamond Report. Fourteen years on, its original objective to secure the status of procurement as a strategic business function has been met. Chief Financial Officers/Finance Directors and other senior managers now regard better procurement as a crucial tool to drive efficiency and effectiveness in universities, and procurement managers and directors are confident that they have the resources and support of senior management to deliver savings and efficiencies.
To align with sector developments, including the outputs of the UUK Efficiency and Transformation workstream, it has been decided to remove the HEPA branding and bring all support under the BUFDG banner. Many members will be aware that HEPA is not a separate legal entity from BUFDG or a separate special interest organisation within PHES Ltd, rather it is a ‘name’ and branding already administered as a working group of BUFDG and paid for as part of the BUFDG subscription. This change will afford the procurement community the same status as all other BUFDG working groups.
For HEPA members the only change should be the name, and there will be no adverse change in services provided, networking opportunities etc.
We will initiate a project with a number of strands to enable this transition and to realise the efficiency benefits that it will bring. It is important to note that members will not observe any change in the service that they receive. This transition will help to improve collaboration across the finance function and ensure that the Finance Director community can better support procurement teams and help maximise the strategic benefits of procurement at a crucial time for the sector.
These changes will take place over the coming months and we will keep members updated on progress as the project progresses.
We are looking forward to a period of reinvigorated support for procurement staff, and renewed focus on procurement as a key driver for efficiency, impact, and change within universities.
Members can find out more details about the change in this discussion post.
