Responsible Procurement

Enhancing the sustainability of our purchasing and sourcing practices.

Procurement Services are committed to assisting Cardiff University in building an inclusive, responsible, and resilient future for our community and bringing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) benefits to Cardiff, Wales, and the wider world.

Companies wishing to provide goods, services or works to the University are required to demonstrate a commitment to ESG considerations.

38+

Suppliers currently signed up to our Supplier Code of Conduct

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Public bodies piloting supply chain Social Value reporting with Welsh Government and the Social Value Portal

79,502

Tonnes of CO2 emissions from our supply chain between 2024-2025

Interested in working with us? Visit our Procurement for Suppliers page for more information.

Our Responsible Procurement remit

We endeavour to conduct every procurement responsibly, with emission reduction targets and social value in mind, embedding the University’s Responsible Procurement Policy and Supplier Code of Conduct to enhance fair trade and labour practices. This also includes:

Procurement’s adherence to industry best practices on sustainability, where possible and regulatory compliance
recognising the opportunities our suppliers create through a Social Value Scorecard
reporting Scope 3 Carbon Emissions from suppliers to the Welsh Government and EAUC, and supporting decarbonisation where possible
supporting local SMEs through a Help to Grow programme provided by Cardiff Business School

Our work and policies are designed to align with:

The Welsh Government’s Well-being of Future Generations Goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
International Standards such as ISO 14001, ISO 20400, and ISO 45001
collaborative efforts with other universities, such as the GW4

Working with us

Our contract terms include TUPE protections and require suppliers to comply with all relevant employment and equality laws. We also require suppliers to pay at least the Living Wage and ensure equal pay for equal roles.

Our ESG Risk Heat Map helps identify concerns within specific product categories, such as modern slavery, which helps shape the due diligence questions we ask suppliers during the procurement process.

All our IT products are sourced from framework providers that are members of Electronics Watch, ensuring that our supply chain is subject to their monitoring standards.

During procurement exercises, we will soon ask some suppliers to complete our Social Value Scorecard. This encourages them to commit to actions with social benefit, for example, creating employability opportunities for our students. Any commitments made will contribute to the likelihood of a successful tender bid.