Speakers
Dave Wheller
Chairman CBC, Head of Procurement & Direct Services, Essex County Council
Former Chairman of the Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO), Chairman of the Procurement Agency for Essex, and Member of the CIPS Council, Dave is also a Member of the Local Authority Committee of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.
John Oughton
Chief Executive, OGC
John became the new Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce on 1 April 2004. Previously Deputy Chief Executive, he took over from Sir Peter Gershon. As Deputy Chief Executive he led the OGC's work to support government departments improve their capability to deliver major acquisition programmes and projects successfully. His successful delivery role involved the development of Best Practice guidelines on IT projects and property & construction, as well as the promotion of the Skills Agenda to improve programme and project management expertise across government. In a public service career in the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office and now the OGC, John has held appointments in both the policy and delivery fields. He has also been Private Secretary to three different defence ministers under two administrations and to the Personal Adviser to the Defence Secretary. Prior to joining the OGC in April 2003, John was, from September 1998 to March 2003, the senior civilian appointee in the Defence Logistics Organisation.
Dr Andrew Larner
Director, South East Centre of Excellence
Dr Larner is a former Director of the IDeA subsidiary the Local Government Information House, which he established in 1998 to enable local authorities to act collectively with Information Age related projects. Prior to joining local government he worked in academia and the private sector, taking his PhD part time on some of the legal aspects of handling information. He has worked in a variety of countries including South Africa, China and various European and Middle Eastern states. Andrew was one of the first Directors appointed to a Centre of Excellence.
Mike Osborn
Programme Manager, Smarter Procurement Directorate, OGC
Mike works for the OGC within the Smarter Procurement Directorate as Programme Manager: Better Regulation Task Force Projects (BRTF). The team’s purpose is to contribute to the OGC key objective of making the government marketplace more attractive to suppliers in all sectors.This will provide public sector procurement professionals with increased choice and enable them to maximise opportunities to contribute to the Government’s efficiency and value for money agenda. Prior to this appointment, Mike was Business Manager for the Consultancy Division of OGC’s Successful Delivery Directorate. Currently managing national projects to support the OGC’s commitment to implement the BRTF recommendations concerning supply chain management, SME and procurement training and pre-qualification questionnaires, he is also responsible for support to the DTI’s Small Business Service in delivering a common web portal for easier access by SMEs to wider public sector contract opportunities. Prior to joining the Civil Service Mike held several senior management positions in the private sector.
Neil Jarrett
Chartered Civil Engineer
Neil is a Chartered Civil Engineer with qualifications and experience in Business Management. His early career was in the management, design and supervision of major construction projects in the UK and overseas where he gained a wide appreciation of scientific, engineering and environmental issues. His specialist knowledge includes supply chain partnering, establishing collaborative contracts, risk and design management. He is a trained facilitator and has run workshops for HM Treasury, NHS Estates, DETR, local authorities and contractor organisations. In 1995, Neil worked with the UK Government, DETR and DTI helping to draft the Egan Report,‘ReThinking Construction’, as well as setting up the £5 million per annum Construction Best Practice Programme. He has been a project management consultant since 1997. In 2002 he set up and led the Collaborative Working Centre, an organisation to provide training and support to clients and contractors to help them develop and implement a strategic approach to supply chain management.
Dr David Moon
Procurement Programme Manager,WRAP
Dr Moon manages the Procurement Programme at WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme). His work aims to increase the demand from end-clients for goods, works and services that use recycled content – notably in construction, highways, estates management and printed matter. He therefore targets both the public and private sectors. David is a materials scientist by background, and has spent many years managing large projects and programmes. Before joining WRAP, he was on secondment at the Department for Trade and Industry for 18 months, managing a Government-industry task force looking at the competitiveness of the UK's environment industry.
Neil Argyle
Director of Purchasing, NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency
Neil has been in procurement all his career, which is coming up to 40 years in total. He started his NHS career in his home town of Chesterfield in 1975 before moving to Northampton, then Bedford as Divisional Supplies Manager in 1983. After spending a short time as Director of Purchasing in East Anglia Regional Health Authority he became National Purchasing Executive with NHS Supplies on its formation in 1992. Since that time he has held a variety of posts at national level. He is currently a Director of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, based in Reading. His role covers three areas – management of the national pharmaceuticals procurement team, regional responsibilty for development of confederations in the East Midlands, and corporate functions including legal advice, supplier management policy, emergency planning and production of the Agency's business plan.
Also speaking at this event are Will Parsons and Mark Allen (Qualitar), Rona Bassett (Hedra), Richard Hogg (Achilles),Adrian Gibson (Essex County Council), James Sheppard (West Sussex County Council) and Clive Hammond (Suffolk County Council).