Not everything an institution buys suits a twelve-month price list. The arrangement is chosen to fit the requirement, and an institution can use all three.
Twelve months, many buyers
Framework agreement
A category is competed once on the pooled volume of many institutions. The result is an agreed price list that runs for twelve months. Members order against it whenever they choose, with no minimum volume and no obligation to order at all.
SuitsAnything bought repeatedly through the year: textbooks, furniture, laboratory consumables, fertiliser.
Institutions pledge quantities while a window is open. The combined volume is competed once, each institution confirms its own share, and a single order follows. Nothing is ordered for an institution that did not confirm.
SuitsA requirement everybody has at the same time: examination stationery, a season of farm inputs, one equipment refresh.
An institution appoints us to run a procurement for it alone, outside the pooled arrangements. The two above cost buyers nothing and are funded by supplier subscriptions. A mandate is a paid engagement, because the work is done for one institution rather than for the pool.
SuitsA capital purchase, a specialised requirement, or a procurement an institution must run in its own name.
Associations that never bought collectively now can. No member gives up its independence to take part.
101
Associations mobilise
Member institutions signal what they already buy, through their association. Nobody commits to anything yet.
↳ Aggregated demand signal
202
We negotiate
Competitive tender or structured negotiation, on the strength of that volume, with the association endorsing the award. The outcome is a twelve-month framework, or a single pooled purchase where the requirement is one-time.
↳ Framework agreement, or bulk purchase award
303
Members buy
Institutions order at the agreed price and terms, or confirm their own share of a pooled purchase. No re-tender, and no obligation to order at all.
↳ Contract-linked e-catalogue, or confirmed order
404
Value is passed on
Savings go straight to the institution. Nothing is clipped in transit, and every price and order is traceable.
A good price on day one is easy. These are the three mechanisms that keep it good twelve months in.
Before it publishes
Nothing goes live unvetted
A supplier is prequalified before its catalogue can publish, and documents are re-checked at expiry. An expired certificate suspends the catalogue.
✓Certificate of Incorporation
✓KRA Tax Compliance Certificate
✓Public liability insurance
✓Audited accounts
While it's live
The contract decides, not the supplier
A price change is a request. The first test is whether the agreement permits it at all. If it doesn't, it is refused. Approved changes get an effective date and a new catalogue version, so the price on any past order is provable.
v3.1→v3.2
Effective 01 Sep 2026 · orders before that date stand at v3.1
If it slips
Failure has consequences
Late, short and defective deliveries are recorded against the supplier, not just fixed and forgotten. A pattern triggers a formal review, and a supplier can be suspended or removed from the framework.
On-time
94%
Non-conformances
2
Figures shown are from the pilot dataset and are illustrative.
Who it's for
One platform, three doors
Each door works both ways. Here is what you get, and what we ask for in return.
For Buyers
Institutions & members
What you get
Negotiated prices from day one
Prequalified, vetted suppliers only
No platform fees, ever
Full autonomy over what you order
What we ask
Accurate master data, and orders placed through the platform so your association can show what membership delivered.
Buying under mandate is separate. TVCCL also acts for buyers who appoint us directly, on terms agreed with them: overseas buyers, large institutions procuring in their own name, and one-off events such as games, rallies or concerts.
The platform is funded by supplier subscriptions. No joining fee, no transaction fee, no percentage. Buyers pay nothing.
02
We don't hold your money.
You receive the supplier's invoice and pay them directly, on your normal terms. Nothing routes through us.
03
We don't oblige you to buy.
Framework agreements are non-binding on buyers. No minimum, no quota, and no penalty for ordering nothing at all.
04
We don't publish an unvetted supplier.
Registration, tax compliance, insurance and past performance are checked before a catalogue goes live, and re-checked at expiry.
Accountability
How we are accountable
The same operator runs the competition, holds the agreement and executes the order. These are the controls that keep that honest, and the record each one leaves.
Before we act
We buy as your agent
TVCCL acts on a written consent your institution signs. We are not a reseller. We never take title to the goods and resell them to you, so there is no margin sitting between the supplier's price and the price you pay.
Agency consent
VHL/CON/2026/031
Signed
14 Feb 2026 · renewable annually
During the competition
Bids stay sealed until the deadline
A submitted bid is locked. Nobody at TVCCL can read a price before the deadline passes, the opening is timestamped, and a late bid cannot be slipped in behind the others.
VHL/RFX/2026/012
Sealed
Opens
30 Sep 2026, 14:00
Responses in
9 received · 0 read
Before the award
Your association endorses the result
No framework exists until the associations whose members it serves have seen the evaluation and endorsed the recommendation. An endorsement withheld stops the award.
Award recommendation
VHL/AWD/2026/007
Endorsed
13 Oct 2026 · 4 of 4
Afterwards
Every step leaves a record
Prices carry a version and an effective date, so the price that applied to any past order is provable rather than remembered. Every action behind it is on the audit trail with a name and a time against it.
30 SepBids openedProcurement
06 OctEvaluation recordedPanel
13 OctAward endorsedAssociations
01 NovCatalogue v1.0 effectiveSystem
You can check all of it. The consent you signed, the competition documents, the endorsement and the version history of every price are open to the buyer and the association at any time.
References and dates shown are from the pilot dataset and are illustrative.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is my institution obliged to buy?
No. Framework agreements are non-binding on buyers. Your institution chooses if, when and how much to order. Participation in each agreement is entirely voluntary.
What does it cost buyers?
Nothing. The platform is funded through supplier subscriptions, so institutions access negotiated prices at no cost.
How are suppliers vetted?
Suppliers are prequalified against registration, tax, insurance and performance requirements, and approved per framework agreement before any catalogue goes live.
How are prices set?
Through competitive processes or structured negotiation on the strength of aggregated demand, then locked into the agreement and e-catalogue with full version history.
