How we help equipment suppliers get their products into schools

Utility Rentals is an independent leasing company with a focus on school equipment. We help get the latest, high-quality equipment into schools despite their strained budgets. From IT like laptops and iPads to hand dryers, playground canopies and catering equipment – we provide it all! Leasing school equipment allows schools to spread the costs of almost any project. Our comprehensive customer service package also means we provide schools with convenient, end-to-end solutions for their equipment needs.  

In this article, we explain the ways in which we can help equipment suppliers get their products into schools. 

What equipment do we help finance? 

Before we discuss how we help suppliers, let’s first take a look at the types of school equipment we can help finance. 

We supply a wide selection of products to schools. Although we can fund almost any project (of virtually any size), the equipment we supply to schools typically falls into these broad categories:

• EdTech/IT (e.g. laptops, iPads, interactive screens, coding kits and robots)
• Design & Technology (e.g. sewing machines, 3D printers, laser cutters)
• Energy-efficient equipment (e.g LED lighting, hand dryers, Propelair toilets)
• Catering equipment (e.g. cookers and refrigerators)
• Hygiene equipment (e.g. air purifiers)
• Other (e.g. playground canopies)

If you supply any of these products, or something completely different that you think schools would benefit from, we can work with you to help get your equipment into schools.

How can we help equipment suppliers?

In this section, we’ll explain how working with us can help you overcome some common hurdles in getting your products into schools. Advantages of partnering with us include:

 1. Our connections in the education sector

As the UK’s longest-running school equipment leasing company, we’re well-connected within the education sector. Having worked with thousands of schools over three decades, we’re uniquely focussed on the education sector. This specialist approach allows us to provide hassle-free, end-to-end solutions for schools that extend beyond just finance. 

We have strong working relationships with our education customers, from nurseries to colleges. We also pride ourselves on our friendly and efficient customer service, which has earned us a strong reputation! To find out more, check out the case studies on our website. 

2. Compliant, flexible leases tailored to schools

We’re committed to compliant funding and all of our leases and subscription services run on compliant operating leases. Our leases meet the standards of:

• The Department for Education (DfE) 
• The Financial Leasing Association (FLA), and 
• The Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL)

As fully compliant funders, the schools and supplier partners we work with benefit from our transparent leasing process, with no hidden costs or surprises. We tailor every aspect of our business around compliance. This includes our upgrades policy and add-on services, including our maintenance agreements. We also communicate our rental terms to customers clearly at the outset and explain our end-of-rental options upfront. 

On top of this, our operating leases are flexible – allowing customers to upgrade during their rental period whilst avoiding high fees, for example. Unlike purchasing equipment outright, this means that schools aren’t stuck with outdated equipment which can often happen in the case of fast-changing equipment like EdTech and IT. 

Increasingly, suppliers to the education sector are having problems accessing compliant funding. Many of our competitors are struggling to fulfil the sector’s compliance requirements, making credible funders hard to come by. If you’re a supplier who’s funding options have dried up, we can provide compliant funding at market-leading rates!

3. Overcoming budgetary issues

Our flexible leases can help equipment suppliers overcome budgetary concerns or objections from schools. If a school has been unable to proceed with an equipment quote you’ve submitted due to high upfront costs, we can create a lease proposal for the same project. We break our leases down into a series of manageable payments which schools can opt to pay on a termly, quarterly or annual basis.

Providing schools with this convenient, flexible solution enables them to get the equipment they really want – without compromising. It also means they can update entire classrooms at once, without having to wait for sufficient budget or updating in dribs and drabs. We fix our rental prices for the duration of the rental term, so they aren’t subject to increases or inflation. This means that schools know exactly what they’re going to be paying and can budget with certainty. We even offer the option of deferring payments!

Once a school receives our lease pricing and agrees to it, we’ll send them an electronic rental agreement. After this is signed, we’ll formally place an order on the project for the supplier to deliver. This straightforward process avoids many of the common hurdles that may cause schools to delay proceeding with a project for financial reasons.

Benefits of working with us for equipment suppliers

By partnering with us, we can make the process of providing equipment to schools much simpler. We’ll work directly with the schools you want to supply to and all of the communication will be channelled through us. If you’ve already done the groundwork of submitting an equipment quote to a school, we’ll transform the quote into a leasing proposal that’s much easier for a school to say ‘yes’ to.

As an equipment supplier, we’ll pay you promptly. You’ll receive payment within 72 hours of a project being signed off by the customer. We’ll also take care of invoice processing. This makes us responsible for chasing invoices and payments, rather than you!

We hope that this article has given you an idea of the benefits of working with us. If you’re an equipment supplier who wants to work with schools, get in touch with our friendly team today to find out how we can help.

Tags

• equipment suppliers
• Leasing school equipment