Customer case studies

Dr Tricia Brown, Head of Careers and GNVQ Business Studies at Kings’ School in Winchester.

Kings’ School leases new ICT infrastructure
 
For the past two years, Kings’ School, Winchester has received a School Achievement Award for Excellence from the DfES. Encouraged by this and other awards, Headteacher Ray Bradbury and his management team have recently made a successful bid for Special School Status in the Business and Enterprise category.

Very much in the habit of purchasing its ICT outright, Kings’ has now switched from cash to leasing to acquire the new infrastructure it requires.

Says the Head: “Obviously the projects we’re planning now require the very best technology. We need the latest operating systems and software and everything has to be upgraded, frequently.

“Leasing is by far the best way of funding this; it allows us to buy more equipment for more pupils and we can spread the cost over the useful life of that equipment. Under the terms of our 3 year Masterlease arrangement with Siemens Financial Services, we can up-grade or add new equipment at any time.”

Knowledgeable and experienced

Stuart Collymore, MD of ICT provider Versatile Solutions adds his side of the story: “We invited Siemens Financial Services to partner with us in installing our Virtual Solutions platform to Kings’ because they offer best value finance and have a very broad understanding of the education sector. Vitally, they can comply with the high standards of business ethics and transparency required by the DfES. Only a small number of finance providers are able to do this.

“We also chose them because of their attitude - their willingness to take part in a new type of scheme. SFS has a strong team of educational leasing specialists to support us. They were able to understand the challenges involved and the need to act quickly and keep it simple.”