Grahame joined Glasgow-based BiP Solutions Ltd as Production Director in 2003, following 13 years as Magazine Editor, Publisher and latterly Publishing Director at EMAP plc. He is responsible for the Media Department at BiP, which includes the Contracts, Communications and Design Teams that are responsible for producing the range of Government Opportunities products.

Nigel joined the civil service as Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce in September 2007. He is a 2nd Permanent Secretary at the Treasury and a member of the Treasury Board. He is also the head of the Government Procurement Service and Project and Programme Management professions. Nigel has a successful track record spanning over 30 years of leading major national and global companies. Most recently he has been responsible, as President the Invensys Rail Group, for the strategic direction and business performance of the global rail industry activities of Invensys Plc.

MIKE GREATWICH Commercial Director, Office of Government Commerce

Michael has 22 years experience in procurement in the MoD including experience of Project Management, procurement policy development, Project finance and Business Management.  For the past six years Mike has been working as a commercial officer - as the Senior Commercial Officer for the Field Army and then the Commercial Director for MoD's IS/IT projects. He holds degrees in Science and Engineering, is a member of the Association of Project Management and the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors and is an affiliate member of both CIPS and the GPS. His primary foci are the top 13 IS/IT suppliers to Government, the Construction Industry and Consultancies.  Michael's Division is working on all three of these Supplier areas in the context of Transformational Government, Transforming Government Procurement and the Supplier Management Initiative.

HELEN HUGHES National Adviser, Voluntary and Community Sector, IDeA 

Helen joined the Improvement and Develoment Agency (IDeA) in October 2004, having previously worked in the voluntary and community sector (VCS). Before that she worked for two years with the Open University, followed by eight years in the NHS. In 1995, Helen set up the Gloucester Council for Voluntary Services where she was Chief Executive for nine years. During this time she was also a member of the steering group which set up the Regional Voluntary Sector Forum, sat on the Home Office Reference Group for the 2002 cross-cutting review of the VCS role in public service delivery and was a trustee of the then National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service.

Neil is Head of Business Services at Hampshire County Council and has been a member of the Central Buying Consortium (CBC) Management Board since 1997. He is known to suppliers and local government alike as an active supporter of initiatives to obtain greater value for money through aggregation of purchasing for the public and voluntary sectors. Neil took over as CBC Chair from Ros Aird in September 2007.

DR PETER KYLE Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Strategy and Enterprise, ACEVO

EDDIE REGAN Senior PASS Consultant, BiP Solutions

Eddie is BiP Solutions’ Senior Procurement Consultant and frequently assists public sector organisations with clarification and interpretation of EU Directives and a wide variety of legislative issues.  He is also lead consultant on BiP’s PASS Mark Health Check and provides in-house training on the tendering process – law and practice – to personnel in both the public and private sectors, including several multinational organisations.

NICHOLAS MAXWELL Head of Contracts and Voluntary Sector Partnerships, Westminster City Council

Roger joined the London Development Agency in March 2007 as the Agency’s first permanent Director of Procurement. He has built a new team and significantly enhanced the organisation’s strategic procurement capability and played a key role in developing major projects. He first moved into the public sector in 2004 as Head of Procurement for Ealing Council where he led a rapid transformation of the function, taking it from its previously highly critical assessment by the Audit Commission to delivering significant successes that were recognised at several national awards. Before that, Roger spent ten years at BAE Systems in a variety of roles, from delivering significant cost reductions to driving leading-edge corporate change programmes. Roger is a fully qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.

The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) was formed after the abolition of the Greater Manchester Council in 1986. The 1985 Local Government Act devolved power to local areas but also recognised that there were some functions that needed to be coordinated at a metropolitan level. AGMA was formed to undertake these functions. The Association is a partnership between the ten local authorities within the Greater Manchester area. These ten authorities cooperate on a number of issues, both statutory and non-statutory, where there is the possibility of improving service delivery by working together.