Achieve more with less

www.rmeducation.com/rentals

Flexible leasing solutions to make your learning vision a reality today

Achieve more with less

RM Education is a global company focusing on enabling teachers to teach and learners to learn. We understand that every school’s budget is different. We can help you to find financial solutions that look beyond short term cuts and reductions in capital funding, and help you achieve more with less.

Features at a glance

With the flexible finance options from RM Rentals, you can choose how you want to pay for your essential learning resources.

We use a lease contract to allow your educational establishment to benefit from the flexibility and freedom of Rentals.

What is leasing?A lease is a budgeting tool which can give your school the freedom to get the learning resources you need immediately, spreading the cost across a payment term. You set out your exact requirements, and we structure a plan which matches your specific budgetary needs. Truly flexible!

Why Rent with RM Education?Although access to the latest learning resources and learning spaces has never been more important, and the pace of learning technology developments is greater than ever, current capital spending constraints can make investing in them seem difficult.

However, if the benefits of the latest learning technology come from using it, rather than necessarily from owning it, then why should buying be the only solution? Renting can give you the flexibility to decide how much you want to spend and when, spread the costs across the technology’s useful life, and still reap all the benefits.

RM RentalsA shortage of funds in the present needn’t affect student attainment in the future.

Length of lease term 24 to 60 months (2 to 5 years)

Minimum order value £1,000

What can be leased?Lease any manufacturer’s equipment, software and services.Any number of products or services can be combined.

Payment methodDirect debit or invoiceCan include a single invoice for all hardware, software and related services.

Payment frequencies available Monthly, quarterly, termly, half-yearly, and annual.

Call us on 08450 700 300 www.rmeducation.com/rentals

We understand educationRM Education is a global education partner, focusing on enabling teachers to teach and learners to learn. We provide valuable resources and support right across the education spectrum, from primary schools to universities. Our educational focus enables us to provide fi nancial solutions appropriate to you, unlike banks or other corporate lenders .

We provide an expert to act as your single point of contact. We’ll even complete any paperwork for you!

With us you can rent almost anything. We can offer a total fi nance solution, allowing you to incorporate not just hardware costs, but also software, associated services, furniture – in fact any equipment an educational establishment may need.

RM Education works with Local authorities to ensure that our rental solutions fully comply with their requirements.

Achieve more with less - use our online rental calculator at www.rmeducation.com/rentals to see what you could afford!

www.rmeducation.com/rentals

The benefi ts of rentingMaximise your buying power – to avoid paying for all your equipment up front, you can spread the cost over its useful life. This might allow you to broaden the scope of your ICT planning, or consider higher specifi cation equipment than wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

Simpler budgeting - payments are fi xed for the term of your agreement, so you know exactly what to budget for. Payments will be consistent with your income patterns, and there are no hidden costs.

Make it happen now - renting could enable you to implement your plans immediately, allowing your establishment to experience the teaching and learning benefi ts sooner.

Avoid the ‘technology trap’ – technology is developing so fast that its useful life can be relatively short - a potential headache if you’re buying. Our Technology Refresh option makes it possible to create a rolling programme of investment which will refresh your technology with the latest developments as and when you need them.

A total solution – your rental agreement can cover all your needs - hardware, software, third party equipment, cabling, whiteboards, projectors, enterprise print solutions and minor building works, sports and kitchen equipment… so there are no ‘extras’ to budget for.

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“Rental Holiday”If you don’t have your full budget yet but still want to put your plans into action, you can defer the rentals to a date when the funding is available. This might be a few months or longer: you decide. You can even pay the rentals in arrears, allowing the first rental on an annual plan to become due at the end of the year rather than the beginning. This could be especially useful for schools facing a significantly reduced budget, who need to make radical changes to allow for this reduction. Having a rental which doesn’t require its first payment until a year later will give the school time to make its changes and get used to their effects. Then when the payment is due, as it’s on a rental agreement and split over a number of years, the rentals will be affordable.

Sale and lease backRental agreements allow you to benefit from the use of technology without owning it, while spreading the cost over a period of years. But what about the equipment you already own? Sale and lease back allows you to transfer the equipment you’ve already purchased outright to a rental agreement, spreading the cost and thereby receiving the capital back to be used elsewhere in the school.

