The British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) is pleased to announce that Havering Education Services has become a member of the 80-year-old trade body, becoming one of the first local councils to join.
Havering Education Services is the London Borough of Havering’s commercial brand of support services to education establishments. Its service providers are highly regarded by schools, academies, colleges and early years providers and have a long history of establishing strong partnerships and relationships with key stakeholders in these institutions so as to ensure high quality day-to-day support leading to positive outcomes for children and young people.
Their commercial approach and strong, established reputation meant they qualified for BESA membership, which is seen by educational establishments across the country – and internationally – as an important mark of quality.
Patrick Hayes, Director at BESA said: “We welcome Havering Education Services into BESA membership. London Borough of Havering is at the cutting-edge of developing a commercial brand of support services to education establishments, and we were therefore satisfied that they fully met the criteria for membership. We look forward to working closely with them in the coming months. With Havering leading the way in becoming a BESA member and signing up to our Code of Practice, we expect other councils beginning to take a similar commercial approach may also follow in their footsteps.”
Tim Aldridge, Director for Children Services at Havering said: “We are very proud to be accepted into this prestigious association. And, as one of the only members from councils, we hold a unique position. HES already supplies schools with services across London and the wider South East region, and we are looking to expand this and also talk to businesses outside of education to see if they would be interested in our HR Services, Payroll Service, Health and Safety Advisory Service, to mention but a few.”
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About BESA:
BESA, the British Educational Suppliers Association, is the trade association covering the entirety of the UK educational suppliers sector. It operates on a not-for-profit basis and is accountable to an Executive Council that is elected by member companies.
It has an 80-year heritage serving the UK education sector and represents over 300 educational suppliers in the UK, including manufacturers and distributors of equipment, materials, books, consumables, furniture, technology, ICT hardware and EdTech to the education market.
BESA has a Code of Practice to which all members must adhere, along with a stringent membership process, both of which assure schools of a high standard of quality.
 For more information, visit: www.besa.org.uk
