Stone offers public sector finance lifeline

Public sector IT supplier claims De Lage Landen deal will simplify education IT procurement

Stone Group has signed a three-year deal worth £30m with finance provider De Lage Landen to help ease procurement costs for its customers.

The deal allows Stone to offer finance support directly to its education and public sector customers, rather than rely on more costly vendor leasing programmes.

James Bird, chief executive of Stone, explained: "Many manufacturers and OEM offer leasing arrangements through some form of broker and they need to make margins.

"This means that education establishments are paying more for the privilege of getting access to the vital funds they need."

Bird also claims the deal should make the overall procurement process quicker, as well as less costly for end users.

"We believe we now offer the lowest-cost finance options to ensure that education establishments get the IT that they need to make a demonstrable difference in the education of pupils and students," added Bird.

"This type of continued cannibalisation of the supply chain is what is needed to drive best value [for money] in education."