High or low start optionsThis is an ideal option for schools with changing budgets. For example, if a school has access to some one-off funding in year one, the school can increase the first rental. This decreases the rentals due in future years when the extra funding is no longer available. The same is possible in reverse: if a school has a reduced or deficit budget in the first year the rental can be reduced to an affordable level, with future rentals increasing when the additional budget is available. However, the increased or decreased rental can occur at any time through the lease, not just at the beginning, allowing for a truly tailored agreement which matches the highs and lows of your budget.

Tailored RentalsThrough an individual consultancy, and by using some or all of the other tools outlined here (plus a few extra we haven’t got room to talk about), we can provide you with a rental agreement that fits your specific circumstances. Because we only work in education we have a specialist understanding of the problems faced by schools, colleges, and universities, enabling us to provide this bespoke approach.

Not just ICTRentals can be used to finance almost anything: kitchen equipment, sports equipment, cabling, internal alterations, enterprise print solutions and more… The supplier doesn’t have to be RM Education either – we can rent goods from any source.

Rental optionsOur rental package is truly flexible. Choose from a number of options or create an entirely bespoke solution that meets your needs

Call us on 08450 700 300 www.rmeducation.com/rentals

The Leasing process was efficient, quick and clear.Jo Miller, Bursar, Oldfield School, Bath

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Turn over to see how Oldfi eld School use Technology Refresh to create a rolling programme of investment.

www.rmeducation.com/rentals

Leasing with RM Education has given our children immediate access to high quality technology in a manageable and affordable way.Head teacher, Harrow Gate Primary, Stockton-on-Tees

A key feature of all RM Rentals solutions is the ability to add new equipment to your existing agreement

ExampleHaving taken out the 48-month rental agreement on the right, the school could consider using technology refresh within 24 months.

In this case it would mean having £11,000 available to spend on additional equipment if they kept their expenditure the same but extended the term of their agreement by 24 months.

Technology refresh identifi es the number of payments you’ve made under your agreement and illustrates the new equipment spend possible if you maintain the same rental payments under a new contract for an extended term.

This important planning tool can help you create a rolling programme of investment. Taking advantage of the latest advances in teaching and learning when you need to.

Adding new equipment in this way is possible on all our rental solutions, irrespective of supplier.

Technology Refresh

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Restructured rentalpayments onoriginal £25,000investment

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Oldfield is an outstanding school, according to their Ofsted inspection in 2007. So how did they achieve this and how has leasing helped? RM Education visited Oldfield in November 2010 to get to the bottom of this success. Oldfield has delivered inspiring, engaging learning above and beyond that of the national standard for many years, with support from RM Education right along the way.

The school environment successfully manages to integrate exciting ICT into a secure environment which celebrates the achievements of each and every individual.

When David Waters (Assistant Head and ICT Co-ordinator) joined the school in 1999 the school had a significant amount of ICT equipment but most of it was tired and out of date. With so many machines in need of replacement the bill to do so would have been too much for the school to afford. The school had also planned to modernise its approach to ICT and its use in teaching and learning, but needed to do this sustainably.

Oldfield’s leasing planDavid told RM Education how Oldfield’s ICT strategy is reliant on leasing to enable immediate access to the latest equipment. “With a lease, we’re in the position to upgrade our vital ICT every two years, through the ‘Tech refresh’ initiative available through RM Education’s leasing service. We also make financial efficiency savings through leasing, achieving greater economies of scale through the quantity we‘re able to buy”. A rolling program of investment has allowed Oldfield to benefit from a technology replacement cycle. This is the opportunity to upgrade your equipment frequently and easily, simply by extending your lease term. That way, pupils always have access to the latest technology in school.

A Reliable school-wide networkOldfield School is one of many to adopt RM Education’s managed network solution, Community Connect 4. Investing in a secure and reliable school wide network has allowed teachers at Oldfield to go and do what they do best: teach.

