LSE Contracts

Preferred option:  LSE in-house catering

LSE Procurement recommend the School’s in-house catering service who can provide a range of catering services, operate ethical procurement practices and pay the London Living Wage.  Unfortunately, this may not always be the case for many outside caterers. 

To see available options and to make a hospitality order online, see: LSE Catering Services

Alternative catering suppliers

On the occasions when LSE Catering may not be suitable for your requirements, accounts are held with the following companies:

Sands Catering - Sands will invoice you directly for each purchase.

Pret A Manger - To use the School’s account with Pret A Manger, and to be registered to the school-wide account, contact: procurement@lse.ac.uk

A budget code will be required when ordering. 

Estates Division's Facilities Management Team manage the contracts which look after the School's physical buildings and general environment. These include:

1. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning
2. Lighting
3. Plumbing
4. Fire alarms
5. Access control (including Salto locks)
6. Cleaning
7. Blinds, curtains and furniture
8. Plants , flowers and landscaping
9. Pest control
10. Waste and recycling

For help and information relating to any of these services , please contact the Estates Helpdesk using the relevant Help Desk Request form.  If you cannot find the appropriate form, please email Estates-help-desk@lse.ac.uk.

LSE has in-house porters for small-scale moves and a contract with EDES for larger ones.

EDES can also assist with international moves if required (e.g members of staff moving to London).

For further information, please contact estates.space.requests@lse.ac.uk

Software

Software purchases at LSE range from 'off the shelf' products, to hosted applications to major development projects. Purchasing software differs from buying other goods and services as strictly speaking, you are not buying the software, but buying the right to use the software.

Software that is available from the IT helpdesk

For a list of what's available to purchase, visit: Purchasing software from the help desk

Software for complex IT projects

For more complex software systems you will need to contact the Information Management and Technology (IMT) Programme Management Office, who will assist with the initiation and management of projects. If you are planning a major development, there is a formal process to follow.

Please ensure that your requirement has been discussed with the relevant head of division or divisional representative to ensure it is in line with divisional strategy and service development plans. See Programme Management Office

PDF guide to buying software at LSE

LSE Procurement and Information Management and Technology (IMT) have produced a PDF guide to help staff navigate through the relevant factors and processes that will result in a satisfactory outcome for the School. See  Guide to buying software at LSE [PDF]

Hardware including Mobile Phones

Please refer to IMT's webpages if you need to purchase any IT equipment or if you would like to arrange a mobile telephone contract/buy a handset.

The School has a long-term contract with Lyreco. 

Stationery orders are placed either through OneFinance for orders being delivered to School Campus or by a Lyreco Web-Portal for orders that require delivery to home addresses.

Staff are encouraged to buy 'green leaf' items from Lyreco, as these are the most sustainable and environmentally-friendly options.

Plrease see the following page for more information regarding stationery ordering: Lyreco Web Catalogue 

There are four valid reasons for staff to use taxis on School business.

The applicable reason must be given to the taxi company at the booking stage:

• Meeting tight deadlines
• Transporting bulky materials
• Most economic form of travel
• Late night working

The School has taxi accounts with the following companies:

Addison Lee

Green Tomato Cars

You will be required to provide a budget code when booking.

To take advantage of the account arrangements, please contact us to be registered to the School's account: procurement@lse.ac.uk

Adecco is the School's preferred supplier for temporary and agency staff.

To discuss your requirements, please contact Louise Corke on louise.corke@adecco.co.uk or 0207 016 7650.

An alternative contact is Donna Owens on donna.owens@adecco.co.uk .

For value for money and traveller safety reasons, please book your travel and accommodation via our dedicated Travel Management Company (TMC), Diversity Travel.

Diversity is a specialist academic and charity travel company.

Their dedicated travel booking team (Bay Team) are located in Chancery Lane and will answer travel enquiries within two hours. Please contact them on:

Bay Team's opening hours are: 

• Mon-Fri 08:45 - 17:30
• Sat & Sun: 08:00 - 17:30
• For out of hours enquiries (including urgent bookings) please use the emergency line. 

Alternatively, you can book online 24/7 via the online booking tool.

To book you must be set up as an Authorised Booker. Please ask your Budget Controller/ Departmental Manager to email procurement@lse.ac.uk and we will arrange your set up within 24 hours.

Further information and guidance on the travel booking process is provided in our  Guide to purchasing travel and hotel accommodation [PDF] .

This Guide includes details of LSE rates and deals with local London hotels (Club Quarters, Citadines, the Grange, the Goodenough Club and Strand Palace) and LSE's  Faculty Accommodation Service, who can help you find the most appropriate accommodation for longer-stay requirements in the London area.

Travel Policy

You can find information on the School's Travel Policy in the Travel, Subsistence and Personal Expenses Policy and Procedures. The key points are:

• Premium Economy/ Business Class travel is normally only allowed for flights over 8 hours in duration (check the Policy for a limited number of exceptions to this rule)
• Rail Travel must always be Economy/ Standard Class
•  You should always try to keep hotel costs within the Government Daily Rates for the city you are staying in. You can find these by typing 'Government Daily Rates' into a search engine.

Travel Insurance and Travel Risk

LSE's Health and Safety Team manage the School's travel insurance arrangements and hold the policy cover note. For more information, please see here.

Any booking made with Diversity Travel is automatically notified to Health and Safety.

Airbnb

The School does not yet have an official policy on booking through Airbnb, but travellers considering booking via this option are strongly advised to contact Health and Safety to ensure all risk factors have been taken into account.

Corporate Airbnb accounts can be set up at :  https://www.airbnb.co.uk/work 

Please note that you are required to pay for Airbnb bookings on a card.

Corporate Airbnb hosts provide additional facilities and an improved customer service compared with standard Airbnb. LSE also has access to the Corporate Airbnb travel tracker for accommodation booked via their website.

LSE has an in-house Design Unit who produce design materials and official publications for the School.

The School also has an in-house Reprographics Service who manage the LSE contract for Multi-Functional Devices which do printing, photocopying and scanning (MFDs) and provide quotes for new MFD installation, servicing and maintenance.

Reprographics also offer bulk printing services and can produce LSE-branded letterheads, business cards, envelopes etc.

LSE has a contract with Cooleraid for plumbed-in watercoolers.

The price for a plumbed-in unit is £132 per annum including VAT.

The price includes site survey, installation, 6-monthly sanitisation visits and WEEE disposal where required.

Cooleraid also donate 10% of their revenue from mains-fed water coolers to the Lifeline Fund.

For further information, you can contact adam@cooleraid.co.uk

LSE has a contract with Stearn Electrical who can provide a range of electrical items including kettles, toasters, microwaves, fridges, freezers and dishwashers. The core list of items we have with Stearn has been approved by LSE Sustainability.

For further information and pricing, please contact Suzy Baverstock at Stearn on suzy.baverstock@stearn.co.uk.

Please advise Estates Helpdesk if you are purchasing any new items as they are likely to require PAT testing.