Speakers

Keynote Speaker - John Swinney MSP

Public procurement reform opens the door for procurement professionals, managers and suppliers to work together to deliver a more successful Scotland. The 3rd Scottish Government National Public Procurement Conference will bring together delegates from the public and private sectors across the length and breadth of the country. This event will be the leading forum for discussion and networking for public sector personnel involved in procurement in Scotland.

Chairman - Brian Taylor

This event will provide you with a unique opportunity to network with a highly influential audience of procurement personnel from across all areas of the Scottish public sector. With an expected audience of 600 delegates this event will be the premier event in the Scottish procurement calendar. Any company which is already involved with, or is considering becoming involved with, the public sector in Scotland would greatly benefit by attending this event.

Alan Boyd

Alan is a recognised expert on a wide range of law affecting public bodies and local authorities including statutory powers, public procurement, state aids and statutory interpretation. He is one of the few lawyers in private practice who drafts and advises on parliamentary legislation. A former President of the Law Society of Scotland, Alan had over 20 years’ experience working as a lawyer in the public sector, including 13 years as Head of Legal Services for Irvine Development Corporation. He has a deep understanding of administrative law and regulatory matters and has been involved in establishing groundbreaking Public Private Partnerships. He regularly trains lawyers and other professionals in European procurement and State aid law

Councillor Alison Hay

Alison is COSLA's Regeneration and Sustainability Spokesperson. Formerly a civil servant, she is a member of the Scottish Liberal Democrat Group on Argyll and Bute Council and sits on the Executive Committee. She is also a member of the Environment Policy and Performance Group, which looks at all the green and sustainable issues of the Council.

Alison is a member of the Agency Board of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency(SEPA) and chairs the Boards of Auchindrain and Kilmartin House Museums. She is a founder member of GRAB – the Group for Recycling in Argyll and Bute.

Mike McNally

Since taking up his post, Mike has led the implementation of Glasgow City Council’s approach to securing Community Benefit within Commonwealth Games-related contracts. Prior to his current role, Mike was the project manager for overseeing Glasgow’s bid to host the 2014 Games. Mike has a background in operational and change management and business improvement in a number of large public sector organisations.

Colin Maclean

Colin is non-executive director of the Scottish Futures Trust and works with its Board in shaping the new organisation and its strategy, and ensuring the best talent is attracted to deliver its accountabilities. Colin spent 40 years in the oil industry with BP, initially in exploration as a practising geologist, through project and business development of major new offshore production in the North Sea, and latterly leading refining and petrochemical manufacturing businesses in Australia, the UK and USA. He has led transformation of stagnant industries, for example, the moribund UK offshore industry of the early 90s, and the unprofitable manufacturing units of BP in Australia , Scotland and the USA in the late 90s. A particular aspect of success in these areas was in reforming relationships with the contracting industries which supported these companies’ investments, and with the labour on which they depended.

Grahame Steed

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 Management, Proofing, Communications, Design and Distribution Teams that are responsible for BiP's diverse range of business intelligence services. In 2008 his role changed to Publishing Director to more accurately reflect the nature of his department's activities. As Managing Editor of Government Opportunities (GO), Grahame is responsible for the overall content and direction of the publication and its GO Awards and www.govopps.co.uk brand extensions.