AV Hill Building Ikon Informatix and the University of Manchester Procurement Office have signed an agreement to reduce waste and control the amount of literature entering departments.
This service provides suppliers with ways of distributing marketing literature to life science and chemistry researchers that is more cost-effective and less wasteful than direct mail.
The arrangement was set up and is supported by the University Central Procurement Office.
This deal allows the Central Procurement Office to support key research, encourage departments with income generation, contribute to waste reduction and help approved suppliers.
'We now have seven News Stands in Manchester and the departments all appreciate the income that they receive and the opportunity they have to reduce waste,' said Stephen Hoare, operations director.
'This partnership means that the university's preferred suppliers have an added incentive to use the service - which is what their customers want,' he added.
The News Stand service was available at 108 locations by July 2009, with the number growing all the time.
Suppliers book a two-week slot for their literature and, at the start of the display period, an internal email is circulated in each department listing what is available on that News Stand for the coming two weeks.
The email alone can generate email enquiries and website click throughs.
At the end of the display period, each supplier gets a feedback report showing how much of their literature was taken.
