Leasing with ClaaS: the year in review

In April 2024, Utility Rentals launched a sister company, Classroom as a Service (ClaaS) to provide specialist finance to schools wishing to acquire IT equipment. 

As of December 2024, the new brand is off to a strong start, regularly helping schools acquire laptops in quantities of 200 to 500.

In this blog, we’re going to review the ClaaS journey so far, and discuss our plans to shake up school IT finance even further in 2025!

Equipment we finance

We finance a broad range of IT and technical equipment through ClaaS, including:

• iPads and tablets
• Laptops
• PCs
• Macs
• Interactive screens
• Digital signage
• VR headsets

Schools pay a regular subscription, and are given the opportunity to upgrade to the latest model(s) at the end of the term, which is usually two or three years. 

Not only does this offer our suppliers the opportunity to sell healthy unit numbers, it also gives them the chance of repeat business once the initial lease has expired and it’s time for the school to upgrade. (Much like the way a consumer upgrades their mobile phone at the end of the contract.)

So, what’s been happening over the first three quarters of ClaaS’s existence?

Trends we’ve observed

ClaaS may be a new business, but as part of the Utility Rentals family we’re keeping a close eye on customer trends in order to plan for the year ahead. 

These are the trends we’ve observed amongst our schools this year:

Chromebooks are rising in popularity

In October 2025, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 10, so it has been no surprise that many schools are choosing to move to Chromebooks in order to avoid future pressure to upgrade their OS. 

Schools are ordering larger volumes of Microsoft devices

Among schools who have chosen to remain with Microsoft, we’ve seen larger order volumes – often several hundred devices to kit out the whole school at once. This would often be unaffordable if the school were having to find capital budget to purchase outright, but has proved manageable with our innovative subscription model. We’re a direct funder so there are no broker fees to pay.

Sales of all-in-one devices are performing well

We’ve seen an uptick in order volumes for all-in-ones, particularly all-in-one Windows PCs. Other Windows devices are also increasing in popularity, even amongst schools that used to buy only Apple products.

The ClaaS difference

There are countless leasing companies out there, so why launch another one? 

For us, the answer is simple: schools really struggle with cashflow. They often can’t afford to pay upfront for the kit they want and need, and they can get caught up in bureaucracy when they apply for traditional finance, causing delays for you, the supplier.

All UK state schools and colleges are pre-approved for our IFRS-compliant finance and, as a direct lender, there are no broker fees.

As part of the Utility Rentals family, we work exclusively with the education sector and we’ve perfected our process to make it effortless for both schools and suppliers to close the deal.

By partnering with ClaaS, suppliers can offer their products on a compliant lease, broken down into manageable staged payments for the school. Our unique quoting tool enables suppliers to generate a professional co-branded proposal for their school prospects within seconds.

Suppliers enjoy working with us because:

• We get their products in front of the people who need them, without delays caused by tight budgets and failed funding applications.
  
• We fund a comprehensive range of equipment, from iPads to servers, and everything in-between!
  
• We help suppliers build on your existing relationships with schools by transforming their quotes into school-friendly compliant leasing proposals.
  
• We manage all customer communication (invoicing, payments and end-of-lease options), giving suppliers a shorter ‘to do’ list.

And, perhaps our most popular benefit … we pay our suppliers within 72 hours of project completion, even if the school defers payment!

More about our unique quoting tool 

Our proprietary quoting tool is unlike anything else on the market.

In a matter of seconds, suppliers can generate a full, co-branded proposal for their school of choice, with a built-in response form.

All they need to do is answer a few basic questions, then wait 30 seconds for the proposal to be created! We’ll even email it to the school in question.

Ask us for a demo of how the tool works – we guarantee you won’t have seen anything like this before.

Coming up in 2025

ClaaS is off to a strong start, and we want to carry on meeting our schools’ demands for high quality IT rentals. The key to achieving this is to continue building strong supplier partnerships. We have a fantastic network of trusted suppliers, some of whom we’ve worked with previously through Utility Rentals, and some who have come on board since we launched ClaaS in April 2024.

We operate strict criteria for our suppliers, as we need to make sure our schools are in receipt of high quality equipment.

To work with ClaaS to put your products into schools, suppliers will need to:

• Be well-established – we typically don’t work with start-ups.
  
• Show evidence of a track record and a good reputation.
  
• Be able to commit to a leasing arrangement of up to 5 years, depending on the product.

We also prefer to work with suppliers whose products make a real impact on the learning experience.

We have spaces open for a handful of new suppliers in Q1 of 2025, so if you fit the above criteria, please fill out our registration form here:

https://forms.monday.com/forms/85663e0756bee3b12d02abbf4e4b33c2?r=use1

Getting social

To learn more about the benefits of offering your products to schools on a subscription model, you can follow ClaaS on Linkedin and connect with our founder, Steve Mattey. We’re always happy to have a no-obligation chat.

Tags

• EdTech
• iPads for Schools
• Leasing school equipment