Eddie Regan

Eddie is BiP Solutions' Senior Procurement Consultant. Working alongside the Client Services team, he frequently assists public sector organisations with clarification and interpretation of EU Directives and a wide variety of legislative issues. Eddie is lead consultant on BiP's PASS Mark Health Check, an evaluation technique that helps identify how organisations in both the public and private sectors can develop more effective processes in respect of all aspects of public sector contracting. A member of the International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association (IPSERA), Eddie is also the senior adviser on BiP's unique Tender Support Helpline team, which provides advice on contracting matters to hundreds of clients. For the last 13 years Eddie has lectured regularly on procurement policy and processes at conferences and events, both on behalf of BiP and for a variety of other organisations, including the Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO) and the Institute of Directors. He also provides in-house training on the tendering process – law and practice – to personnel in both the public and private sectors, including several multinational organisations.

Digby Barker

Drawing on his consultancy experience and government background – including posts in MoD HQ and HM Treasury – Digby specialises in helping companies win and profit from public sector business, advising in particular on marketing strategy and tender preparation. His experience includes research, operational/decision analysis, resource allocation, project management and acquisition, especially the development of procurement strategies, ITTs and tender evaluation schemes.

Stephen Dickinson

Formerly Director of Procurement at the South West London Procurement Alliance and Head of Purchasing for Kingston Hospital NHS Trust, Stephen has implemented considerable development in procurement management during his career of almost 40 years in the NHS, leading both hospital-based and multi-authority teams. He has worked closely on ensuring that equality and diversity and procurement goals are aligned through effective procurement and commissioning, including contributing to the DH Mosaic project. He has a particular interest in the development of small businesses within service provision to public authorities and has worked on SME compliance with the public contract regulations and ensuring value for money. Stephen has lectured on both graduate and postgraduate courses in public sector procurement and commercial relationships.

Florence Gregg

Florence has over 25 years’ procurement experience gained in the Health Service and Higher Education sectors. She was Head of Purchasing at Queen's University Belfast from January 1998 to May 2004, where she managed change, implemented e-procurement solutions and developed a proactive, supportive procurement function working with the institution's decentralised part-time buyers. Since then, Florence has worked as a purchasing consultant specialising in performance and efficiency measurement; competitive tendering guidance to both buyers and suppliers; and the development and implementation of procurement strategies, policies and procedures. Her clients include the UK Higher Education sector; Learning and Skills Council; Central Procurement Directorate Northern Ireland; Dublin City Council; BiP Solutions Ltd; and various universities and local authorities in the UK and Ireland. She is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars in the UK, Ireland and USA, and is a Chartered Institute of Arbitrators accredited mediator.

Peter Howarth

Peter has a long track record in procurement and local government. In October 2003 he started his own consultancy and training company (SBV Ltd) specialising in procurement and contracting matters, primarily in the public sector. He is currently the Chief Executive of the Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO). Prior to that he had spent three years with the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) where he worked as a member of the team developing IDeA Marketplace. He is also a member of the National e-Procurement Project board, a Director of the Ipswich and Sudbury Enterprise Agency, primarily working on their strategy group, and is a regular conference speaker and workshop facilitator. His earlier posts include Director of Strategic Management, Associate Director of Resources and County Purchasing Officer for Suffolk County Council. Whilst at Suffolk he led on the introduction of Best Value and was responsible for a number of cross-functional projects and departments. He has also worked for Shropshire County Council as Deputy County Supplies Officer. Peter spent 15 years in engineering procurement, primarily with British Leyland - originally in the Automotive division working on development projects for sports cars such as the TR7, and then in the Special Projects division, mainly for Coventry Climax. Peter is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and a member of IPSERA. He was one of the first graduates from the Birmingham University MBA in Strategic Procurement and also holds a degree in Applied Economics, but maintains that serving an apprenticeship in a Coventry car factory prepared him for most things in life!

Paul King

Paul has over 30 years high level management experience in both the private and public sectors. He was a county council Chief Officer, responsible for all commercial activity including tendering for work in competition with the private sector, with over 2,500 staff in five services and a £13m turnover. He was the founder, spokesman and Chair of the Forum of DSO Managers with a membership of over 30 UK local authorities. He has worked in most countries in the Middle East including Iraq and created the UK subsidiary for a large European FM company and grew the business to £5m in four years, making it the fastest growing worldwide subsidiary. He has also acted as a “company doctor” for SMEs, identifying weaknesses, creating long term stability and focussing business development and has been a regular speaker/chairman at seminars on public procurement. Between 2001 and 2005 he was CEO - Business Development for a Government contractor with sales of over £80m, generating sales of £30m p.a. including ground breaking contracts in new areas of business including the company’s first overseas contract in Israel. He is currently consulting to the private sector and is also involved with manufacturing and distributing cutting edge renewable energy products.