Public sector buying company YPO announces international education supplies deal

The deal sees YPO’s school supplies being distributed across key markets with English-medium schools globally.

The collaboration will enable over 1,200 public and private schools across the globe to purchase YPO products through YPO’s international website for the first time since early 2020, marking a return to the international education supplies market for the Wakefield-based organisation.

Simon Hill, managing director at YPO, said: “We have a long history of providing schools in the UK with top quality resources and supplies at excellent value, and we’re excited to be in a position to offer our products to the international market in a scalable manner for the first time since the pandemic.

“Working in partnership with CES, we’re excited to develop relationships with schools around the world and expand our operations to continue delivering profits back to the UK public sector.

“Our partnership with CES provides a platform for us to showcase our quality supplies to new audiences and build on our reputation for delivering products that help support learning and help shape future generations.”

Richard Houlton, managing director at CES Holdings, said: “It’s a pleasure to add YPO to our roster of educational suppliers, and exclusively distribute their products overseas.

“As one of the UK’s largest educational suppliers, this partnership will allow us to significantly expand our catalogue and enhance our offering for international schools.

“YPO has an excellent reputation for being a helping hand for schools in the UK and this came to the fore as we developed the materials and website for the launch of our partnership.

“We anticipate strong demand from our English-medium schools across the globe and look forward to seeing our relationship with YPO develop over the coming years.”

YPO has an annual turnover in excess of £1.1bn, with a range including around 30,000 products and 80 public sector framework contracts.

Fully owned by 13 local government member authorities, YPO has also established formal relationships with further 71 organisations - known as associate member authorities - across local government and the wider public sector.