“With CC4 we have a huge network, and you can rely on the fact that it will always work. We couldn’t have afforded to do that without the lease we set up; it’s pretty black and white”, explained network manager Steve Morris. The implementation of CC4 has made running a school-wide network a manageable task, as Steve explains: “With CC4 I’m able to turn off all the machines together, this saves considerable time, allowing me to focus on more important things. It’s these extra tools that really make a difference. When I do encounter unexpected issues, the RM help desk team is always really useful. They dial into the server on the rare occasions that we can’t sort the problem ourselves. It’s a really positive step forward.”

Efficient, quick and clearLike many UK schools, Oldfield is faced with a reduction in dedicated funding for ICT projects. David explains how they plan to deal with this as the school continues to develop.

“We have a budget, and we stick to it. A fund we rely on was ring fenced in the past, and now it looks like that will go. Any school based funding will now have to come from the capital budget, as that is reducing, we will be even more reliant on leasing.”

“Efficient, quick and clear” are the three words school Bursar Jo Miller used to describe the service RM Rentals offers. Jo suggests schools that looking to use leasing as a finance tool should only consider companies who already understand education. “Schools are unique companies. Organisations that work with them well recognise that fact. The ability to working around our term times is something fairly small, yet it’s something we really appreciate about RM Education”. The whole process with RM through our account manager, was very simple and hassle free”.

“We have a budget, and we stick to it. A fund we rely on was ring fenced in the past, and looks like that will go. Any school based funding will now have to come from the capital budget, as that is reducing, we will be even more reliant on leasing.”David Waters, Deputy Head Teacher and Head of ICT, Oldfield School

Oldfield School Case StudyRM Rentals provided the solution Oldfield School needed to create a sustainable program of ICT procurement

Call us on 08450 700 300 www.rmeducation.com/rentals

Isn’t it better to buy the equipment from a budget if I have it?Not necessarily! By renting, you can gain access to a full solution that meets all of your needs on day one, rather than a part solution purchased in phases over a period of years which needs replacement as soon as the final phase has completed.

What are the main benefits?• Total solutions can be chosen based on what is most suitable, not just

what your budget dictates.

• Pay for resources as they are used, not in advance.

• Easier budgeting.

• Efficient acquisition and planning.

• Conserve working capital.

• Technology refresh options allow you to add new equipment to an agreement during the term.

Why should I choose RM Education for my rental plan?We are the UK’s leading educational technology specialist: we know education. All our Rental solutions are tailored specifically to UK schools, colleges and universities, so you can be confident that you are getting a rental programme designed to meet your specific budgetary challenges.

What happens if our needs change?RM Education can structure rental agreements which allow for technology refresh, so new equipment and services can be added without the regular payment value changing. Alternatively, if you need to settle the agreement in full, you can arrange this by notifying your RM Education representative, who will arrange a quotation for you.

Can I finance equipment which is not being supplied by RM Education?Yes - any equipment an educational establishment may need.

Who owns the equipment?During the course of your agreement, ownership of the equipment remains with RM. However, at the end of the agreement RM Education is ideally placed to provide options which address your individual circumstances or financing guidelines.

Will this agreement comply with my LA’s recommended finance guidelines?Yes, our rental agreements conform to all current accounting requirements.

FAQs

www.rmeducation.com/rentals

write to usRM Education183 Milton ParkAbingdonOxon OX14 4SE

visit www.rmeducation.com/rentalsUse our online lease calculator to work out your budget.

call us

08450 700 300email us

rentals@rm.com

Contact usFollow these steps to arrange your consultation.

www.rmeducation.com/rentals

© RM Education 2011. All trademarks and copyrights of third party products are herein acknowledged. Prices and specifications are correct at the time of going to print, but RM Education reserves the right to alter them after that date. Orders are subject to RM’s standard Terms & Conditions of Contract, copies available on request. To maintain our quality standards, we may randomly monitor and record calls to enable us to provide our customers with the highest level of service. Products may differ from illustrations. Prices are subject to VAT and delivery charges at the rate prevailing at the date of RM Education confirming the order.

Truly flexible

Ask yourself the following simple questions:

• How much do you want to lease?

• How frequent would you like your repayments to be?

• How long do you want the lease term to be?

• How many students do you have?

• What day do you want to start paying?

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