Why suppliers should partner with Utility Rentals
As an equipment supplier to the education sector, you know that schools are always short of money. They may want…
As an equipment supplier to the education sector, you know that schools are always short of money. They may want what you have to offer, but budget limitations may mean they scale back what they order, or choose not to proceed at all.
That’s where we come in. Utility Rentals has nearly 40 years’ experience in providing compliant leases to the education sector, helping schools fund everything from sewing machines and dishwashers to iPads and interactive screens. Instead of requiring a large upfront sum, we help schools spread the cost of their equipment over its useful life. Often, this helps them order in larger volumes than they might have done otherwise.
Working in partnership with our suppliers
As a supplier, you have the technology and expertise to enhance learning environments with products like iPads, printers, solar panels, and other renewable energy solutions. Our role is to facilitate the entry of these products into schools through our flexible, fully compliant leasing arrangements.
We pay our suppliers within 72 hours of project completion, even if the school defers its payments.
We also manage all customer communications regarding invoicing, payments, end-of-lease options, and upgrades, allowing you to focus on delivering exceptional projects.
Read on to discover all the benefits of working with Utility Rentals to put your products into schools that might not otherwise be able to afford them …
Utility Rentals vs other leasing companies
Let’s get straight to the point: there’s no shortage of leasing companies out there. But there’s a reason why we’re going to be celebrating our 40th anniversary next year.
When you work with Utility Rentals, you benefit from our:
- Long track record. Did we mention we’re turning 40 next year?! As specialists in the educational finance sector, we’ve developed a deep and detailed understanding of how schools operate and the challenges they face.
- Trustworthy reputation. We’ve been a Platinum Service Provider on Feefo for 6 years now, and have maintained an “Exceptional” rating of 4.9. We also have plenty of case studies and testimonials from schools, describing how we’ve helped them afford the equipment they need by spreading the cost over several years.
- Smooth process. We’ve described this in more detail below, but the short version is that we pay you within 72 hours, and take the majority of the admin off your plate.
- Connections with schools. Often, schools will approach us to ask if we know of anyone who supplies a particular product. So, working with us doesn’t just help you close the sales leads you have; it can even help you generate new ones.
- Independence. As a direct lender, we rely on no third-party funding and incur no expensive broker fees. Being a direct lender also means your customers don’t have to worry about failed funding applications: all schools, academies, colleges, and universities automatically qualify for our leases.
- Flexibility. We handle projects of all sizes, from single appliances to complete playground refits, building strong relationships with both schools and suppliers.
If you’re already a preferred supplier to a school, we can help convert your proposal into a school-friendly leasing plan.
How it works
We’ve honed our process over the years to be as slick as possible for both schools and suppliers.
Here’s how it works:
- Quote: You confirm the project requirements and send us a trade price quote, including equipment, professional services, and any additional services like training or extended warranty.
- Proposal: We provide a proposal outlining manageable payment plans, typically annual or quarterly.
- Rental agreement: If the school agrees, we send them an electronic rental agreement.
- Order: Once the agreement is signed, we place an order with you.
- Project delivery: You deliver the project with our support.
- Invoice payment: We pay your invoice within 72 hours of project completion.
Ongoing management: We handle all invoicing and payment follow-ups with the school.
Supplying IT equipment? Check our our sister company, ClaaS
Fully compliant leases
Compliance with all the relevant standards is hugely important to us at Utility Rentals, which is why all of our leases:
- are IFRS 16 compliant
- adhere to the Department for Education’s guidelines
- comply with the advice of the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL)
- are in line with the recommendations of the Financial Leasing Association (FLA).
We keep a close eye on all advice and regulations relating to leases for school equipment, and we always act with complete transparency – this is why we’ve been in business for so long, and with so many glowing customer testimonials.
Become a Utility Rentals supplier
We have partnerships with over 150 pre-vetted education suppliers, allowing us to source a broad range of products at competitive prices. We’re always interested in onboarding new suppliers, as long as they comply with our high standards.
What we’re looking for
We typically only work with established suppliers. Start-ups come and go, but we need to know you’ll be around if our schools have any issues with, or questions about, your products.
And, just as our track record and reputation are central to our business, we’ll look for evidence of the same in your business.
We also ask that you are able to commit to a leasing arrangement of up to 5 years, depending on the product.
If that sounds like you, we’d love to talk! To explore opportunities for getting your equipment into schools, contact our expert team today.
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