Virtualstock is a British e-commerce company based in Reading, Berkshire. It was on established on Fulham Road in 2004 by Ed Bradley and Tim Ingham.[1] Their software is used as a supply chain platform by John Lewis & Partners, B&Q and Argos, extending their product ranges online.
| Industry | E-commerce |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 on Fulham Road, London, England |
| Founders |
|
Key people |
Rene Schuster, formerly of Telefónica Germany is the Chairman and CEO. He was appointed Chairman in 2018, when the company raised £3.42 million from the Enterprise Investment Scheme and was appointed CEO the following year.[2]
NHS Shared Business Services uses its Edge4Health e-procurement platform as an extension to the NHS Supply Chain. In May 2020 it was used by 140 of the 240 English NHS trusts. It displays over 7,00,000 products from more than 5,000 suppliers. The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom saw an increase in use of the platform as it was used to source products from alternative suppliers.[3] The platform was fully integrated across 20 trusts before the pandemic,[4] including several Shelford Group members. Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust has been using it since 2015.[5]
It handled £105 million of healthcare spend with a throughput of 170,000 healthcare products between February and April 2020.[6]
It established a directory called Framespan for NHS purchasing in 2022. It includes all the NHS framework agreements.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Entrepreneurs: Ordering made simple by the duo who want to save the NHS £700m". Evening Standard. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "Virtualstock bags chairman and £3.42m funding". Businesscloud. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "The trouble with the NHS - why changes to procurement methods are urgently needed". Building Better Healthcare. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "Virtualstock marketplace extension to NHS Supply Chain". Tamebay. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "NHS seeks the Amazon appeal with Virtualstock expansion". Digital Health. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "Changing Face of Retail Prompts Growth of eCommerce for NHS Health Trusts". Handy Shipping Guide. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "Simplifying procurement: New directory puts NHS frameworks in one place". Health Service Journal. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.